Nearo lets you and the other person send text messages to each other while you are connected in a session.
Opening chat
Chat is available only during the call, in rooms and in direct calls. It always starts closed, so the student needs to open it on their side too.
Click the Chat button (the speech-bubble icon) in the controls bar, the dark gray strip along the bottom of the call window. On the host desktop app it is near the left, after the Notebooks icon and before Switch to Floating View. On the guest desktop app it is in the same place, without a Notebooks icon before it. On the guest web app it is in the middle, next to Camera. The button turns blue while chat is open.
On the guest web app, while the tutor shares their screen and the video tiles are on the left or right of it, the controls bar is replaced by a panel under the video tiles, and the chat button is in that panel.
On a computer or tablet, the chat panel opens on the right side of the call.
On a phone, the chat floats over the video in the bottom-right corner, above the controls bar.
While you are viewing a shared screen with the video tiles on the left or right, the chat sits under the video tiles so the shared screen keeps its size. In the Nearo desktop app, the chat sits there while a notebook is open too.
If you are using the small floating window in the Nearo desktop app, click its chat button, in the row of buttons under the video tiles, to open chat in its own Chat window. When the call returns to the standard view, the chat moves back into the call window on its own.
Sending a message
Type in the message box at the bottom of the chat panel and press Enter, or click Send.
To start a new line without sending, hold Shift and press Enter.
Send stays grayed out while the message box is empty, while the chat is still connecting, or when the message is too long. A counter appears under the box when a message is close to the limit.
A web address becomes a clickable link only when it starts with https:// or www. A bare address such as example.com stays as plain text.
ℹ️ Nearo's chat filter replaces bad words and personal contact details, such as email addresses and phone numbers, with asterisks in every message. This happens for both people and cannot be turned off.
New messages
When a message arrives while your chat is closed, a small unread badge with the message count appears on the chat button. There is no sound or notification, so the other person needs to have chat open or notice the badge to see your message.
If the connection drops
If the connection wobbles and recovers on its own, the chat and its messages carry on. If the call ends, the chat is gone.
Closing chat
Click the chat button again, or the ✕ at the top right of the chat panel.
On Windows, the Nearo desktop app shows a Close button at the bottom left of the panel instead of the ✕.
If chat is in its own Chat window, close it with the window's normal close button.
🔔 Chat is never saved. The conversation is gone for both people when the call ends or when the student leaves, refreshes or rejoins, so copy anything important out of the chat before the session ends.
ℹ️ Chat is never visible in a screen share. When you share your screen from the Nearo desktop app, the student does not see your chat.