Trendy Apps for Teens
Trendy Apps for Teens
Keeping up with trendy apps for teens can feel exhausting. New apps are always hitting the market. And while most adults are content to stick with the tried and true social networking platforms, our teens love trying the newest and latest apps.
It’s common to see a handful of trendy apps for teens one year, only to see that list change the next. It’s also common to see apps trendy in certain schools or areas. Many of these apps are location-based, so they aren’t fun if they aren’t popular among teens in your area. But, we’ll see them become all the rage once enough teens in an area begin using them.
This rise and fall in trendy apps for teens can make it frustrating when you are trying to stay up-to-date on the apps your teen is using.
Remember, when talking to your teen about new apps, keep the conversation focused on these four issues:
- Privacy
- Location
- Respect
- Productivity
Trendy Apps for Teens
Anonymous Messaging Apps Teens Love
Lipsi
Age: 17+
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
Lipsi lets you give and receive feedback anonymously from friends. It’s location-based, so users can connect with other users around them.
What Teens Say
Teens like that they can ask a question or reach out to someone anonymously. Oftentimes, they are too shy to ask or might not want to share their real opinion. Anonymous apps give them the freedom to do so without fear.
What Parents Should Know
Unlike other anonymous apps, Lipsi encourages users to get anonymous feedback on their Instagram account by placing their Lipsi link on their Instagram profile. One feature of Lipsi is the chat history can be easily deleted. This messaging can be a temptation for users to post crude or offensive messages.
Lipsi is available for iOS and Android devices.
Tellonym
Age: 17+
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
Tellonym is an anonymous question and answer feedback app. You simply sign up, share your link with friends, and start asking questions. They have safety features in place not seen on other anonymous apps to protect against some of the toxic behavior seen elsewhere. For instance, users can block certain words, or block messages from people who are not registered users of the app.
What Teens Say
Tellonym calls itself “the most honest place on the internet.” With growing rates of anxiety, teens love having a place where they can start a conversation without the fear of rejection.
What Parents Should Know
The number of users for Tellonym isn’t entirely clear. We’ve seen numbers as high as 13 million. Tellonym CEO Maximillian Rellin stated they have more than one million daily users. It’s definitely an app you want to discuss with your teens.
Tellonym does claim to be monitoring the platform for inappropriate content. And, they have information available about safety concerns. In spite of the safety measures, several schools in England have warned parents about bullying issues that are happening with students using Tellonym.
Tellonym is available for iOS and Android devices.
Whisper
Age: 18 & Up (13-17 years with parental consent)
In-App Purchases: No
Contains Ads: Yes
Whisper is a social networking service that relies on images and anonymity to create connections and conversations. Users are asked to set a username and PIN when creating a new account. This sign-in system allows users the ability to limit their personal connection with other users. Whisper does not use real names or emails, nor does it import contacts from your device. Even usernames do not stand out as prominently as they do on most social networking services. So users really do feel as if they are sharing their thoughts discreetly.
Whisper is all about images and text. Users can take a new picture, upload one from their device, or search for one in the image library that Whisper provides. Users can apply a filter, add custom text, and upload it to the servers. The idea behind Whisper is to get people sharing their secrets in a public forum.
What Teens Say
Whisper is another app that allows teens to share their thoughts anonymously. However, it also gives them the ability to share “whispers” on a variety of social networks, regardless of the whisper’s creator. Teens are now able to share thoughts openly without assigning their name to them, and they can share thoughts from others doing the same.
What Parents Should Know
The ability to share thoughts privately does provide a place for users to express things they might not share openly. Users will see many posts that contain sexual content. Users can also direct message within the app where, like Twitter, they can connect for a one-on-one conversation.
Whisper is available for iOS and Android devices.
Chat Fiction Apps Teens Love
Hooked
Age: 12+
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: No
Hooked is a new genre of chat fiction apps. It launched in 2015 and quickly gained popularity. In December, 2016, Hooked was #1 in the iTunes app store. It surpassed apps like Instagram and Snapchat on the iTunes chart. It feeds users a story in a message-by-message format. Reading it literally looks as if you are reading a text message.
Hooked brings readers into the dialogue of the story immediately. There is no backstory on the characters. Users don’t get to select which story to read. Instead, the app chooses a story based on the genre selected. The Hooked logo is an owl, so each message in the story is a “hoot.”
Hooked does have a paid subscription. A paid subscriber is a “Superhoot.” As a paid subscriber you have the option to select self-chosen stories. The paid version of Hooked also eliminates the waiting period for stories.
What Teens Say
Teens love the text message format and the availability of stories.
What Parents Should Know
Most of the content on Hooked is mature and graphic in nature. The free version gives access to a tiny portion of the story and won’t show images without payment. You are unable to read the story for 15 minutes with the free version. It’s really formatted to shuffle users to the paid version.
Hooked is available for iOS and Android devices.
Yarn
Age: 12+
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
Yarn followed Hooked onto the scene as a chat fiction app and is targeted to teens. Yarn adds new stories daily. It’s very similar to Hooked in terms of style but offers some different genres. Yarn also has a celebrity category that has a big appeal to teens.
Like Hooked, stories are presented in a message-by-message format. So, reading stories on Yarn looks and feels like you are reading a text message. The story literally begins with immediate dialogue. There is no backstory on the characters. In Yarn, users do get to select which story they would like to read within a variety of genres. However, many of the stories require a paid subscription to fully read, or have images which aren’t shown unless you have a paid subscription.
What Teens Say
Teens love the text message format of the stories. Many teens also love the celebrity stories featured in Yarn.
What Parents Should Know
Most of the content on Yarn is mature and graphic in nature. The celebrity stories add a great deal of shallow content to the selection of material. In other words, there isn’t much (if any) educational content available. The free version gives access to a tiny portion of the story and won’t show images without payment. You are unable to read the story for 20 minutes with the free version. It’s really formatted to shuffle users to the paid version.
Yarn is available for iOS and Android devices.
Video Chat Apps Teens Love
Houseparty
Age: 13 & Up
In-App Purchases: No
Contains Ads: No
Houseparty is a video chatting app that’s unlike any on the market. It’s also hugely popular with teens. To get started, users need to set up an account by entering a name and email, and then selecting a username and password. Users are also prompted to enter their phone number. This helps them connect with friends.
Once your account is set, you’ll be given text conversation starters. You can select a friend to video chat with to get started. Every time you add a friend to “the party” the screen will split showing all who are there. You can lock your party at any given time so no one else can join. Your room can host up to 8 people.
The quality of the video and audio feed depends on the strength of your wi-fi connection. If someone in the group has poor wi-fi, they won’t get dropped from “the party.” Instead, the video will drop out and they’ll be joined by audio only.
What Teens Say
What teens love most about Houseparty is it’s very “real and in the moment.” Whereas Instagram is very much a “put your best face forward” app, Houseparty gives teens the feel of having real-life conversations with their friends.
What Parents Should Know
While there is nothing inherently wrong with Houseparty, it can quickly become an app where teens lose track of time. One safety concern is Houseparty doesn’t verify ages. If users don’t lock a chat, anyone can “eavesdrop” on the conversation. This means they can take screenshots and even record conversations within an unlocked group chat. It’s easy for teens to find themselves hopping from room to room within the app looking for something interesting. So Houseparty can become a time waster.
Houseparty has also become an app known for connecting and finding out about parties and events. It’s a quick way to spread the word about events IRL. This is an issue where the app isn’t causing behavior. Teens will find another way to share information. Be sure you address the issue at hand; don’t blame it on the app. The issue you want to address is that your teen has a good sense of balance and they aren’t wasting countless hours on this app.
Houseparty is available for iOS and Android devices.
Holla
Age: 18 & Up
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: No
Holla is an app where users can join and do live video chat sessions with random strangers. Registration on the app is simple. Users provide either their phone number or they can connect using their Facebook account. Holla has a free and a premium (paid) version. The free usage offers virtually no information about the people you video chat with. Holla is now advertised as a dating app, so it is an app that has crossed over into the dating app category.
What Teens Say
Holla is easy to access. And although the terms of service state users need to be 18 & up, the marketing messaging clearly targets teens. Teens like that Holla is a place that’s younger.
What Parents Should Know
There are so many concerning things about Holla, I don’t even know where to begin. Upon download, Holla insists on accessing both your phone’s camera and microphone. There isn’t a way to allow it manually within the app. The app appears to have blanket permissions. The default setting of Holla connects you live to random chat with strangers. It’s literally chat roulette in video form. It takes about one or two times before you need to scrub your eyes with salt…literally. And, I’m being nice here.
I normally provide the links but I have such strong feelings about this one. If you want to download Holla go ahead and look it up yourself. I’m just not going to send them any direct traffic.
Holla is available for iOS and Android devices.
Monkey
Age: 13 & Up
In-App Purchases: No
Contains Ads: No
Monkey is very similar in appearance to Snapchat. So, teens already using Snapchat find using Monkey comfortable. In fact, users must have a Snapchat account to use Monkey. Monkey is different than other video chatting apps. It randomly matches your teen with users worldwide!
Before connecting, your teen will view the gender, age, and location of a perspective friend. Once matched, they can choose to have a 10-second video chat with that person or skip to the next match. Think of it as chat roulette. After 10 seconds of chat, if both parties agree, they can expand their chat time. Or, they can add this new person to Snapchat.
What Teens Say
Teens love being able to meet new friends from all over the world. And, they like the 10-second introduction time. Monkey’s integration with Snapchat is also a big draw for them.
What Parents Should Know
Monkey does seem to be very proactive when it comes to content and cyberbullying. I found it refreshing that they do seem to be trying to teach teens the importance of digital citizenship. That said, the permissions required when signing up for Monkey well exceed what the app would need.
I was shocked when I noticed Monkey’s terms and conditions state they can share anything on their app with third-parties; this includes texts, posts, URLs, videos, pictures, messages, HTML’s, and other material. It also grants permission for the app to modify or delete the contents of your USB storage, and read the contents of your USB storage.
That alone is enough to make me warn every parent and teen to stay away from this app! Parents, this app is a great example of walking with your kids through social media to show them the importance of looking at the privacy policy of the apps we use.
Monkey is available for iOS and Android devices.
Live Streaming Apps Teens Love
Hype
Age: 13 & Up
In-App Purchases: No
Contains Ads: No
Hype is a live streaming video app available for iOS. Hype offers tons of creative options for live streaming. Using Hype, broadcasters can layer a live video with other media: photos, videos, animated GIFs, music, text, and emojis. These options can be moved around the screen, added, or deleted during the live broadcast to create a live stream unlike any other.
One feature that sets Hype apart from others is the ability for broadcasters to pull comments from their audience into their video. Comments show as a floating chat bubble. The audience is also able to show their appreciation for a broadcaster by lighting up the screen with sparkles. These options make Hype a very interactive live streaming platform.
What Teens Say
Hype offers lots of fun creative ways for teens to create interactive live streaming videos. Adding comments, GIFs, music, and text is a big draw for them. Teens also love that they can really engage with their audience by adding comments and encourage them to share the love by lighting up the broadcast with sparkles.
What Parents Should Know
The terms of service for Hype state users must be at least 13 years old and have parental permission if they are between 13 and 18 years old. Hype accounts can be created by using a Twitter or Facebook account. Or, you can sign up with an email address.
Teens should know if they sign up using Facebook, their name, as it is on their Facebook account, appears and there’s no way to change it. So, if they’ve used their full name on Facebook, that will be their username on Hype. Usernames of viewers are visible to the broadcasters. To delete an account, users must contact support@hypeapp.com.
Hype is available for iOS devices.
YouNow
Age: 13 & Up
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: No
YouNow allows users to live stream from an app or their computer. You can view videos on YouNow without an account. Viewers decide if broadcasters continue their videos by clicking a green thumbs-up or a red thumbs-down button. Viewers also have the option of giving gifts to broadcasters.
Those who want to broadcast videos do need to register for an account. You must be 13 years old to sign up and you can sign up using your Facebook account. You can share your YouNow videos to other social media platforms.
What Teens Say
YouNow has taken a smart “gamification” approach that is engaging for teens. Teens love this. They want to move to a higher level on the app so they can access more gifts and tools. Many teens find themselves wanting to spend a lot of time on YouNow and use it every day.
What Parents Should Know
The gamification of YouNow makes this app one that puts kids at a higher level of risk for overuse and self-image issues. If your kids are using YouNow, be sure to have conversations with them about the importance of not sharing personal information. Let them know YouNow even has guidelines for this. And, make sure your teen knows how to block someone in case they would need to take this action.
Remind kids that anyone can record their live videos, take screenshots, and bully them with the recordings. So always be thoughtful and responsible when broadcasting.
YouNow is available for iOS and Android devices and for web.
Yubo
Age: 13 & Up
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: No
Yubo is a social networking app used for making new friends. With Yubo, users can connect and chat with other Yubo users. Users can also watch a live stream of other users, or do their own live stream. There are two age brackets in Yubo–one for teens 13-17, and one for those 17+.
What Teens Say
Yubo gives teens a space they feel is their own. The dedicated 13-17 age bracket makes them feel as if they have a space to meet others their age. It’s appealing for teens who might be struggling to find friends in school or other groups locally.
What Parents Should Know
Yubo (formerly Yellow) has been in the press often. Many have called it “Tinder for Teens.” That label alone is enough to cause concerns for many parents. I also understand this label might cause some parents to immediately assume Yubo won’t appeal to their teens. But, Yubo has a fan base of over 15 million users! So, clearly, Yubo is an app many people are using.
Yubo has created two age brackets in an effort to keep those under 18 years of age with their peers. In a perfect world this would be great. But, it’s not a perfect world. It’s easy for users to lie about their age when setting up their profile. This goes both ways. Teens can lie to get into the older age group; adults can lie to meet your teen.
Yubo is working on the implementation of a process to verify the age of users. That’s a heavy liability to place on any company. And, most systems used to verify age can be tricked by individuals who wish to lie about their age.
You must share your location and other personal information. For Yubo to work, you need to let it “geotag” you. Also, there are no private profiles, so the only option is to allow anyone to find you.
Yubo is available for iOS and Android devices.
Want to learn more about Yubo? View my Parents Guide to Yubo
Photo and Video Sharing Apps Teens Love
Instagram
Age: 13 & Up
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
Instagram is a platform that lets users snap, edit, and share photos and videos. Users can share these publicly. Or, they can share with a list of those users they’ve approved as followers. Users can view, like, and comment on photos and videos of other Instagram accounts.
What Teens Say
Instagram brings all the features teens love into one social media site. With Instagram, you can see, share, and comment on photos. There are lots of fun filters and cool effects that you can quickly add to photos you take. These filters give pictures a high-quality, artistic look.
Instagram has added Stories, which allow users the ability to post images or videos for a 24-hour period. Users can also share live video streams. So, Instagram gives teens many options for sharing content.
What Parents Should Know
Teens want their photos and videos to receive “Likes.” Similar to Facebook, it’s easy for teens to fall into the trap where they begin to measure the “success” of each photo they share by the number of likes or comments they receive. Posting a photo or video can be problematic if teens post it to validate their popularity. It can easily become a social media app that inflates their self-esteem or tears it down.
Accounts are set to public by default. This means that the photos and videos shared on Instagram are public and may have location information unless privacy settings are adjusted. Hashtags can make photos even more visible to communities beyond a teen’s followers. It’s important for you to know this so you can walk your teen through the privacy settings that work for your family.
Mature content can slip in. Instagram’s terms of service specify that users should be at least 13 years old. They also say that users shouldn’t post partially nude or sexually suggestive photos. The terms don’t cover violence, profanity, or drugs.
A Note about Finstagram: Recently, parents have asked me about Finstagram. Some parents aren’t sure what it is. Others have simply contacted me because they want parents to be aware of this. Finstagram isn’t an app. Instead, it’s the practice of setting up a 2nd Instagram account with the express purpose of keeping that account on the “down low.” So, it’s basically a “fake Instagram account.” You can read more about Finstagram so you can discuss it with your teens.
Instagram is available for iOS and Android devices.
Want to learn more about Instagram? View my Parents Guide to Instagram
Snapchat
Age: 13 & Up
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
Snapchat is a photo and video sharing app. It differs from other social media apps because, with Snapchat, photos and videos you send “disappear” seconds after they’re viewed. You decide how long a photo will “live” after it’s viewed.
What Teens Say
Snapchat’s creators intended the app to function as a way for users to share fun, light moments without the risk of having them go public. That’s the appeal of this app for most teens. They can send goofy or embarrassing photos to one another.
What Parents Should Know
It’s a myth that snaps go away forever. An image sent never truly goes away. The person on the receiving end can take a screenshot of the image before it disappears. Snaps can be recovered. And there are now apps which screenshot a snap. Many parents are concerned that the seemingly risk-free messaging might encourage users to share pictures containing inappropriate content. The Snapchat map feature will show users on a map if their account isn’t set to not show location.
Snapchat is available for iOS and Android devices.
Want to learn more about Snapchat? See Connected: A Parent’s Guide to Snapchat
TikTok
Age: 12 & Up
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
TikTok is a social media network with over one billion downloads. It’s hugely popular with kids to young adults. And, it’s showing no slow down in growth. On TikTok, users can share videos covering a wide range of categories, from lip syncing to comedic skits to viral challenges. The app is about performance. Once users finish their recording, they can add fun effects and filters, then share it on TikTok or broadcast it to other social media networks.
What Teens Say
TikTok is full of songs, dances, and cultural references popular with teens. Chances are it’s discussed among their friend groups. They have fun doing the daily TikTok challenges and making short 15-second videos with their friends.
What Parents Should Know
Accounts are public by default. Users must change the privacy settings if they don’t want full public accounts. TikTok is all about creating a following. So, some kids will struggle with self-esteem and balance. Young kids need parental monitoring as there have been reports of pedophile activity on the site.
TikTok is available for iOS, Android, or Kindle.
Want to learn more about TikTok? View my Parents Guide to TikTok
VSCO
Age: 13 & Up
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
VSCO is a photography app where users can upload or take photos. Then they can edit, add filters, and share them with other VSCO users. They can also share them on other social media sites like Instagram. In fact, sharing to Instagram using #VSCO or #VSCOCAM is incredibly popular.
What Teens Say
There are no “likes,” and there is no commenting on photos. So, teens don’t have any of the social pressure they have on platforms like Instagram where friends may not “like,” or worse yet, may post a negative comment on a photo.
What Parents Should Know
There is no way to make your profile or your photos private. And anyone who follows you can share your photos, just like you can share anyone’s photos that you follow. Be sure your teen understands this as they decide what photos to post. You can go into the privacy settings to make sure the location settings for photos isn’t being shared. Be sure to make sure your teen has location turned off.
VSCO is available for iOS, Android, and for desktop.
Messaging Apps Teens Love
Discord
Age: 17 &Up
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
Discord is a free voice, video, and text chat app that was created to bring gamers together. It can be used on PC, browser, or mobile phone. What really sets Discord apart from other messaging apps is users can both play and discuss games with their friends by voice, text, or video. They can also message each other individually or in group chats with up to 10 other friends. So, Discord has features that really fit the needs of teens who love online gaming.
What Teens Say
Discord has spent time and money making a great platform where teens love hanging out. On Discord they can connect and chat with their friends who love gaming. And, they can meet others who share their same love. Discord shows teens when their friends are online; this makes it easy to game online with them.
What Parents Should Know
While a love of gaming is the biggest commonality among users, you’ll also find plenty of other content on Discord. There are servers for things like science, cosplay, and book club. There are also servers tagged as NSFW. These servers are noted as 18+. And, users do get an NSFW notice before joining.
Keep in mind users, not Discord, create the servers available. In other words, the content available is driven by the users. The ability to create your own server is what users love about Discord. This feature means teens can create a private server for their friends. Unfortunately, this also means a user can create a NSFW server where their friends share porn.
Discord is available for iOS and Android devices.
Want to learn more about Discord? View my full Parent Guide to Discord
Kik
Age: 13 & Up
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
Kik Messenger is an app-based alternative to standard texting that teens use for social networking. It’s free to use but has lots of ads. Users can do more than chat on Kik. They can find and share games, music, and more!
What Teens Say
It’s fast and has no message limits, character limits, or fees (if you just use the basic features). Teens don’t care for limits, so Kik is a bit more worry-free and fun for them. Kik allows users to set up a unique username. This means users never have to share their phone number. This is a feature many teens love. They feel safe knowing that they can text new friends they meet without giving out their phone number.
What Parents Should Know
Kik’s ability to link to other Kik-enabled apps within itself is a way for developers to drive purchases from users. The app also encourages new users to invite everyone in their phone’s address book to join Kik, since users can only message those who also have the app.
You’ll want to talk to your teens about sharing with strangers. An app named OinkText, linked to Kik, allows strangers who share their Kik usernames to find people to chat with. There’s also a Kik community blog where users can submit photos of themselves and screenshots of messages with others.
Kik is available for iOS, Android, Kindle , and Windows devices.
WeChat
Age: 13 with consent of parent
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
WeChat is a mobile text and voice messaging service. In addition to making free calls, you can share videos and photos (or “moments”), create group chats, and find new people nearby. The app is available for Android, iOS, and several other devices, making WeChat a great option for groups or families using a variety of devices.
What Teens Say
WeChat boasts more than 200 million users and takes their services beyond straight messaging to games, stickers, and music sharing. Often users choose stickers instead of words when they need to express themselves. Many young adults and teens feel that WeChat is more personal when setting up events and get-togethers.
There is also the ability to send selfies without fear of them showing up on your Facebook page. WeChat feels a bit more personal because you are connecting with one person or a smaller group.
What Parents Should Know
You must be 13 years old to have an account. And those between the ages of 13-18 are considered “minors.” As such, parents must agree to the terms of service for themselves and on behalf of their teen. This verbiage means that parents need to know and agree to their teen using the app, and gives parents some ability to have unauthorized accounts removed.
Their “Acceptable Use Policy” is impressive and does seem to imply that they want to keep WeChat safe. How well it is monitored, though, isn’t clear; my guess is that the burden is on users to report those who are violating the terms.
WeChat has some great messaging features. You can send messages, voice messages, and video calls. It’s a great way for families and friends to stay connected. However, there are a few options on WeChat that do merit discussion with your teen.
Look Around allows users to locate other WeChat users within a few kilometers. Discussions of safety are key here. Shake lets users connect with other WeChat users located up to 1000km away. This feature will allow your teen to connect with unknown users. Drift Bottle lets users select a message written by another user out of a sea of bottles. They can toss it back or reply to the user. Look Around, Shake, and Drift Bottle are all going to allow teens to connect with users they don’t know.
WeChat is available for iOS, Android, Windows devices, and for web.
WhatsApp
Age: 16 & Up (or those under 16 with consent of parent)
In-App Purchases: Yes
Contains Ads: Yes
WhatsApp Messenger is a free app that lets users send text messages, videos, photos, and audio messages to their friends and family who are also using WhatsApp. Once you install the app, it checks your address book to see if anyone else you know is already using WhatsApp, and connects you automatically. The app also suggests allowing messages to be sent from your phone to those in your address book who aren’t yet using WhatsApp, encouraging them to sign up.
WhatsApp’s license agreement requires users to be at least 16 years old, or have parental consent before downloading.
What Teens Say
Teens love the unlimited texting they get with WhatsApp. It’s easy to use and allows them to share photos, videos, and audio messages for free. WhatsApp has been on the app market for quite some time now.
What Parents Should Know
The app automatically connects to those using WhatsApp in your phone’s contact list. This shouldn’t be a problem; in fact, it is meant to be helpful since users must have WhatsApp in order to connect. However, it is worth mentioning. Those under 16 can use the app with parental permission.
WhatsApp is available for iOS, Android, and Windows devices.
I also want to mention both Twitch and Steam are also huge with preteens and teens. They are not apps but are worth mentioning. You can read my Parents Guide to Twitch and my Parents Guide to Steam to learn more about them.
What apps are your teens loving? Share with us so we can expand our list of Trendy Apps for Teens!
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