Top 15 Indian Social Media Apps That are Rising in India

In the last ten years, how Indians interact, share, and consume content has changed with the addition of Indian Social Media Apps.

The sea change comes with the increase in internet and mobile phone connections galloping and overnightly changing the nature of digital connectivity in India.

The most transformational force lies among several domains of innovation-social media.

This has fostered a massive thrust on "Made in India" platforms that have been burgeoning with the thrust provided through the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and an awakening within the consumer community.

Indian developers are now ready to craft localized platforms of preferences, languages, and sensibilities that would speak to this melting-pot nation.

So, in this article, we have compiled a list of Indian social networking sites so you can understand the scope of social media apps rising in India.

Top 15 Indian Social Media Apps: A Comprehensive List

India's domestic social media apps experienced increased popularity within the country and globally, post-ban of the TikTok app along with a few other Chinese social media platforms and apps in India.

The Prime Minister of the country has been requesting citizens to switch over their usage to "Made in India" apps to help towards what we imagine as an "Atma Nirbhar Bharat", a vision of the PM to turn India into an “atmanirbhar” or self-reliant nation.

So, let's take a look at some of the best social media apps list in India that are made in India and can be used:

1. Sharechat

Download: Google Play Store | App Store

ShareChat is one of the top Indian social media apps. It is the social networking service that is rising to become one of the best apps for chatting on social media, with headquarters in Bangalore, India.

Its parent company was Mohalla Tech Pvt. Ltd; they were the ones who developed the app.

Its initial release was in January 2015. ShareChat is available on Google Play and iOS. Share Chat is available in more than 15 different languages.

ShareChat was founded by Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh, and Farid Ahsan, IIT Kanpur Graduates. This mobile application has 250+ million monthly active users.

Key Features of ShareChat:

🔘Multilingual: This simply means that a user can talk about the content to be shared in his/her mother tongue.

🔘Library with Various Content: The application keeps the user entertained by having a library of trending videos, memes, and local news.

🔘Real-time Chat Rooms: ShareChat is one of the features used in chat rooms. In this regard, people who have a common interest can converse in real-time.

🔘Private Messaging: The website provides private direct communication between the users, which increases connectivity.

2. Koo

The app was known earlier as Ku Koo Ku. It was founded by Aprameya Radhakrishna, the current CEO of the application, and Mayank Bidawatka.

The app won the Government of India's Atmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge in August 2020.

One of Koo's selling advantages is that it is available in numerous Indian languages. "To connect with Indians in Indian languages," it says on its website.

However, the app had been closed due to some legal complications. But its potential is worth noting, so it made it to our best social media apps list in India.

So, unfortunately, the app is not available to download from the Google Play Store or the App Store.

As an application owner, you can also know how to put an app on the App store with this guide.

With a phone number, a user could immediately sign up. Among the languages offered by Koo are English, Kannada, Tamil, Marathi, and Telegu.

A user could type up to 400 characters of text, which is higher than the limit of 280 characters on Twitter. Koo also supported all multimedia functions, such as audio and video recording.

Key Features of Koo:

🔘Multilingual Support: It has more than 20 Indian languages.

🔘Many Formats: You can type, audit, or even upload photographs on the platform. 

🔘Trending Option: The platform allows hashtags and trending topics, plus a feed just for the individual user.

3. Chingari

Download: Google Play Store | App Store

Chingari is an India-based short video application. This application was inaugurated in November of 2018. It can be defined as a video-sharing application where users upload short videos of themselves.

With Chingari, the app lets its users do video creation activities that include services such as lip-syncing and dancing to music, voiceover of movie dialogue, etc

The ban on the social media platform TikTok has given rise to this India-based short-video application's popularity in India to quite a great extent.

Key Features of Chingari:

🔘New Video Editing Feature: Chingari has video editing and effects built into it using the concept of augmented reality.

🔘Cryptocurrency Reward: An intrinsic cryptocurrency, $GARI, that is given to creators

🔘Language Inclusivity: Chingari can retain its mass appeal since it would carry the regional language content.

🔘Real-time Content Translation: This will ensure the consumer consumption of the content in more than one language and thereby erase the language barrier in order to acquire a pan-India reach.

4. Josh

Download: Google Play Store | App Store

Josh is an Indian-based short video platform. It was developed in September 2020 by Dailyhunt. Dailyhunt is an Indian content and daily news application located in Bangalore, India.

It provides content in 14 Indian languages. It was founded by Umesh Kulkarni and Chandrashekar Sohoni, who were ex-Nokia employees. It was released initially in 2010.

The short video platform is Josh and has short videos that are trending and viral that you can share with your followers. The app allows you to make your own unique videos.

The App has videos on dance, music, comedy, jokes, pranks, and many more. It also has videos of different challenges, pets, and cooking.

The Josh mobile application offers a simple UI/UX design for Josh's beauty camera with real-time filters, face stickers, special effects, a makeup camera, and emojis. Etc.

You can even create Duet videos on Josh. You can share the videos on WhatsApp or Facebook and set them as your status.

Key Features of Josh:

🔘Short video platform with a focus on Indian content and creators.

🔘Featuring top celebrities, influencers, and musicians.

🔘It provides various video editing tools and effects.

🔘Best feature: Highly focuses on Indian content creators and entertainment.

5. Flik

Download: Google Play Store

Flik is a social media app that is trying to change the experience of chatting by making it much more enjoyable. The app is a social media app with a feature of a dating app.

You can connect to new people by using Flik. Flik helps you in finding friends and increasing your contact. It has an added feature for dating, and you can match with a like-minded person on the app. Flik can be considered a dating app, too.

The app is available in Hindi. It supports features like personal messaging, video calls, voice calls, audio messages, etc. If you are interested in uploading live stories of the content, Flik allows you to do that.

Flik is one of the social media sites in India that can help you share it with your friends.

Key Features of Flik:

🔘Two-in-one App: Combining the elements of both social media and dating, Flik connects users with people of their choice or with others sharing similar tastes and interests.

🔘Messaging Service: Users can share personal messages and audio messages and also conduct voice and video calls through this application for an all-around communication experience.

🔘Cross File Sharing (all file types): PDF, Word documents, audio files, and even APK and ZIP files can be shared by this application with other users for utility purposes.

🔘Livestory Sharing: Flik provides its users with an interface to share live stories and moments with their friends without hassles.

🔘Multilingual Support: Hindi is also available on the platform, thus serving the regional audience.

Read: What Are the Different Types of Social Media Marketing?

6.Moj

Download: Google Play Store | App Store

Moj is a video-sharing social media app whose parent company is ShareChat and is owned by Mohalla Tech Private Ltd. It was founded by Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh, and Farid Ahsan.

Moj was developed shortly after the Indian government banned TikTok, along with all other Chinese applications in India, due to the 2020 situation between India and China.

The social media app started on June 29, 2020, and within two days, it saw a download of 50 thousand users from the Google Play Store. It provides users with special effects and emoticons that can be used on the videos.

Some genres include comedies, education, dancing, and acting. Videos can also have durations as short as 15 seconds up to 1 minute.

Key Features of Moj:

🔘Short Video Content: Upload creative and engaging videos with a duration between 15 seconds and 60 seconds. Also, get various editing tools, effects, and trendy soundtracks.

🔘Multilingual Language Support: Moj allows content marketing, creation, and consumption in multiple Indian languages, thus reaching a larger audience.

🔘Trending Challenges and Fun Filters: The app allows new challenges and creative filters to enable fun activities and keep users engaged on the platform.

🔘Partnership with Celebrities and Influencers: Moj made it more intriguing by collaborating with influencers and celebrities to make premium, engaging content available to users.

7. Mitron

Shivank Agarwal and Anish Khandelwal launched Mitron on April 11, 2020. It is the video sharing application that provides you with the facility of creating, editing, and sharing your videos.

However, it has also been shut down despite its potential.

This one of the best Indian Social Media Apps that boasts a variety of transitions and special effects for video creation.

Furthermore, users can also select from a wide variety of audio tracks to edit their videos. This free app offers over 15 unique categories for content, emerging as a popular choice for the Indian short video content ecosystem.

Key Features of Mitron:

🔘Great User Interface: No clutter in the application.

🔘Trending Filters and Visual Effects: The updates keep the platform fresh and relevant for the users.

🔘Multi-Language Support: It supports multiple Indian languages for wide accessibility.

8. Leher

Leher is an India social networking site where one can engage in audio as well as video discussions. Atul Jaju and Vikas Malpani created Leher in August 2018.

This platform discusses all sorts of things. Here, one can discuss one's topic of choice with friends or a community member. Anyone can participate in a favorite discussion of choice here.

One can interact more with the audience; live Q&A, polls, and comments can be given, and one can even send a direct message to the person one likes. Leher has a lot of potential to keep up with the marketing trends as well.

It gives a discussion's hosting and can invite others as they prefer to take part in the discussion. The facility of sticker and Emoji reaction is provided to make it a more interesting discussion for users.

Key Features of Leher:

🔘Audio and Video Discussions: Leher features live rooms with interactive audio and video discussions about any topic by communities and friends.

🔘Host Controls and Invitations: Hosts invite participants, keep discussions in moderation, and also create interesting Q&A sessions or polls.

🔘Interactive Engagement Tools: Users can use stickers, emojis, and comments to react while making the discussion more lively and fun.

🔘Direct Messaging: Participants can use direct messages that help in connectivity within the platform.

🔘Focus on Communities: Leher stresses the importance of niche communities where users can explore and discuss shared interests.

9. Kutumb

Download: Google Play Store | App Store

Kutumb was formed in 2020 by Abhishek Kejriwal and Mohit Sharma, and it is a social networking application.

Here, one can connect with people through communication and share images, videos, news, and other stuff. All of these can be done in your choice of regional languages.

During the second wave of COVID-19, it is through the Kutumb app that many NGOs could collect donations to help the victims of the COVID-19 disease and prevent or overcome its dreadful effects.

Key Features of Kutumb:

🔘Regional Language Support: Kutumb enables users to connect and share content in their preferred regional languages, thus increasing inclusivity.

🔘Community-Oriented Networking: The app links users by communities, and people can share pictures, videos, news, and updates on specific topics within a community.

🔘Source of Trust During Crisis: When the COVID-19 pandemic was happening, Kutumb provided an opportunity for NGOs to raise funds and communicate, thus reflecting its social contribution.

🔘Safe and Private Platform: The app is designed to be a private and safe platform for interaction between communities.

🔘Cultural Relevance: It strengthens its India-centric position by focusing on regional and cultural aspects.

10. Roposo

Download: Google Play Store | App Store

Roposo is a short-video social media app dubbed "TV by the People," offering options to the masses to create, share, and watch the shortest of stories with different genre films.

Entering the fields of entertainment, mixed with e-commerce single-vendor or multi-vendor industry, is uniquely Indian.

Key Features of Roposo:

🔘Channel-Based Content: Roposo is exclusively the channel type as it has different categories to attract people, like humour, food, or style.

🔘Video-Shopping Integration: The application provides live commerce where users can buy products while viewing content.

🔘Multilingual Support: It helps in the production of content in Indian languages and, therefore, reaches the masses who do not understand English.

🔘Advanced Editing Tools: This facility enables the user to aid him in the creation of high-grade professional video content.

Entertainment and nuances have helped Roposo differentiate itself from other examples of short-video applications.

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11. Trell

Download: Google Play Store

Trell is a curated e-commerce website that enables users to discover lifestyle themes such as travelling, food, and beauty. Between the content is this e-commerce solution.

Key Features of Trell:

🔘Customized Recommendations: Trell uses an AI algorithm, such as generative AI models, to give personal interest recommendations to the app users.

🔘E-Commerce Integration: Based on video recommendations, users can also buy products directly from the application.

🔘Tutorials and Reviews: Trell contains a humongous repository of reviews and how-to content, which is sure to be engaging and informative.

12. Public

Download: Google Play Store | App Store

It’s one of the very local-ish Social Media apps in India that connects people and makes them aware in real time of what’s happening in their surroundings.

This app is basically a hub for local news, events, and other activities.

Key Features of the Public:

🔘Location-targeted News: They share regional news and other information that is significant to specific users.

🔘Video-Based Content: The public prefers videos over other content because they are easy to understand and take less time.

🔘Community Engagement: Users can connect with community leaders, journalists, and more.

13. Lokal

Download: Google Play Store | App Store

Lokal is an app for locally-focused social media apps that delivers news and classified jobs to small towns and villages in India.

Key features of Lokal:

🔘Localized Content: It also provides current, updated reports that are classified and relevant to the user's locality.

🔘User-friendly Interface: It is created for users’ simple use, even for those possessing less technical adeptness, aligning with the best UI design principles.

🔘Classified & Employment: Job opportunities and classifieds are available here.

14. Hike Messenger

Hike is a messaging application launched in 2012 that has evolved to become one of the most popular social media applications in India.

Unfortunately, just like the Koo app, it has also been shut down and is not available to download on official platforms.

The features provided by this application include video calling, file sharing, and games.

The most prominent feature that distinguishes Hike from others is its "HikeMoji" feature, which lets the user create a personalized avatar for use in a conversation.

Key Features of Hike Messenger:

🔘All-in-one messaging app focused on privacy and security.

🔘The wallet is integrated into it with a mobile recharge option.

🔘A range of stickers and emojis are also provided to give an experience while messaging.

15. Bolo Indya

Bolo Indya was a vernacular social media app that focused on local content and language support.

The app was made available in 14 Indian languages and allowed users to share videos, images, and text posts.

Bolo Indya's user base is mainly users from small towns and rural areas who appreciate the app's focus on regional content.

Key Features of Bolo Indya:

🔘Video-based learning platform for acquiring new skills and knowledge

🔘Features expert-led sessions, quizzes, and certificates

🔘Offers content in multiple languages, including English and Hindi

Conclusion

The Indian social networking sites scenario is extremely diversified with respect to various interests and linguistic preferences.

ShareChat caters to the regional segment, while alternatives like Chingari and Moj offer a TikTok alternative for the masses. These apps open up scopes of creativity, connecting, and entertainment.

The combination of innovative features with localized content ensures that the best Indian social media apps keep the country's digital engagement and cultural expression at the forefront.

India leads in social media downloads according to the same report, App Annie. Therefore, somebody or another registers every second on one of the popular social media sites, including the made-in-Bharat apps.

If you haven't visited these websites/platforms yet, now is the time to do so!

Furthermore, connect with Arramton Infotech if you are interested in creating one of your own Indian social media apps. Check out our iOS and Android app development services, On-demand app development services, and more.

We even provide top-notch social media management services to take your business to new heights in the digital marketing sphere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What are some popular Indian social media apps, and what are their unique features?

Ans: Some popular social media apps in India include:

• ShareChat: Offers multilingual support, real-time chat rooms, and a library of trending content.
• Koo: A microblogging app supporting over 20 Indian languages and multimedia content.
• Chingari: Features short video creation, video editing, and cryptocurrency rewards.
• Moj: Provides short video content, multilingual support, and creative filters.

Q. Why have Indian social media apps gained popularity recently?

Ans: Indian social media apps gained popularity after the ban on Chinese apps like TikTok in 2020. The Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and increased demand for localized platforms also contributed to their growth, offering users content in regional languages and tailored features.

Q. How do Indian social media apps cater to regional audiences?

Ans: Many Indian social media apps, like ShareChat, Kutumb, and Bolo Indya, focus on regional languages and culturally relevant content. This helps them engage users from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds across India.

Q. Can I create one of my own social media apps in India with unique features?

Ans: Yes, you can create your own social media app with the help of expert app developers like Arramton Infotech. They provide services for iOS and Android app development, on-demand app solutions, and social media management to bring your vision to life.