Securus has provided a list of potentially dangerous Apps for children, including popular platforms that students and children may be using in 2025 for social engagement through messages, chats, gaming, and image & video sharing – many of which pose a danger and expose young people to risks such as:
- Cyberbullying
- Inappropriate content
- Online predators
- Sexual exploitation, and so much more
High Risk (Most Dangerous) Apps & Platforms used by children
Monkey (Omegle)
Monkey (formerly Omegle) puts two strangers together in their choice of a text chat or a video chat room. Being anonymous can be very attractive to teens, and the app provides a no-fuss opportunity to make connections. Its "interest boxes" also let users filter potential chat partners by shared interests. Users get paired up with strangers and there's no registration required. Monkey (Omegle) is filled with people searching for sexual chat. Some prefer to do so live. Others offer links to porn sites. Since the chats are anonymous, they're often much more explicit than those with an identifiable user.
OmeTV
OmeTV is a random video chat app available on both mobile and web, connecting users with strangers around the world. It allows users to filter matches by gender and location, but like Monkey (Omegle), it lacks strong moderation and offers anonymity, which can lead to exposure to inappropriate content or interactions with predators
Chatroulette
Chatroulette is a website and app which lets users talk to another person anywhere in the world. When you go onto the website, Chatroulette connects you to someone at random. Users can talk to people via live video or text chat.
YouNow
YouNow is an app that lets users stream and watch live broadcasts. They can comment or buy virtual "gold bars" to give to other users. Because it's live video, they can do or say anything and can respond to requests from viewers - in real time. Though there seems to be moderation around content, there's plenty of swearing and occasional sharing of personal information with anonymous viewers. It mimics real-life potential to do things they normally wouldn't in pursuit of approval but in a public way. Children often broadcast from their bedrooms, with personal information visible, and they sometimes share a phone number or an email address with viewers, not knowing who's really watching.
Badoo
Badoo is a social/dating app promotes the idea of meeting new people, sharing interests and even dating. It’s a way to make connections with those who share similar characteristics and you can search for people nearby. Badoo uses GPS technology, making it easy for predators to find users.
MeetMe
MeetMe is a dating app with a "Match" feature whereby users can "secretly admire" others, and its large user base means fast-paced communication and guaranteed attention. Users can chat with whoever is online, as well as search locally, opening the door to potential trouble. The app also asks permission to use location services on your teens' mobile devices, meaning they can find the closest matches wherever they go.
LiveMe
LiveMe is social platform, available as both an app and a website, that allows users, mainly teens and young adults, to stream or watch live videos. These live feeds showcase a variety of content, from dancing to yoga and gaming. Viewers can engage by posting comments, interacting with the streamer, and sending virtual gifts, which can be purchased within the app. The most popular broadcasters can convert virtual coins into real money. Coins can be earnt as a way of grooming children or young people online.
GroupMe
GroupMe is a messaging app where users can send group or private messages from their computer or phone using WiFi. Since activity from the GroupMe app doesn’t show up on their parents’ phone bill, some users use the app to hide their messaging activity. The app has built-in features that allow users to search the web directly from the app. There is no way to moderate or filter that content.
Yubo
Yubo is a social networking app that allows users to make new friends through a swiping mechanism similar to Tinder. The concept of making quick judgments based on profile pictures and live streaming with strangers can lead to inappropriate interactions.
Grindr
Grindr is a social media app is aimed toward gay, bisexual and bi-curious men. This app uses your mobile’s location-based services to show you Grindr guys close in your area and can lead to children & teenagers meeting with adults and exposes them to predator dangers and sexual risks.
Tinder
Tinder is a photo and messaging dating app for browsing pictures of potential matches within a certain-mile radius of the user's location. It's very popular with 20-somethings as a way to meet new people for casual or long-term relationships.
Bumble
Bumble is similar to Tinder, however women must be the first to make contact. Young people and teens have been known to lie about their age and create fake accounts on apps which makes it easy for predators to target victims.
Moderate Risk Apps & Platforms used by children
Instagram is a is a picture and video sharing app. Users can post content and use hashtags to share experiences, thoughts or memories with an online community. You can follow your friends, family, celebrities and even companies on Instagram. Photos and videos shared on Instagram are public unless privacy settings are adjusted. Hashtags and location information can make photos even more visible to communities beyond a young person’s followers if his or her account is public. It allows strangers to contact users, potentially opening doors for online predators to connect.
WhatsApp lets users send text messages, audio messages, videos, and photos to one or many people with no message limits or fees. It's for users 16 and over but lots of young people seem to be using the app. After you sign up, it automatically connects you to all the people in your address book who also are using WhatsApp. It also encourages you to add friends who haven't signed up yet.
TikTok
TikTok is immensely popular but comes with minimal age verification. It exposes users to challenges and trends that may not be age-appropriate, and its public accounts allow anyone to view and interact with videos posted by children, raising concerns about exposure to online predators.
Snapchat
Snapchat is one of the most used social media apps. It has gained popularity as an app that lets you post self-destructive pictures and is known for its disappearing messages. The erasure however is not foolproof so other users can capture pictures with great ease. Millions of teens are using this every day, to share fun pictures, show their friends what they’re doing and sexting risky images.
Telegram
Telegram is a messaging app known for its emphasis on privacy, speed, and security. It allows users to send messages, photos, videos, and other files, and offers features like encrypted chats, channels, and group chats with up to 200,000 members. While Telegram is popular for its user-friendly design and secure communications, it can also pose significant risks for children, especially when used without proper supervision as it does not have a robust age verification system or parental controls.
Discord
Discord is a voice and text chat tool, originally used for gamers but has become a broader community platform. Its feature of connecting with strangers over shared interests poses risks, as the app lacks stringent monitoring, potentially exposing users to inappropriate material.
Skout
Skout is a flirting app that allows users to sign up as teens or adults. They're then placed in the appropriate peer group, where they can post into a feed, comment on others' posts, add pictures, and chat. They'll get notifications when other users near their geographic area join, and they can search other areas by cashing in points. They receive notifications when someone "checks" them out but must pay points to see who it is. There's no age verification. This makes it easy for a young person to say he/she's older than 18 and an adult to say younger.
Whisper
Whisper is an anonymous social media app where users can post confessions and secrets. While it might appear to be a place for harmless venting, the app's anonymity can lead to cyberbullying, the sharing of explicit content, and the possibility of dangerous real-world encounters.
Kik Messenger
Kik Messenger is an app that lets users text for free. It's fast and has no message limits, character limits, or fees if you only use the basic features. Because it's an app, the texts won't show up on the child's phone's messaging service. It allows communication with strangers who share their Kik usernames to find people to chat with. The app allegedly has been used in high-profile crimes, including child pornography. There's also a community blog where users can submit photos of themselves and screenshots of message. The lack of age verification and the ability to message strangers make it a risky platform for young users.
Holla
Holla is a video chat app that allows users to connect with strangers in real time, anywhere around the world. In the style of Tinder, users can swipe right on the suggested profiles until they make a “match”. Once a match is made, they are paired and the live video chat starts. Once inside the chat, users can play with filters and special effects.
Voxer
Voxer is an app being used by young people that has been linked to some serious cyber bullying cases. Voxer allows a user to send a real-time voice message to another Voxer user and leave messages as a voicemail. The attraction to children is that it works real-time and they don’t need to go through a mobile service provider. This feature also means users can send bullying group texts, chat with strangers, or send inappropriate photos user-to-user without it showing up on a parent’s phone bill.
Lower Risk Apps & Platforms used by children
Minecraft
Minecraft is an online game where players can build their own environment and communities known on Minecraft as ‘Worlds’. The game lets you play alone or with friends. All servers have a chat function where players can talk to each other and communicate via a chat box. You can also send private messages known as ‘Whispers’. This could put users at risk of being exposed to inappropriate language or content or even bullying.
Roblox
Roblox is a gaming platform where players can create and publish their own games. This means that other users could build games that contain adult or inappropriate content. Players can use the communication features of Roblox to talk to one other while they are playing. This means that there is a risk of cyberbullying, scamming or unwanted predator contact.
Tumblr
Tumblr is a blogging platform but it’s really a loosely organized social network. Children and young people like each other’s posts, comment on them and field questions asked by other users, both strangers and friends. Blog posts are sometimes funny and amusing but the problem is they are uncensored and often pornographic. There is a high likelihood that a child has also come across such a post, read it and has been influenced by it. Pornographic images and videos and depictions of violence, self-harm, drug use, and offensive language are easily searchable. Reblogging on Tumblr is similar to re-tweeting: A post is reblogged from one tumblog to another.
Stars
Stars is a private messaging app that enables users to send messages, photos, videos, and voice recordings without requiring a phone number or access to a device’s address book. Users can message and video chat in small private groups. There are no filters to limit content and images and therefore a risk of inappropriate or harmful content can be sent.
Wishbone
Wishbone is an app that allows users to compare against each other and rate them on a scale. In terms of safety, users are able to write comments underneath cards or, in the case that two users follow one another, send other users a direct message using a facility which is very similar to a chat room. Some users have generated cards including images of people that they know for other site users to select the prettiest or hottest.
Calculator% Vault
Calculator% is one of a few apps used to hide photos, videos, files and browser history, The app looks like a calculator but functions like a secret photo vault. The app helps users to lie to their parents by masking their screen with a calculator at the press of a button. By punching four digits into the calculator, users can access scores of photos and videos they've downloaded.
AUDIO Manager
AUDIO Manager is another “vault” or secret app designed to hide messages, images and videos. You think teens are managing their music or controlling the volume on their phones, but if you press and hold the app icon, a lock screen pops up, which reveals hidden items, from text messages to pictures.
ooVoo
ooVoo is a free video, voice, and messaging app. Users can have group chats with up to 12 people for free - and it's common for young people to log on after school and keep it open while doing homework. Maybe they're using it for group study sessions? Users can only communicate with those on their approved contact lists.
Overall Recommendations for Child Safety:
- The apps in the High Risk category, such as Monkey (Omegle), Grindr, and MeetMe, should be avoided by children due to the high likelihood of exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, or contact with strangers.
- Apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok have features that can be more safely used with parental guidance, but they still require monitoring due to the potential for exposure to inappropriate content and interactions.
- Apps in the Lower Risk category, such as Minecraft, Roblox, and Wishbone, offer safer environments but should still be used with appropriate privacy settings and monitoring.
It is an important safeguarding measure for schools to monitor student activity on the school network and this includes social media apps and platforms which pose inherent risks taking place.
Please get in touch if you would like more information on how Securus monitors activity across ALL devices and applications to safeguard children in education.
Contact our team on 0330 124 1750 or get a quote / book a demo here.