Best IRL social apps for people new to the city

Our take

Moving to a new city is exciting until reality sets in: you don't know anyone, your weekends are empty, and making friends as an adult is harder than anyone warned you. If you've recently relocated and you're feeling that specific loneliness of being surrounded by people who all seem to know each other, Søren is built for exactly this moment.

The platforms we curate for newcomers specialize in getting you from zero social connections to a real community as quickly as possible. The best ones share a few traits: low barriers to entry, structured events that remove the planning burden, and formats that encourage repeated interaction with the same people — because one meetup rarely turns into a friendship.

If you've been searching for how to make friends in a new city or apps for people who just moved, you've probably found a lot of options and very little clarity about which ones are actually worth trying. That's where Søren comes in. We review every relevant platform, and we're specifically evaluating whether they have active communities in real cities — not just impressive user counts on a press page.

The smartest strategy when you're new somewhere is to try multiple apps simultaneously. Join a dinner club, a sports league, and a community group. Cast a wide net in your first few months, then double down on whatever clicks. The goal isn't to commit to one platform — it's to create as many opportunities for connection as possible while your motivation is high.

Meeting people after moving is genuinely one of the hardest social challenges adults face. It's not a personal failing — it's a structural problem. The organic pathways to friendship that existed in school (shared spaces, daily proximity, unstructured time together) don't exist in adult life. These apps are trying to recreate those conditions, and some of them do it remarkably well.

Søren exists to help people in exactly this situation. We'll point you toward what works in your new city so you can stop scrolling and start actually meeting people.