A "skincare community" app selling a $110 pack of video chat tokens
What it is A one-on-one stranger video chat app dressed up as a skincare community, charging in tokens. The developer is a Hanoi real estate company.
Why it charted The bar for the social charts in small countries is very low, so a few downloads can get it on the list. Men who want video chat will happily buy tokens, so a few paying users cover the acquisition cost. After approval, it was renamed "Real-time Chat" in some countries to catch local search terms.
DHow you could follow it Don't copy it. What's worth learning: get exposure through low-bar categories in small countries, use a high-priced one-time in-app purchase ladder so a few paying users carry the economics, and rename and resubtitle per country to catch local search.
- Data (updated daily) · First launch 2026-09-07 · Egypt rating 15 · 11-07 best overall Top Grossing rank #93 (Egypt) · Charted in 11-07 stores 49
iOS · Top Grossing rank · by store Egypt #93Data day 2026-11-07, only 1 days so far. Lower rank is higher; gaps are days it wasn't chartediOS · ratings count · Egypt Data 2026-11-03 → 2026-11-07 (5 days, 5 observations). Apple doesn't publish download counts; rating growth is a proxy for downloads.
On the App Store there's a social app called Graff. Its description reads like a place "where skincare enthusiasts find their people," but its in-app purchases are 10 tiers of token packs, the most expensive about $110. It has been live for two months and has charted on the social charts in 49 countries, with only 55 ratings worldwide. It isn't a skincare community. It's one of a batch of video chat apps produced in bulk. Below is how it works, where the money comes from, and why I wouldn't follow it.
A review that says "Alexandria"
On Oct 28, 2026, someone in the Egypt store left a review for Graff. The title was "إسكندرية" (Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city), and the body was just one line: "LOLO500 mops". As of Nov 6, it's the only review visible on its Egypt store page.
A skincare community user wouldn't write that. Reviews that name only a city also appear on its sister apps. Karp, a motorcycle-friend shell, had someone write only "المغرب / مراكش" (Morocco / Marrakesh). Tube, in the same batch, got "عطوني فلوس" (give me money) in Saudi Arabia. A review on Candy in Italy has the title "sex." These read more like people arranging meetups or sharing addresses, with nothing to do with the app description.
What it actually is
Start with a few mismatches on the store pages (App Store pages by country, 11-06):
- Name and subtitle vary by country. In Egypt and Saudi Arabia it's "Graff - Real-time Chat" with the subtitle "Share tips & Live Video Call." In Russia and Mexico it still uses the review-passed name "Graff: Glow With Fellow Souls." It isn't listed in the US store at all.
- The description is a skincare community: "great skin is always a team sport." The website graffchat.com has only three paragraphs of skincare copy and three images. The contact email is [email protected].
- The IAP is token packs: GRAFF_PACKAGE_0 through 9, priced in the Russia store at 99, 199, 449, 449, 899, 1,790, 1,790, 2,290, 4,490, and 8,990 rubles. A community has no need for this kind of price ladder. This is the standard setup for one-on-one video chat, where you pay per minute and spend coins on gifts.
- Package size 13.9 MB, 16+. The privacy label reads "Data Used to Track You: Identifiers," and it also collects photos, videos, and audio. For a video call app this small, the core features are most likely pushed remotely or loaded via web after launch (inference, I didn't unpack the package).
- 1.0.0 launched in Sep 8, 1.0.1 in Sep 17, and neither has been updated since. The update notes are the template line "Fix bugs to enhance user experience".
In one line: it wraps a video-chat app in a skincare-community shell to get past App Store review, then after approval changes the name and subtitle in some countries to video-chat keywords like "video chat" and "live call".
The developer is a real estate company in Hanoi.
The Graff seller is THUAN HOANG REAL ESTATE BUSINESS AND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED. Checking Vietnam's business registry, the company was founded in October 2024, is based in Hanoi, does real estate, and is the only app it publishes on the App Store.
What really gives it away is where its website is hosted. In the "You may also like" section under Graff, Apple recommends a string of similar apps. Their websites and graffchat.com all resolve to the same AWS address (11-06), yet each is registered to a completely unrelated company:
| App | Shell used | What the seller does | Launched | Global rating / charted countries | Best rank (11-06) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moody | Party | Vietnamese construction company | 2026-05 | 149 / 22 | UAE social Top Grossing #28 |
| Candy | Live short video | A phone shop in the UK | 2026-08 | 100 / 37 | Israel social Top Grossing #18 |
| Cicade | Dating | Vietnamese trading company | 2026-07 | 75 / 8 | US social Top Grossing #98 |
| Graff | Skincare | Vietnamese real estate company | 2026-09 | 55 / 49 | North Macedonia social Top Free #14 |
| Tube | Video | Turkish medical company | 2026-07 | 44 / 25 | Sweden social Top Grossing #36 |
| Karp | Motorcycle enthusiasts | Vietnamese seafood company | 2026-08 | 23 / 21 | Kuwait social Top Grossing #20 |
| Parvis | Venue reviews | A music company | 2026-10 | 5 / 42 | Bahrain social Top Grossing #29 |
There are also Breeze, Vari, Lovit and Leach. I've confirmed 11 in total, and the list isn't complete. The playbook is clear: one app, one interest-themed shell; one app, one unrelated company's developer account (most likely bought or rented, an inference); and if one account gets banned, the others aren't affected. Judging by the last-modified dates on the websites, a new shell appears roughly every two to three weeks.
Why it gets "charted"
The bar for small-country social charts is just a few sales. When Graff ranked #14 on the North Macedonia social Top Free chart, its rating there was 0. When it ranked #34 on the Jordan social Top Grossing chart, its rating was 0. A few dozen downloads and a couple of in-app purchases are enough to get charted. Of the 49 countries, most are at #40 to #160 on Top Free.
High average spend, so a handful of paying users covers costs. The people buying tokens are men who want to video chat with strangers, and a pack costs up to about $110. As long as a few people pay, the ad spend comes back. Sister app Moody got into the low twenties on the UAE and Mexico social Top Grossing charts using exactly this model.
Most likely paid user acquisition. It declares cross-app tracking, no one discusses it on TikTok, X or the web, yet it suddenly shows up on the charts in 49 countries. A common tactic for this kind of shell is running Meta, TikTok and Google ads targeting men in the Middle East and Europe (inference; I couldn't find it in any public ad library, and that doesn't mean it wasn't advertised).
The ratings look padded. The global rating went from 11-03 to 55,11-05, then 61,11-06, then back down to 55, and the UK store dropped from 10 ratings to 6 in a single day. A drop that large in one day most often means Apple removed non-compliant ratings (inference).
Who it's competing with
The business itself isn't new. One-on-one video with strangers, paid in tokens, has been run in the Middle East and Latin America for a decade. Azar (launched 2015, now owned by Match Group, charted in 110 countries, up to about 230k ratings in a single country), BIGO LIVE (2016), MICO (2014), and older names like HIYAK, Olive, Ahlan and Yalla all compete there. Around the same time, other teams were running similar shells dressed up as dancing or travel apps, such as Bobo, Tolky, Ruli, Sup and Omi.
Compared with the big players, Graff has no brand, no content, and no host base. Compared with other shells, it's just a skincare shell instead of some other one. It survives by staying unnoticed.
Where the money comes from
Male users buy tokens and spend them on video calls with "hosts" and on gifts. Whether the hosts are real people recruited by the platform, AI, or pre-recorded is impossible to tell from outside (unverified). One paying user can bring in a lot of money, so even if each app only lives a few months it pays off, and when one dies, a new shell replaces it. We don't know how much each app actually earns. Chart positions only show that people in small countries did pay.
If it were you
D. Worth knowing about, but I wouldn't follow it. This is an old business that everyone in the going-global circles already knows about, and Graff is just one small account in it. Following it means competing on developer accounts, host supply and ad budget, and the whole playbook already breaks Apple's rules.
Who it suits: companies already doing going-global social or live streaming, with host supply and an ad team. For them it's just another distribution channel, not a new opportunity.
Who it doesn't suit: indie developers and small teams. You can't get developer accounts in bulk and you have no hosts. If Apple bans one account for copycat apps (4.3), hidden functionality (2.3.1) or developer integrity (5.6), the ads and users on it are gone, and your own account could get dragged down too.
What's worth learning: you don't have to copy it. Three things can be taken away. First, the bar for small-country category charts is very low, so if a new app wants exposure from charting, look for low-competition categories in these countries. Second, a tiered high-price one-time purchase structure lets a small number of paying users cover costs. Third, changing the name and subtitle per country to catch local search terms is something legitimate apps can do too, and it doesn't break any rules.
How to acquire users: if you really want to build a video social app, build a version that doesn't hide anything: say clearly that it's a video dating app, work out the payback period per paying user from ad spend in the Middle East and Latin America, and only then decide whether to spend more.
Where this analysis could be wrong: ① Three months later, Graff and its sister apps are still mostly on the store and their chart positions are still rising, which would mean Apple isn't cleaning up these shells and the risk is smaller than it looks. ② If someone publicly shows the revenue from this kind of shell network, proving that a single account can earn real money within a few months, then teams with host supply and ad capacity should redo the math.
Data and sources
- Store pages and in-app purchases: App Store storefront pages and lookup API for Egypt, Russia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, 2026-11-06. Not listed in the US store.
- Charts and ratings: App Store social category charts and daily ratings by country, 2026-11-03 to 11-06.
- Reviews: public reviews on the Egypt store (Graff, 10-28), plus sister apps' reviews in the Saudi and Italy stores.
- Developers: Vietnam business registry (tax code 0110866095); UK Companies House (TALK N TECH STEVENAGE LTD).
- Websites: DNS resolution and page content for graffchat.com and sister apps' websites, 2026-11-06.
- Social and ads: no relevant discussion on TikTok, X or web search; no hits in the Meta or European TikTok ad libraries. Anything marked "inference" or "unverified" is an inference.
Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report
- Competitors
Name Where Launched Scale How it differs from this one Azar iOS 2015 Charted in 110 stores, up to about 230k ratings in a single store, best overall Top Grossing #11 (appstore database) Established big brands with random matching and paywall filtering; Graff has no brand or scale, and relies only on shells and small-country charts BIGO LIVE iOS 2016 110 stores, up to about 230k ratings in a single store Leading live-streaming platform with tipping; Graff is a small one-on-one token-paid shell MICO / HIYAK / Olive / Ahlan / Hago / Yalla iOS 2014–2022 Charted in 43–81 stores, long-established in the Middle East and Latin America Long-running brands; Graff is a short-lived, rebranded account Sister apps including Moody, Candy, Karp and Parvis iOS 2026-05 to 2026-10 5–149 ratings each, Moody at #28 on UAE social Top Grossing Same team and same backend, just different shells (parties, fashion, motorcycles, local dining) Bobo - GO Chat / Tolky / Ruli / Sup / Omi iOS 2026 Small Similar video-chat shells built by other teams, with different shells and main target regions - Where users come from
- Inference Paid acquisition (Meta / TikTok / Google, targeting the Middle East and Europe): the privacy label declares cross-app tracking via Identifiers; no organic content exists, yet it appears on charts in 49 stores at once; Meta and European TikTok libraries show nothing (TikTok ads status unconfirmed)
- Confirmed Changing metadata after approval, targeting keywords: on the Egypt store the name is Real-time Chat with subtitle Share tips & Live Video Call; the Russia and Mexico stores still show Glow With Fellow Souls
- Confirmed Exposure on small-country social category charts: at #14 on North Macedonia Top Free and #34 on Jordan Top Grossing, the local rating was 0 in both cases
- Inference Fake ratings or purchased positive ratings: the rating fell by 8 in one day (UK 10→6); reviews across the matrix include things like "give me money" and "sex"
- Inferred natural content, media, social platforms: TikHub, x-radar and web search all return nothing
Graff - Real-time Chat (iOS id6794245505) research report
Stores checked: a full sweep of App Store stores (this app 2026-11-06 charted in 49 stores), with a focus on Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, the UK, North Macedonia and the Gulf states; the Apple pages checked were the Egypt and Russia stores. Today 2026-11-06.
Bottom line
Graff is not a skincare community. It is a token-based 1-to-1 video chat app that got through review wearing a skincare-community disguise. The team behind it publishes the same app under different shell-company developer accounts in bulk, and Graff is one of them. It "broke out" because the social category charts in small countries have very low entry barriers, each paying user is worth a lot (the top token pack is about $110), and it likely bought ads in the Middle East and Europe. The product itself has no differentiation, and absolute numbers are tiny: 55 ratings worldwide in total.
1. What it actually is
- The store copy doesn't match what the app does: the description reads "Graff is where skincare lovers find their people… great skin is always a team sport" (a skincare community). In the Egypt store, however, the subtitle is "Share tips & Live Video Call", and the name is "Graff - Real-time Chat". The Russia and Mexico stores still carry the review-era name "Graff: Glow With Fellow Souls" (iTunes lookup, 2026-11-06). So after approval it rewrote its metadata to pitch video chat, but only in some stores.
- In-app purchases are 10 tiers of token packs: GRAFF_PACKAGE_0–9, priced in the Russian store at 99 / 199 / 449 / 449 / 899 / 1,790 / 1,790 / 2,290 / 4,490 / 8,990 ₽, with the top tier around $110 (apps.apple.com/ru page, 2026-11-06). A "skincare community" doesn't need this kind of price ladder; this is the standard setup for 1v1 video chat and host-paid billing.
- The package is only 13.9 MB, age rating 16+/17+. The privacy label declares "Data Used to Track You: Identifiers" and also collects photos, videos and audio (apps.apple.com/eg). Cross-app tracking suggests an ad-attribution or paid-acquisition SDK is installed (inferred). 13.9 MB is too small for a video call app, so the core features were likely loaded after launch via remote config or web views (inferred, package not unpacked to verify).
- Versions: 1.0.0 shipped on 2026-09-08, 1.0.1 shipped on 09-17, and there have been no updates since. The update note is a template line, "Fix bugs to enhance user experience".
- The website graffchat.com has only three paragraphs of skincare copy and three images. The privacy policy is a template, and the contact email is [email protected].
2. Developer: shell companies, behind them a matrix
- The seller is THUAN HOANG REAL ESTATE BUSINESS AND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED = CÔNG TY TNHH KINH DOANH VÀ PHÁT TRIỂN ĐỊA ỐC THUẬN HOÀNG, tax ID 0110866095, address in Dong Ngac ward, Hanoi, established 2024-10-17, real estate business, legal representative TRẦN HỮU THUẬN (masothue.com). This company has only this one app on the App Store.
- Smoking gun: the same server. The Graff website and the websites of a string of similar apps from Apple's "You might also like" all resolve to the same IP 54.158.224.135 (AWS, Microsoft-IIS/10.0), yet each app sits under a different shell company name (tested live with dig/curl, 2026-11-06):
| App | Seller (shell) | Launched | Website | Total ratings across all stores / stores charted / best category rank (appstore library 11-06) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moody: Live Call, Meet, Party | BOSSVIET CONSTRUCTION ARCHITECTURE (Vietnamese construction) | 2026-05-14 | moodyfuns.com | 149 / 22 stores / Top Grossing social #28,19 in the UAE store |
| Candy: Live Stream & Videos | TALK N TECH STEVENAGE LTD (UK phone shop, established 2024-03) | 2026-08-28 | candysharechat.com | 100 / 37 / Top Grossing social #18 in Israel |
| Cicade: Chat & Make Friends | HIEN VINH TRADING PRODUCTION (Vietnamese trading) | 2026-07-22 | cicadeclub.com | 75 / 8 / Top Grossing #53 in Egypt, Top Grossing social #98 in the US |
| Graff | THUAN HOANG REAL ESTATE (Vietnamese real estate) | 2026-09-07 | graffchat.com | 55 / 49 / Top Free #14 in North Macedonia |
| Tube: Social & Video Connect | EFECAN SAGLIK (Turkish healthcare) | 2026-07-30 | — | 44 / 25 / Top Grossing #36 in Sweden |
| Breeze - Live & Moment | GLOBAL FARM CORPORATION | 2026-08-27 | breezeclubs.com | 35 / 19 / Top Grossing #36 in Jordan |
| Karp: Chat Free & Connect (shell: motorcycle enthusiasts) | HAI CHAU SEAFOOD SERVICES (Vietnamese seafood) | 2026-08-19 | karpclub.com | 23 / 21 / Top Grossing #20,20 in Kuwait, charted in several stores |
| Parvis - Live Video Connect (shell: venue reviews) | ARPEGGIO MUSIC LIMITED | 2026-10-07 | parvislife.com | 5 / 42 / Top Grossing #29 in Bahrain |
| Vari / Lovit / Leach | TUAN PHUONG MECHANICAL / LVL ADVERTISE / FITNESS TRADE | 2026-08-04 / 08-12 / 09-01 | variclub / lovitlovit / niceleach.com | Barely charted |
The playbook is clear: each app wears the shell of a different interest community (skincare, fashion, motorcycles, venue reviews, parties), and each app is filed under a developer account from an unrelated business (real estate, seafood, construction, healthcare, a UK phone shop, likely bought or rented accounts), with the websites hosted on the same IIS server. That way, when one account is banned, the rest of the matrix is not affected. The website Last-Modified timestamps run from 2026-04 (Moody) to 09-29 (Parvis), so a new shell appears roughly every two to three weeks.
- Lucky 1 (High Field Ltd) and Migu (Tato Soft, Ukraine) in Apple's "You might also like" do not sit on this server. They are probably run by other teams, but they are the same business.
3. Data: small volume, with signs of review farming
- Total ratings across all stores: 11-03 55 → 11-04 57 → 11-05 61 → 11-06 55 (down 8 in one day; UK 10→6, Egypt 15→13). Stores charted 35→34→38→49 (appstore library app_day). A one-day drop in ratings usually means Apple purged non-compliant ratings (inferred), which points to earlier review farming or rewards given for positive reviews.
- The review samples are telling: a Saudi review of Tube, from the same matrix, reads "عطوني فلوس" (give me money). Candy's Italian review title is "sex", and Karp's review just says "المغرب / مراكش" (appstore library review). The only visible review for Graff in the Egypt store is "إسكندرية / LOLO500 mops" (apps.apple.com/eg). None of these are things a skincare-community user would write.
- The rankings look high because the bar is low. It hit Top Free #14 in the North Macedonia social chart with 0 local ratings, and Top Grossing social #34 in Jordan with 0 ratings. In small-country social category charts, a few dozen downloads and one or two in-app purchases are enough to chart. Most of its 49 storefronts ranked between #40 and #160 on the free chart.
4. Competitors
The heavyweights in the "stranger 1v1 video chat + token/diamond billing" business (appstore library, 11-06):
- Azar (Hyperconnect / Match, launched 2015): charted in 110 stores, up to 230k ratings in a single store, best overall Top Grossing #11.
- BIGO LIVE (2016): 110 stores, up to 230k ratings in a single store.
- MICO (2014), HIYAK (2021), Olive (2019), Ahlan, Hago, Yalla and others have operated in the Middle East and Latin America for years.
- Contemporary new shell apps: Bobo - GO Chat (dancer shell, see our ios_6811792557 report), Tolky (Turkey), Ruli (travel-packing shell), Sup, Omi, plus the sister apps in the table above.
- Next to the big players, Graff has no brand, no content and no host scale. Next to similar shell apps, it just swapped in a "skincare" shell. There is no differentiation. Its survival strategy is simply not being noticed.
5. Where users come from
- Paid acquisition (likely, not directly verified): the privacy label declares cross-app tracking via Identifiers. The new account has no organic content at all, yet it charted in 49 stores at once. The standard play for shell apps like this is targeting male users in the Middle East and Europe through Meta, TikTok or Google UAC. The Meta ad library (which only tracks listed products) returned no graffchat landing pages. The TikTok ad library (which only covers Europe) shows Graff, Moody and Candy as unconfirmed in its mapping status (tiktokads adv_map). Not finding ads there does not mean none were run.
- Store search and metadata rewording: after approval the name was changed to "Real-time Chat" and the subtitle to "Live Video Call", to catch search terms like "video chat / live call" (compare the Egypt and Russia store pages).
- Small-country chart exposure: charting in a social category gives free exposure, and the bar is as low as a few downloads.
- Review farming or swapped positive reviews: ratings dropped by 8 in one day, and the review content has nothing to do with the product (inferred).
- Organic content and media: TikTok returns no related videos (TikHub), X has 30 posts in the last 0 days (x-radar), and web search only finds store pages. There is no organic spread at all.
6. Where the money comes from
Male users buy tokens (99–8,990 ₽, with the top tier around $110) to make video calls with "hosts" and send gifts. The hosts are most likely recruited by the platform, or are AI or pre-recorded (inferred, not verified). Each paying user has a high LTV, so the ad spend pays back, which is how Moody reached Top Grossing #28–29 in the UAE and Mexico social charts. Each individual app has a short lifespan, so the operation keeps itself alive by continuously launching new shells.
7. How many people have seen it
Almost nobody knows about it yet. There is no media coverage, no X discussion, no TrustMRR entry, and no public revenue figures. But the business model itself (disguised video chat apps) is well known in overseas-app circles and already crowded. Nobody is going to discuss this specific Graff account.
8. Takeaways
- Account isolation: each app has its own entity and its own website domain, so when one is taken down, only that one dies.
- Different interest-community shells get approved, then the name and subtitle are changed in some stores after launch to catch search terms.
- They pick small countries where the social category chart is easy to enter, use a small volume to buy chart exposure, and a high-priced token ladder lets a handful of paying users cover the costs.
- Note: this playbook runs straight into Apple's 4.3 (reskinned spam), 2.3.1 (hidden functionality) and 5.6 (developer integrity) guidelines, so the apps can be pulled or the accounts banned at any time.
9. Still uncertain
- Whether ads were actually bought, on which channels, and how much was spent (not found in the Meta or European TikTok libraries).
- Whether the video chat features are delivered via remote config or web views (package not unpacked), and whether the hosts are real people or AI.
- Who actually runs the operation (a Vietnamese team, or a Chinese overseas team borrowing Vietnamese shells), and how many apps the matrix contains in total. This report confirmed 11 websites on the same IP; the full set has not been enumerated.
- How much revenue each app actually makes; the Top Grossing ranks only show that it had in-app purchases in small countries.
Sources
- appstore library (DuckDB on the agent-im server): app_day, app_profile, review, 2026-11-03 to 11-06
- iTunes lookup:id6794245505 and sister Apps (eg/ru/mx/sa stores), 2026-11-06
- App Store pages: apps.apple.com/eg/app/id6794245505, apps.apple.com/ru/app/id6794245505 (in-app purchase list, "You might also like")
- Website and privacy policy: graffchat.com, graffchat.com/privacy.html; sister sites checked with dig / curl -I (same IP 54.158.224.135)
- Company registration: masothue.com/0110866095-cong-ty-tnhh-kinh-doanh-va-phat-trie…; UK Companies House 15564614 (TALK N TECH STEVENAGE LTD)
- TikTok Ads library adv_map; Meta Ads library advertiser; X Radar; TikHub TikTok search