The Nintendo DS touch screen is used to type in letters with an on-screen keyboard or to draw and send pictures.

The keyboard provides enough Latin and kana glyphs to write in all languages supported by the system: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese, plus Hungarian, Finnish, Portuguese and Dutch.

Flip books can be created for PictoChat by drawing a picture, sending it, copying it, modifying it slightly, and repeating the process.

[3] Ty Shugart of Nintendo World Report expressed the view that it was "a great tool for getting a feel for the DS", but hoped it would be included with the system, calling it not worth buying for more than a couple of dollars.

[4] In another preview, Craig Harris of IGN called the software "more for fun than functionality", and "made for people in a classroom, or a plane", noting that "it has its own charms".

[5] Rob Fahey of Eurogamer called PictoChat "a hit around these parts" when writing an overview of the DS's functions, noting that it worked extremely well even with a poor wireless signal.

[6] Hyper magazine called PictoChat "the highlight of the launch package", describing it as "riotously good fun", and saying that the software would cause the system to be banned from classrooms within months of release.