Hello. Hello. Hello! Jonathan Levit here, creator of The Stranger.
In 2019, The Stranger was built on a simple premise — call someone you don't know and have them reveal a playing card. I never could have imagined that it would become a global phenomenon.
Worldwide, thousands of performers have embraced The Stranger and allowed this simple premise to become so much more.
It can be a full routine. One minute to eighteen minutes long. It's entirely up to you, the audience, your Stranger, and how you are feeling in the moment on stage.
The app was built considering you as a performer. What makes the effect more convincing? What makes it easier? What removes any concern of someone not picking up the phone?
Now, it's all been carefully thought out even further to give you total freedom balanced with total confidence — and the result is something bigger than it has ever been before.
This isn't just a magic trick. It's an event.
After over 120 updates and upgrades since its launch, The Stranger has now gone through the most important, comprehensive, and consequential change yet.
Everything has been re-engineered and redesigned.
Stranger X is here.
It's easier to use. Faster. Streamlined and even more rock solid than before. It's focused on what you need as a performer.
Your possibilities have expanded massively. You now have the ability to call anyone over video, whether on iPhone or Android, and add as many Strangers as you need.
And that's just the beginning. You will never be in a situation where you can't achieve the most incredible results.
Stranger X is what you have come to love and expect, and now it has been reborn.
What is The Stranger?
Watch it in action
One screen is all you need.
New users will be amazed and up and running in no time. Experienced users will be in awe of the simplicity.
Now, with Stranger X, everything is set from one simplified screen. Calling a Conversation Recording or a live Stranger? Using a Convincer? Two Convincers? Auto Advancing from one Stranger to the next? Placing your call over cellular, FaceTime Audio, or VoIP? Enter the freely selected playing card — it all happens on one screen.
Then, with one press of the dial button, you are in the routine and the audience has no idea what they are in for.
Video calls.
Once your Stranger initiates a video call and the audience screams "They're FaceTiming you!", that's when you have them hooked.
At that moment, this stops being a magic trick and it has instead become a shared experience: one that your audience will remember forever.
Now your video calls are even better. Video with an iPhone or an Android phone are both possible and waiting for you. There are no more limitations.
Keep your phone in your pocket. Use someone else's phone.
Using a borrowed phone to make your call is the ultimate convincer. Now, it's better (and quicker) than ever.
Bring up Stranger X on a borrowed phone with just one tap of an NFC tag. The Stranger X App Clip makes it possible.
Then, you place the call the way you would with your own phone. Call a Conversation Recording. Call a live Stranger. Use one, or two Convincers (or none at all). Auto Advance through your list of Strangers. All of it.
It's the full routine … all on the spectator's phone.
This might just be the way we all perform The Stranger from now on. It's that powerful. And that easy.
Borrowed Phone unlocks with a one-time in-app purchase. No Nexus, no second app, nothing else to buy.
Conversation Recordings and Custom Convincers.
When calling a live Stranger is not possible, you can choose to call a Conversation Recording. The audience will absolutely believe you are making a real phone call. This has been stage-tested by hundreds of performers over thousands of shows.
Use the built-in Recordings or create your own. Now, with Stranger X, you can create your recordings directly in the app.
Stranger X walks you through the entire process and makes it simple to let your creativity shine. Record with a partner, or on your own. Preview your clips before publishing. Trim as needed. Re-record. All of the control is in your hands, brought to you by Stranger X.
The Marketplace.
The Marketplace is where the Stranger X community really comes together.
Once you have created a new Conversation Recording or Convincer, share it to the Marketplace for others to download and use. Or you also can keep it just for yourself, or share with another Stranger privately.
The Marketplace is one more example of Strangers being an effective and exciting community.
Testimonials.
Jonathan is an evil genius.Max Maven
A revolutionary magic utility for the modern world.Michael Carbonaro
This is a sea change.David Regal
It's the ultimate.Jim Steinmeyer
A perfect trick that I pull out when I want to send them over the edge.Paul Gertner
The Stranger is a true showstopper.Eric Jones
I use it in every one of my shows.Dan White
This defies explanation.Mike Caveney
Revolutionary.Shawn Farquhar
I love The Stranger.Joshua Jay
Ingenious.Kostya Kimlat
The ultimate in modern magic.Laura London
A roller coaster ride on my phone.Brett Barry
This is a real winner.Dan Harlan
You want The Stranger in your set.Jade
So clever.Danny Garcia
And on camera
Practicing has never been more fun.
With Stranger X, you don't just play back the audio of your Conversation Recordings and Convincers and hope you remember them in performance.
Now, you can transcribe your recording* and rehearse while following along with the script, line by line. Scrub to anywhere in the recording and the script follows. Learn your pacing, dialogue and the exact moment your next line should be spoken.
This type of learning simply is not possible anywhere else. It will transform your use of Stranger X Recordings for use in performance.
* Transcription runs on an API key you supply and control. Without one, the feature simply never runs.
The Stranger Community.
WhatsApp groups have expanded into even more regions, allowing Strangers the ability to ask fellow performers to help them, sometimes with just a moment's notice. And now, with Stranger X, you can join an existing group directly from the app. If a group does not exist in your area, you can request for a new group to be created with just one click.
Eleven regions · Four continents · One call in progress
Reborn.
Everything you have come to expect is still here. Any card, freely selected. The Reveal Message that arms your Stranger before you dial. The fake number with its city, so they know where they live in that performance. The confirm-receipt tap you receive, letting you know that the Stranger is ready to go. One or two convincers. The region-correct disconnected recording. Auto Advance down your list and through to your own recording. Cellular, FaceTime Audio or VoIP calling. Video calling. Integration with Nexus and Nexus Now. Every one of those was rebuilt and improved.
This is a true ground-up rebuild. Feedback from my own performances, from our team, from you… every lesson since 2019 was carefully considered.
Now, there are fewer taps to set a routine, a shorter path from opening the app to dialing your Stranger. The entire process, on the backend, your setup, and while standing in front of an audience…it's all faster and easier.
And then there's all the new stuff. The ability to create your own custom Conversation Recordings directly in the app. The new Marketplace to share these with other Strangers, either publicly or privately. A new way to practice, following along with the script of your recordings, line by line. Video calling effortlessly with iPhone or Android users. Making the calls from a borrowed phone with just one tap*. Joining the WhatsApp community directly in the app.
This is not simply a redesign of the original Stranger, it's a completely new experience.
* Borrowed Phone unlocks with a one-time in-app purchase. The one-tap entry uses an NFC tag and the Stranger X App Clip.
Nexus and Nexus Now.
Stranger X is now fully integrated with Nexus and Nexus Now, enabling you to have your Stranger reveal even more — a birthday, a duplicated drawing, lotto numbers, and so much more.
Nexus and Nexus Now are sold separately.
Explore NexusThe complete system.
Live Stranger calls
Someone you chose in advance answers — anyone in your contacts, or a fellow member from the community.
No force, ever
Any card they freely name, or anything from a list you built yourself. You never touch the deck.
Conversation Recordings
A full library covering every card, ready out of the box, working with no second person on the other end.
Video calls
Put a face on the call. Stranger X is the first version that does it with any user — iPhone or Android.
Borrowed phoneNew
The whole routine from a spectator's phone, opened with one tap on an NFC tag. Your own phone never appears. Available as a one-time in-app purchase.
Record in the appNew
Cards, zodiac or a custom set. Record in any order, save a draft, or import from Files.
AI transcriptsNew
Generate a script from your own recording using an API key you provide and control.
The MarketplaceNew
Publish and download recordings and convincers, with search, tags, regions and share codes.
Share privatelyNew
Send a recording to one person without publishing it.
RehearsalNew
Script and audio in sync, line by line, with running timers.
Tutorials, built inNew
Video and downloadable PDFs inside the app.
Auto Advance and fallback
Cycles your active Strangers, then falls through to a recording. The reveal always happens.
It only wakes who it needsNew
The text and push reach the next Stranger the moment they become the one being called — not your whole list, and not in advance.
The handshake
Reveal Message, the fake number with its city, push delivery, and a confirm-receipt tap you feel before you dial.
Convincers
Voicemail and region-correct out-of-service tones before the reveal, with ring counts you set yourself.
Choose how you call
Cellular, FaceTime Audio or VoIP — VoIP removes the iOS prompt asking whether you meant to dial.
Your Strangers, managedNew
As many as you like, reordered, favorited, with the active one set where you want it.
Performance logNew
Every message sent and received, kept, so a bad night can be read rather than guessed at.
Region awareness
Country-correct ringback and disconnect audio across all forty-six call regions, with localized on-screen text.
Community, built inNew
Join your regional WhatsApp group from inside the app, or ask to start one where none exists.
Works with Nexus
Birthdays, duplicated drawings, lotto numbers and more, carried by the same call.
Light or dark
Whichever disappears better in the room you are working.
FAQ.
I already own The Stranger. Why upgrade?
Because all of it got better, not only the new parts. Every lesson since 2019 went back into this build — fewer taps to set a routine, a shorter path from opening the app to standing ready, screens that no longer ask you to remember where anything lives. You will feel that on the first night, and every night after.
Nothing you rely on behaves differently. Any card freely named with no force, the Reveal Message, the fake number with its city, confirm receipt, convincers, Auto Advance, ring counts, the fake homescreen, video calls, Nexus and Nexus Now. Every one of them was rebuilt to be faster to reach. Not one of them was changed.
And thirteen things are new. The whole call can run on a phone you borrow from someone in the room. You record your own conversations inside the app, generate a script from them and rehearse against it, take other performers' material from the Marketplace and share your own. Video calls now reach Android. The community is joinable from inside the app. The material stops being finite.
Stranger X is a separate App Store listing, so there is no automatic upgrade. Write to support@jonathanlevitpresents.com from the address on your original purchase.
How does the borrowed phone work?
You borrow a spectator's phone and perform the whole routine on it — convincers, then a Conversation Recording or a live Stranger with Auto Advance behind it. Hold the phone against an NFC tag and the dial screen opens; there is no full app to install and nothing to download — the App Clip that opens it clears itself out of their App Library on its own. A custom homescreen keeps it looking like an ordinary phone throughout. Borrowed Phone is a one-time in-app purchase and needs no other app.
Who actually answers the call?
Someone the performer chose in advance. That can be anyone in their contacts — a friend, a partner, a fellow performer — or another Stranger X member found through the community. Either way it is a person who agreed to take the call beforehand. The app never calls anyone outside that chosen list, and never calls the number the spectator dialled.
Does it need an internet connection?
Yes. Stranger X validates your account and does work behind the scenes, so it needs a connection even when you are performing a Conversation Recording rather than calling a live Stranger. There is no offline mode. Plan on Wi-Fi or signal wherever you are working.
Does it work in my country and language?
Stranger X carries country-correct ringback and disconnect audio for forty-six call regions, with localized on-screen text so the phone looks right in the spectator's hands.
What does it cost?
Stranger X is a one-time purchase of $299, with a free trial so you can perform with it before deciding. Additional capabilities, including Borrowed Phone, are available as in-app purchases.
Who do I contact for help?
Jonathan Levit, who built the app and performs with it professionally, answers support himself at support@jonathanlevitpresents.com. Typical response is hours, not days.
$299
One-time purchase
Stranger X is free to download and comes with a trial so you can take it for a test drive.
Download on the App Store