Speaking exclusively to your houseplants or to your delivery driver does not mean you're going crazy, it just means you're part of the new normal, and the United States Surgeon General has already declared our level of isolation a public health crisis as far back as 2023, and as we've moved into 2025, things haven't really changed for the better. The rise of working from home has turned our living rooms into offices and our social skills into a distant memory and has left all of us wondering how to make a friend without resorting to our LinkedIn "endorsements" or our office Slack channels.
The good news is that the stigma of making friends online has long since passed, largely because we've already lost all sense of shame about meeting people in any capacity online, given that we've already given up and ordered our groceries online too. There's a new wave of friendship-based apps out right now that's raking in millions of dollars and millions of downloads, because we're all desperate to stop staring at our phones and start talking to people in real time. Instead of the crushing anxiety of bothering a stranger at a coffee shop, these platforms offer a "no-romance-intended" zone where everyone is equally socially starved.
Bumble BFF: The Standard for Social Swiping
Bumble, the app that helped you find a date that you'll inevitably ghost in six weeks, has decided to take it to the next level and help you find a gym buddy or a brunch friend. They've given their BFF feature a facelift, making it more focused on group gatherings rather than one-on-one awkwardness, and it's the most established app in this game for good reason; it's free, and it's everywhere.
The app is essentially a safety net for the lonely, allowing you to search for people who actually like the same "niche hobbies" as you. You can find someone to suffer through a hot yoga class with or just a human who understands your very niche memes. The redesign makes it easier to find a "squad" without making you feel like you’re auditioning for a reality TV show.
Timeless: Dinner with a Side of Mystery
Social interactions through a French-born algorithm and a series of dinner plates may be just what you need, and Timeless is banking on that. Timeless is an app that arranges weekly dinners for a group of four complete strangers at a local restaurant every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. You won’t get a whole lot of background on your dinner companions beforehand, just a few crumbs such as what they do for a living and, of course, their zodiac sign, since we are still in 2026 and we’re all still fascinated by astrology.
What is great about Timeless is that they take care of all the logistics for you, so all you have to do is show up and hope that you do not spill your wine on your chest. They even provide a game for your dinner party complete with "icebreaker" questions so that you do not have to sit in agonizing silence until the appetizers come out. It is essentially a blind date, but without all the drama and with better food, followed by a party at a nearby bar if things go well.
Meet5: For the "Grown-Ups" in the Room
It seems most tech is geared towards those who think 2 a.m. is a reasonable bedtime, but Meet5 is making an effort to provide for those over 40. This European import is taking America by storm, achieving almost 800,000 downloads by catering to a demographic that may have their life together but perhaps lost their social network to divorce, relocation, or "empty nest" syndrome.
The app isn’t about swiping; it’s about groups, about picnics, about hikes, about concerts, about things you want to do, not things you want to look at. It’s a simple approach to building a community, skipping the filters and the swiping and getting people out into the world, and reminding everyone that you don’t have to be a Gen Z social media star to want a strong group of friends to go to a museum with.
The Gist
Making friends as an adult is, objectively, a weird thing, and yet, clearly, we’re all in this sinking boat together. You can swipe for a squad or you can eat pasta with strangers; the point is, you need to get off the couch. The internet destroyed our social lives, so it’s only fitting that we’re using it to try and put them back together.
