Connect & Chat: The Ultimate List of 5 Apps for Building Bonds Online

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It’s easier than ever to find local people online to hang out with in real life. The apps below are some of the best for finding potential friends, and hopefully you can make some meaningful connections along the way.

All of these options are free to use, but some might offer subscriptions to access specific features.

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Best For Finding Group Events: Meetup

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What We Like

• Easy to find meetups nearby.
• Can start your own group meetup.
• Lots of different categories for interests.

What We Don’t Like

• Not great if you dislike group settings.

Want to meet people who share similar interests? Meetup is a great app to do that. It allows you to look at groups others have created near you centered around an activity. You can join a meetup and you have the ability to chat with others who have joined.

If you prefer meeting people in groups rather than one-on-one, this is a perfect app. You can also create your own group if you have an idea for a meetup.

Download For:

iOS

Android

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If You’re New in the Neighborhood: Nextdoor

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What We Like

• Join groups with others in neighborhood.
• Has an events page with local events.
• Lists local businesses.

What We Don’t Like

• Can’t see content outside your neighborhood.

If you’ve recently moved somewhere new, Nextdoor can help you meet your neighbors and form bonds with the people you live by. This app has a lot of features that can help you find others with common interests, ask questions about the neighborhood, and find events near you.

When you make a post, people in your surrounding area will see it, making it easy to connect and stay updated on local happenings.

Nextdoor also has a group section where you can find or create groups based on a common interest. Many places have friendship groups you can seek out to start meeting new people.

Download For:

iOS

Android

03

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Friends Before Lovers: Bumble For Friends

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What We Like

• Works the same as Bumble.
• Chatting possible only with other matches.

What We Don’t Like

• Only have 24 hours to start up a conversation.
• Many features require a premium subscription.

You may know of Bumble as the dating app where women make the first move, but Bumble For Friends (Bumble BFF) is a whole separate app for making new friends.

If you have a Bumble profile, you can use that login to get started on Bumble BFF. Like Bumble, users swipe left or right to match with another person. If both of you match, you can then begin talking.

Unlike the dating app, there are no restrictions for who can start a conversation first, but you have to message the other person within 24 hours, or else you’ll lose the match.

It’s a great app if you want a quick and easy way to make new friends, though some of the advanced connection and search features sit behind a paywall.

Download For:

iOS

Android

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For More Of A Social Media Experience: MeetMe

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What We Like

• You can make posts for others to comment one.
• Change your location to see who’s near you.
• Can live stream through the app.

What We Don’t Like

• May have a lot of fake accounts.

MeetMe is an app where you can find people near you, chat one-on-one, and find some new friends. This app is unique in that it has more of a typical social media feel, where you can make posts as well as like and comment on others’ posts.

There is also a live stream feature where you can go live and people in your area on the app can watch if they choose to. But, as with any social networking app, it’s wise to use caution against potentially face accounts, which is something that you might encounter a lot with this app.

Download For:

iOS

Android

05

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To Find People With Common Interests: Hey! VINA

What We Like

• Create a profile and look through other profiles.
• Lets you create plans to meet up.
• Clean interface.

What We Don’t Like

• It can be difficult to verify your profile.
• Available for iOS only.

This app was originally created for women to find other women to make friends with nearby, but anybody can use this app to look for local friends. However, the only methods for creating a profile is to link up your Facebook or Instagram account.

Once you set up your profile, the experience is similar to dating apps where you swipe left or right to match with someone else.

If you match, you can direct message one another through the app. If you want to create a group to hang out with, you can also create what are called “plans” in the app to make a meet-up group.

Download For:

Download Hey! VINA

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