Think back to the last time you were in a place teeming with millennials: it was probably difficult to find people who weren’t tethered to their smartphone. For better or worse, a stereotype of the millennial generation is that they’re constantly connected. That connection happens through apps — ones that have integrated so deeply into their lives that they can’t imagine living without them. If you’re thinking of building your own app, it’s important first to know which ones are reining in the popularity points. Without further ado, here are some of the apps that have the highest concentration of millennial users, according to Statista’s 2016 report on the matter. Social Media While currently in a tumultuous period, Vine remains an incredibly popular app, with millennials making up 78% of its 200 million monthly users. The app is a micro-entertainment platform where anyone can share six-second looping videos. As of January 2017, Vine has rebranded to become Vine Camera, where users publish their short videos directly to mother company Twitter, rather than into a Vine community. Several video gaming apps also serve as hybrid social networks. Apps such as the PlayStation Official App and Twitch have social sharing and messaging functionality integrated into the app, allowing gamers to chat and live stream the video game they’re currently playing. Apps that target a specific niche market — in this case, millennial males who love gaming — have huge potential to be successful. Messaging Yik Yak is a social messaging app that allows users to scan their geographic area and anonymously chat with people in their vicinity. An online community center, Yik Yak users share news, photos, and questions with people around them in the form of “yaks.” They also have a say on the popularity of those yaks, casting an up or down vote for individual posts. Unlike Twitter, where anyone can chat in a specific area if they use a geographic hashtag (i.e. #NewYork), Yik Yak users must be located within a five-mile radius of where they’re chatting, guaranteeing that the commenters are genuinely in the area. Yik Yak has the highest concentration of millennial users for 2016 — 98% of its audience is within this demographic group. The popular GroupMe is a group messaging app that works across every platform — perfect for the millennial who is equipped with five devices. Three-quarters of GroupMe’s users are millennials, and the app makes it simple to coordinate dinners with friends or this year’s trip to Coachella. [gravityform id="9" title="true" description="true" ajax="true"] Music SoundCloud is an app used by millennials to publish, listen to, and discover new music. Initially seen as competition for MySpace, SoundCloud’s advantage is that it allows users to reshare music and sounds via a specific link, making the app more social in nature. This shareability and its usability on the go is a reason why 74% of SoundCloud’s users are millennials. YouTube Music is another app with a high concentration of millennial users. It’s a standalone app that allows users to listen to the same number of tracks they’d be able to hear on competitor platforms. The app also creates a daily playlist for users and integrates other interesting features such as karaoke tracks and the ability to view live concerts. Finance When it comes to personal finance, Mint is the leading app among millennials. This could be because of its easy-to-navigate interface and its functionality: users can view all their financial accounts in one place, and the app automatically categorizes spending into categories such as groceries and utilities. Millennials recognize that budgeting is important, but are less likely to create a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel. Mint puts budgeting and financial management in the palm of their hand. Venmo is excellent at simplifying the daily finances of a millennial. The app is a digital way to keep track of what is lent and owed money-wise amongst friends and family. Whether it’s buying festival tickets for a friend or splitting the cost of dinner, Venmo can be used to track those transactions. Once that information is entered into the app, Venmo users can securely send and receive money using the app, saving friendships from a potential slog of IOU lists and reminders. Millennials clearly find the app useful — 94% of its users fall into this age category. Reason for Popularity Amongst Millennials Each of the apps above tap into a different part of a millennial’s daily routine. What they all have in common is a simple interface and the ability to enhance a user’s social behavior. When creating or improving an app, consider how your app will integrate into a twentysomething’s daily routine. If you can’t picture them pulling out their phones and intentionally opening up your app or talking about it with a friend at least once a day, it’s probably not going to be a hit. If your app is shareable, provides deep value, has a chic look, and is easy to understand, it will have a greater chance of success among this population.

Finding a non-detestable person to share a meal or a life with can be tough. The montage of small talk and awkward pauses lead many a dater to both dating fatigue and cat-buying tendencies. In other words - dating is awful. Finding partners seemed easier in the years of forced socializing, such as primary school and college, wherein meeting new people was a required way of life. Adulthood on the other hand presents the weighty challenge of forcing oneself to swim in whichever sea of strangers one feels tolerable that day. Social clubs, churches, and gyms are popular places - but adding extracurricular social activity can be a struggle for the busy working professional. Enter online dating - the only way to meet people on the comfort of your couch or the solace of the toilet. Scores of singles’ portfolios scatter the myriad of paid or unpaid dating apps, some intended for casual hookups, others for serious commitment. Popular dating apps like OKCupid or Match are based on the idea of entering partner preferences and personal information, then allowing the app to select matches based on your personality and ideal partner traits. Some apps use this same idea but are more selective, such as E-harmony. E-harmony is an app so committed to assisting users in long-term relationships that persons who do not meet a certain set of requirements can be expelled from the app entirely. Further still is Tinder, a newer app popular with young daters. Tinder helps users find individuals they perceive as visually attractive as a primary means of connection. Secondarily are personality traits such as hobbies or personal preferences, which has since caused the app to earn a reputation as a means for finding short-term relationships or one night stands. The great challenge these and most other online dating apps is this - it’s strangers trying to find love among strangers. As popular online dating blogger Single Steve laments, “I’ve always hated online dating. But I’ve always done it….[and am] going to keep doing it, because that’s just what you do. And you know what I hate most about it? It’s the philosophy of online dating. It’s the process of going on dates with strangers.” Granted, getting to know anyone from a friend to a colleague to a romantic partner is always awkward - but there’s something extra special about the bumbling awkwardness surrounding online dating. Strangers looking to find the greatest commitments of humanity with strangers. Weird. Eliminating the Cyber Stranger The landscape of online dating is an expansive valley of self-written profiles, professing how interesting, charming, or hipster-geeky-chic one is. Daters tweak said profiles regularly in hopes of ensnaring a person with a pulse who will find the lie-laden profile convincing enough to give a real life meeting a shot. But people aren’t stupid - everyone knows everyone is lying. For example, shoppers are more likely to give business to a company referred by a friend over a company they learned about via advertisement. Through a similar vein, wouldn’t daters trust dating recommendations from friends instead of the self-advertised, falsified, often ridiculous portfolios that clutter the dating world online? That’s what Pear Friends is hoping. The Dating App Based on Real Friend Introductions In mid-December 2014, a new type of dating app was launched, aimed at getting rid of unwanted stranger danger. Pear Friends is a free mobile app available on Android and iOS connecting friends-of-friends for long-walks-on-the-beach dating purposes. Once downloaded, the app syncs with the user’s Facebook profile. As the largest and most used social network on the internet, Facebook profiles are usually complete with profile pictures, work history, age, and personal preferences...the essential elements of an online dating profile. All the user needs to do is allow the connection. From there, the app works in two ways: Find a Pear - Your Facebook friends have their own Facebook friends with whom you don’t share a direct connection with. Once friends allow Pear Friends to access their contacts, the user can browse through friends of friends to find a person dateable. Find someone intriguing? Tap the profile and the app will ask your Facebook friend to introduce you.   Pear Friends - Here’s the big difference with Pear Friends. Not only does the app allow users to actively search for a date, but people who aren’t even interested in dating can use the app as well. If any friend truly is a friend, most of the time they are interested in matching together people they like, connecting their own network and helping people they care about find people to care about. By tapping into innate human desires to 1) find a romantic partner and 2) help friends, our prediction is Pear Friends is going to change online dating significantly. The reason is the app moves online dating strategy away from the proactive profile hunt done alone, but into a space that includes friends in the match-making experience. Social opportunities in the real world tend to revolve around who knows and introduces who, meaning Pear Friends is moving the online dating game much closer to the real life dating game.   What do you think? Will Pear Friends change online dating? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Mobile application technology is about more than fun and games. Biotechnology and other science apps are changing the way both beginners and experts look at the field — and the result is a better-informed public. Here are a few of the best biotech/science mobile apps available for download: My Cancer Genome This free iOS app tracks the rapidly-advancing cancer medicine field, giving users access to information on FDA studies, clinical trials, recently approved cancer drugs, and more. People can search information on their cancer type and learn more about mutations, therapies, and medicines available. Contour Diabetes Recently approved by the FDA, this app connects via Bluetooth to a smart diabetes monitor and will debut in early 2017 for iOS and Android users. The app then gives patients suggestions on management and care. By analyzing the trends of users, the app can provide long-term solutions that allow patients to change their habits for good. The device also alerts users through the app and helps with meal planning. Patients can sign up for cloud-based data logging, too. Human Genome Users can find information that connects certain genes with disorders, and can learn more about their own genetic makeup. From a technical standpoint, the app outlines where specific genes are located on chromosomes. The information provided in the app is loaded from the National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) Information, the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine, and more. Genetic data is updated as new information is obtained. The app is free through iTunes. Genetics 4 Medics This app is an encyclopedia of information on genetic conditions. Users can search by the condition name, or symptoms. There is a wealth of data and digital literature on each condition, along with case studies and typical treatments and therapies. There are also strong graphics that identify the location of the genes. The app has an upfront cost of $4.99 and is available for Android and iOS. FierceBiotech Recently relaunched, the FierceBiotech mobile application is a one-stop shop for news in the industry on topics like FDA rulings, clinical trials, and biopharma news. Inside the app, readers can browse full articles and save them for offline reading later. The app also offers push notifications when biotech industry news happens. It’s free for iOS users. Clear Organic Chemistry For those who find organic chemistry challenging (and that’s many, many people), this app tries to strengthen the user’s knowledge base and offer insight into the field. Students can delve into the 144 practice questions and then review the bonus material at the end of each quizzing section. Reactions and nomenclature are split and studied, clearing up any organic chemistry confusion. Cheaper than a chemistry tutor, the app is inexpensive at just $1.99 for iOS devices. DNA/RNA/Protein and General Molecular Weight Calculator This free app for iOS devices is pretty clinical in its aesthetic but gets the job done. It contains four calculators that are used for protein, DNA, RNA, and chemical formula calculations. Users can figure out the molecular weight of chemical formulas by typing it in, or picking one from a generated list. The app is free for iOS devices. Physics! For science and biotech students and beginners, this app provides 20 classic formulas for free. Among those formulas are calculations for force, mass, and acceleration. Users can purchase an additional 20 formulas and then submit their own custom formulas. While it’s best suited for beginners, the app is also helpful for researchers who want to solve physics problems quickly. With the right mobile apps, biotechnology and related fields are more accessible than ever before. From FDA news to formula cheat sheets, science is literally at your fingertips.