Fortune

The idea is closer to a message in a bottle than to a social network. You write something short, up to 140 characters, and Fortune hands it to a random person who opens the app. If you're stuck, there's a "Not sure what to send" prompt next to the box. A song is optional. You can search Apple Music from the send box or paste a Spotify, YouTube Music or SoundCloud link, and it travels with the words.

Nobody sees your name or profile. The receiver gets the message and your country, and that's it. They can play the song, send a thank-you card, close or hide the card, or report it. The thank-you is the only thing that comes back, and it tells you where in the world your message landed.

Anonymous messages to strangers only work with some way to deal with bad ones. The FAQ says reported cards go to the operator, who can limit visibility or access, and the terms add display limits, receiving limits and suspension for suspicious use. The 140-character cap keeps each card small, too.

The terms describe one more layer. A sender can attach a gift amount to a message. Payment runs through Stripe and is only charged when the receiver starts receiving it. The sender pays service and processing fees on top, and cancelling after payment is generally not possible. The terms are explicit that this isn't a remittance service. You can't choose who gets the money, and there are no balances, top-ups or cashable points.

The privacy policy lists what Fortune handles: messages, music links, amounts, activity history, payment and receiving identifiers, and safety signals. Stripe handles payments, and Cloudflare handles delivery and safety controls. Analytics through Google Analytics and Cloudflare can be turned off, and the policy says message text, music links and payment identifiers are not sent to Google Analytics. It also asks minors to use the service with a guardian's consent.

Fortune is made by Flatbitstudio Inc., based in Mie, Japan. The policy, terms and legal notice open as panels on the homepage rather than as separate pages.