CMG Chat vs Buddies Beacon
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CMG Chat
Connect with other users directly within matches or through private conversations. This application also provides access to live support for assistance.
- Direct chat within matches
- Private messaging
- Live support access
- Social networking
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CMG Chat application allows users to talk directly to other CMG users within each match as well privately. Live support is also available through this app.
Buddies Beacon
This app allows users to send location-based signals to a select group of friends. Friends can respond with quick status updates, and location sharing is temporary and controlled by the user. It focuses on direct communication without public feeds or usernames.
- Send location beacons to friends
- Receive quick status responses
- Temporary and controlled location sharing
- Create custom buddy lists
- Plan future meetups with flares
- Signal presence in crowds
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Buddies is a small app for lighting a beacon when you're out. Tap the button and every buddy sees the signal. They tap back — on my way, twelve minutes, can't tonight — and that's it. No group-chat limbo. No public feed. No usernames, no search, no directory. You invite the people you actually want to see, and beacons stay between you. Buddy lists let you send to your golf crew, your poker crew, or all of them at once. Flares let you plan ahead — Sunday brunch, Thursday dinner — and they light themselves at the moment. Light a torch when a friend is trying to find you in a crowd. Everything you have live sits in one list. Your location is shared only when you light something, only with the buddies you chose, and only while it shows on your lock screen. Swipe that away and sharing stops. It is deleted when the beacon or torch ends. Made for the friends you'd actually want to show up.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Buddies Beacon at 5.0 against CMG Chat's 3.0. Buddies Beacon also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). CMG Chat's advantage is ratings volume (48 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Buddies Beacon holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CMG Chat has 48 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
CMG Chat ships an update every 3 months, Buddies Beacon weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CMG Chat | Buddies Beacon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (48 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 28.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 48 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | CheckMate Gaming LLC | Liam Maxwell |
Customer experience
CMG Chat
Buddies Beacon
In-app purchases
CMG Chat
No in-app purchases
Buddies Beacon
No in-app purchases
