How to choose and manage a HelloTalk partner?

I am learning Chinese. I have spent most of my time memorizing vocabulary (for both reading and speaking), but don't have much actual experience. I would like to start speaking more regularly with a language partner, but arranging one on HelloTalk causes me a lot of anxiety, so I am looking for help in planning this.

I'm ok with doing 50/50, I like teaching English. But I worry that I will get stuck with a partner I don't like or enjoy working with.

Questions:

1) Should I shop around, enforcing no-strings standalone chats, or will most chatters be good quality?

2) Should I start at 30m / 30m, or shorter (assuming I do English first)

3) Should I record the chat? Will it be like a phone conversation or trading microphone phrases? If not, do I need an Android phone to record, or a second phone? How do people do this?

Any other tips?

submitted by /u/sadtoots123
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