next generation – A new crop of social apps is trying to pull people away from the biggest platforms—offering tighter circles, privacy controls, and niche communities built around photos, short video, music, books, and shopping.
For years. social media has felt like it belonged to a handful of giants—Meta for Facebook. Instagram and WhatsApp. Google for YouTube. Snapchat. TikTok. and X. Now. the pitch is simpler and more personal: build smaller spaces. center communities. and let people connect without living entirely inside the same feeds.
A growing list of startups is rolling out alternatives that aim at younger users in particular—apps designed to feel less like public performance and more like something you can step into with friends, interests, and tighter-knit groups.
Retro
Retro is a photo-sharing app built for connections with friends in a more private format. It was created by two former Instagram team members, Nathan Sharp and Ryan Olson. The app is built around simple sharing: users can select certain photos to highlight every week. dump photos into albums. and find and follow others through search features. Retro also includes a user profile with privacy controls. letting users choose which friends can see more than the most recent month’s worth of photos.
Retro is available on iOS and Android.
Cosmos
Cosmos is positioned as a “space for inspiration,” designed for people who want to get away from algorithm-churned feeds. It lets users search by color, keyword, or image, and it also supports profile-building based on users’ taste. Users can follow friends and other tastemakers and collaborate on collections. Cosmos is described as more elevated than Pinterest. and it can also be used to shop for products that match a user’s style.
Cosmos is available on iOS and Android.
Indigo
If you’re trying to leave X but still want to participate in what’s next—Mastodon or Bluesky—Indigo is built around that exact problem. The app offers a unified timeline and a composer that lets users cross-post to both services at once. It also includes custom feeds and personalization tools and configuration settings.
Indigo is co-created by Ben McCarthy, who also developed the Obscura line of apps and others, alongside freelance iOS designer Aaron Vegh. Indigo is iOS only.
Corner
Corner calls its app “Google Maps but social,” and it comes with a community of more than 125,000 users. The app lets users curate favorite places—locally and abroad—into lists that can be “gatekept” or made public for others to discover.
With a Gen Z vibe, Corner isn’t only for general recommendations. Users can find lists like where to get the best dumplings. queer nightlife. live jazz spots. places to dance that aren’t clubs. and indie bookshops. The app also offers a personalized map that shows favorite places. places users want to try. and suggestions from other people.
Corner is iOS only.
Divine
Divine is the reboot for anyone still thinking about Vine. Developer Evan Henshaw-Plath, an early Twitter employee, imported the Vine archive into his team’s new app. Divine is meant to be a home for short-form video creators and hosts roughly 500,000 videos from nearly 100,000 original Vine creators.
The app also allows users to make six-second videos again. Several early Vine creators have returned too, including Lele Pons, JimmyHere, MightyDuck, and Jack and Jack, among others.
Divine has financial backing from Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey’s nonprofit, “and Other Stuff,” which aims to back open source social projects. Divine is available on iOS, Android and Web.
Mesh
Mesh isn’t framed as a social network in the same way. but it’s designed to support how people keep up with their network. The app is described as an address book on steroids. tracking what people in a user’s network—personal. professional and otherwise—have been up to by watching LinkedIn or X bio changes. posts. publications. and more.
It also includes tools that let users reach out and reconnect on a cadence they configure, like a personal CRM. Mesh was acquired by WordPress.com owner Automattic in 2025, when it was then known as Clay. Mesh plans to offer deeper integrations with Automattic’s universal messaging app, Beeper.
Mesh is available on iOS, Desktop and Web.
Fable
Fable is a book club community app that recently received an upgrade. The company is now offering a bundled service with digital reading subscription provider Everand. Fable and Everand are both owned by Scribd.
The bundle provides access to 1.5 million ebooks and audiobooks from major publishers and more. Ratings and reviews sync over to Fable, where users can view recommendations from others and join virtual book clubs. Fable is available on iOS and Android.
Locket
Locket pioneered the idea of putting friends directly on an iPhone’s Home Screen. The app offers a live widget that updates as friends upload new photos or messages, and users can respond through a lightweight chat option.
Locket also supports weekly photo dumps, lets users follow favorite artists, and more. Locket is available on iOS and Android.
Airbuds
Airbuds is built around music sharing in a way Apple and Spotify never fully managed. It lets users share what they’re streaming with friends. and it builds on that with features like reacting to friends’ music choices with emojis. stickers or selfies. Users can also play clips of friends’ recently streamed songs.
The app includes messaging friends, configuring a profile with favorite bands, and music-focused activities such as music quizzes, getting a user’s music style roasted, and finding out which friend has matching musical taste.
Airbuds is available on iOS and Android.
The Mall
The Mall turns online shopping into a social experience. The app offers a universal feed for following updates and new releases from favorite brands, largely fashion, though users can add others that have an online e-commerce storefront.
Users can visit friends’ profiles to see what’s in their collections and “mall,” and the app provides inspiration and recommendations of other brands based on a user’s tastes and style. The Mall is iOS only and is currently on a waitlist.
Shelf
Shelf is built around organizing a user’s taste: music, movies, TV shows, books and other interests. The app is positioned as a way to learn more about yourself, with features that include personalized recaps and trend breakdowns.
The social element is discovery-driven. Users can browse friends’ shelves as sources of inspiration, and Shelf is private by default because it’s described as not about gaining clout—more about keeping a history of a user’s digital life and interests, and those of friends.
Shelf is available on iOS.
Taken together, these apps share a common direction: fewer megaplatform dynamics, more controls, more niches, and communities you can curate. Whether it’s private photo sharing on Retro. a cross-posting bridge on Indigo. six-second videos returning on Divine. or shelves and recommendations on Shelf. the message is consistent—social can be smaller. and still feel alive.
social apps Retro Cosmos Indigo Corner Divine Mesh Automattic Beeper Fable Everand Locket Airbuds The Mall Shelf startups Gen Z decentralized social