We are more digitally connected today than ever, but loneliness still bites especially among teenagers. Not everyone is easy in making connections in person. This fact is supported by the proof that many teenagers cannot even communicate in a normal manner when it comes to a conversation face to face.
The simple reason is that they are shy and have a hesitating personality and many of them end up complexing with depression, asking often the question: “Why am I not able to make friends?” To bridge this gap and fulfill your urge to be with someone who makes you happy. Most teenagers turn to the online world to find their best buddies.
But it can really be hard sometimes to get a place where you feel safe and secure with the many social media apps around. Some apps for teenagers to make friends might even put you at risk. But look, you know what? We’ve gone ahead and found the very best and safest apps designed specifically for teens who want to make new friends, so now you don’t need to feel sad, alone, or wonder ‘Why do I Hate My Life?‘
Let’s then jump in and discover how to make friends as a teen by using online apps. These amazing applications have not only been safe but also fun to use.
10 Best Secure Apps for Teens to Connect with New Friends
1. Yubo
Yubo is formerly known as the Yellow social media app. It is one of the best apps for 13-year-olds to make friends and build meaningful connections.
It is a platform for teens to connect over shared interests through live streams and chats. The app is more popular among teens, with a separate community for users aged 13 to 17.
Users can join live streams with people worldwide look through profiles of nearby users, and select interests to display on their profile. Yubo incorporates Snap Lenses and filters for video chats. Making it one of the most fun things to do with friends online and providing an interactive way for teens to socialize.
The app is free to use, with in-app purchases for additional features and subscriptions. It has received positive reviews on the App Store, with a large number of active users. Yubo is one of the great apps for teens to make friends due to its focus on shared interests and interactive features.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 60M+ |
| Downloads on the App Store | 50M |
| Reviews on the App Store | 291k |
2. Facebook
Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform with over 3 billion active users. It is also known as one of the best apps for reconnecting with old friends.
This app had features like Stories, Messenger, and Reels allowing FB users to express themselves and connect with their friends. In-app purchases for this app include additional features and subscriptions.
FB is regularly updated to fix bugs and stability problems, which makes it a sure and friendly medium for teenagers to find and make friends.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 3B+ |
| Downloads on the App Store | 5B+ |
| Reviews on the App Store | 137M |
3. Spotafriend
Spotafriend is a swiping app that is specifically designed for teens aged around 13 to 17 to connect with others in their area and make friends. Spotafriend users can swipe right on photos of other teenagers to become friends. So if you think you can not make a real friend then try Spotafriend.
This app has over a million users and requires users to submit a selfie with a specified pose to verify their age. However, the profile picture does not need to match the verification photo.
Depending on the age entered during registration, the profiles shown are filtered, with a 13-year-old seeing users aged 13 to 16, and a 16-year-old seeing users aged 16 to 19.
Teens often include other social media information to make more personal information available to strangers. So far, this app has received mixed reviews, with some parents expressing concerns about its safety and the potential for inappropriate interactions.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 3B+ |
| Downloads on the App Store | 100K+ |
| Reviews on the App Store | 2k |
4. BeReal
BeReal is a social media app that encourages users to post real content of themselves every day at a different time. Users have 2 minutes to take a photo and submit it to BeReal. For others to see the features whatever the user focused on as well as an image of the user in their current state in the top corner.
The app emphasizes authenticity and moderation of screen time, with no likes or follower counts and the ability to limit the audience to friends only. BeReal has received very positive reviews on the App Store. It contains a huge number of active users. This makes it one of the great apps for teens to make friends.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 25M |
| Downloads on the App Store | 10M |
| Reviews on the App Store | 283k |
5. Bumble
Bumble BFF is a dedicated friendship app. It is designed to help users create new, meaningful friendships near them. The app is free to download and use. With an optional subscription package (Bumble For Friends Premium) and single or multiple-use paid services for specific features.
Bumble For Friends is one of the best apps for 14-year-olds to make friends. It prioritizes genuine connections, kindness, and safety. With features like profile prompts, lifestyle badges, and safety. Measures like Account Verification, Reporting and Blocking, and a Safety Center.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 12.3M |
| Downloads on the App Store | 50M |
| Reviews on the App Store | 1M |
6. Twitch
Twitch is rated one of the world’s largest live-streaming video services for video games in the US. It was founded in 2011 and has 100 million viewers in a month. A whopping 15 million active daily users, with an average of 1.4 million concurrent users.
Twitch enables live broadcast views without necessarily logging in to this platform. Users of this platform can, accordingly, follow and subscribe to the personalities of their favorite streams. There also is a subscription model to provide its viewers with the possibility to finance the streamers in return for benefits.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 240M |
| Downloads on the App Store | 100M+ |
| Reviews on the App Store | 5M |
7. Discord
Discord is a widely used platform among teens for connecting through voice, video, and text based on various interests. It is free with optional in-app purchases for enhanced features and subscriptions. The platform offers customizable settings and integration with third-party apps. It facilitates communication through bots which makes it user-friendly with a clean interface.
While not primarily for business, Discord excels in personal use and enhances community connections. Discord is highly regarded as one of the best apps for teens to make friends and engage in community-building.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 196.2M |
| Downloads on the App Store | 100M+ |
| Reviews on the App Store | 5M |
8. Wink
Wink is an app designed to help users make friends globally by matching them based on shared interests, age, and location. Users can chat, call, enhance profiles, and earn gems once they match.
The app is free to use, with in-app purchases available. Wink has garnered positive reviews and frequent updates for bug fixes and stability.
It provides a platform for Gen Z to connect with others worldwide. Foster friendships and a sense of community make it one of the ideal apps for teens to make friends.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 510k+ |
| Downloads on the App Store | 5M+ |
| Reviews on the App Store | 392k |
9. Instagram
Everybody knows about Instagram as a free photo-sharing application and top-ranking social network platform. Besides the most loved platform for scrolling and connecting. Instagram is also considered the best platform to earn money as a teenager.
The platform’s active monthly users are over 2.4 billion. Which makes it the second most popularly downloaded free app after Facebook on the Apple App Store.
Some of the leading Instagram features like photo and reel sharing. Make it one of the best apps for teens to make friends. The sharing features also include temporary stories. Here users post photos and reels to a separate feed of content within the app that lives for 24 hours.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 2.4B |
| Downloads on the App Store | 5B |
| Reviews on the App Store | 147M |
10. Kik Messenger
If you ask me who is the best friend then I’ll say someone who is just a text away. It is one of the best qualities of a good friend that they are always reachable by text.
It’s an instant messaging app available at no cost for mobile devices. It enables users to connect with their friends by chatting, exchanging photos, sharing videos, and much more. This has to be done by a user setting up an account with a unique username. Not from their phone number; hence, it has some sort of anonymity.
It provides group chats, stickers, and games that make the conversation way too interesting and fun. Kik Messenger has received positive feedback from users on the App Store. It is also featured among the best apps for teenage girls.
With Kik Messenger, teens are able to make new mates and communicate with other teens in a very cool and creative safe environment.
| Paid / Free | Free |
| Number of active users Monthly | 15M |
| Downloads on the App Store | 100M+ |
| Reviews on the App Store | 2M |
Final Words
All these apps to make friends for teens do more than just connect them. They also offer valuable lessons on friendship goals and teach how to make friends as an introvert. As a teenager, you can easily find your soulmate through these platforms and it also helps you learn how to be a better friend.
About the Author: Rizwan Munir
