Active Audience | 52% |
Quality Matches | 75% |
Popular Age | 18-30 |
Profiles | 1 500 000 |
Reply Rate | 75% |
Ease of Use | 9.9 |
Popularity | 8.5 |
Fraud | Very Rarely |
Rating |
8.9
|
Registration | Free |
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Amino is one product in a network of Amino apps, and it acts as a huge social media community targeting people with similar interests. Amino is neither a dating app nor a chatroom — even though users can technically find both here. This app has tons of active, user-generated communities. It gives everyone a chance to join these ‘boards,’ create one’s own content, interact with other users, and find plenty of exciting info on many topics, from cooking to comic books.
Following in the footsteps of any social media site, Amino is free to use — even though it is possible to get a few minor perks for money Its focus on the mobile-native generation of late teens and early twenties has won Amino the social network title for nerds. Still, plenty of communities are far from nerdy and have thousands of active users. So, what’s Amino truly about? Find out below.
The development company behind Amino was founded in 2011, but it took them three years till Amino apps network was created in 2014. Now, this company regularly gets millions of dollars of investment, but just like most social sites, it is still looking for effective monetization means.
Amino’s original creators, Narvii Inc., are still its owners. Even though this app gets its fair share of investors, Narvii Inc. are still in charge of most things.
Registering with Amino is a breeze, both in terms of options and how quickly one’s first signup ever happens. Users can register with their email, phone number, or Facebook accounts. The first two will have to go through a quick verification procedure. The app will simply send a six-digit code to their specified email or phone number. Once you enter the code, you will necessarily have to give Amino access to your camera and photos because you cannot proceed with account creation without a pic. It does not necessarily have to be the picture of yourself — any avatar would do. When registering with FB, photos can be pulled automatically.
After that, newcomers should give their date of birth. Right after that, they are redirected to a screen with various interests. It is necessary to pick three or more, and the choice of options is truly impressive. Here, we have everything from Spirituality & Ballet to Sports, Science & Tech. A range of in-between options includes Music, Movies, Subcultures, Beauty, Healthy Lifestyle, and many others.
Once newcomers have chosen at least three of those, users will need to elaborate a little. Each chosen section comes with a set of subsections. For example, Reading & Literature comes with dedicated subsections on Harry Potter, Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Poetry, Crime, Dystopian, and many more. The bottom line, practically all genres and most ‘trendy’ authors are represented here. The same logic applies to other interest sections.
After this, Amino will ask if it can send you notifications, which you should either allow or ignore. Then, the app will ask you to create a password, and you are good to go.
Next, Amino implements a social media approach to user accounts. Here, you will not get any long questionnaires asking you about your dreams, education, background, and stuff like this. Instead, all profiles remain social-media concise — at least, when it comes to factual info. However, all user accounts have a home page where people are free to post stories, share content, etc. Anyone can start following other accounts, and, of course, get followers of one’s own. So, it is pretty much a Facebook based on thematic interests, not real-life connections.
All communication on Amino is free of charge and happens mostly through common chat rooms and communities. Once a new person joins, the Discover tab in the app offers a list of popular communities that match one’s specified interests. Some are public, while some ask for an application. Still, there is no reason why admins would deny your access to their content. Users are also free to create their own communities, attract existing members to these boards, and interact. Any communities you already joined or created will be displayed in the Communities tab. That’s where the action happens.
Open group chats are available in the Chat section, right next to Communities. There are no matches or any automated friend suggestions because Amino believes users should take these matters into their own hands and make new friends within this app’s communities. Luckily, there are plenty of those, and they match users’ specific interests and hobbies.
The search tab allows looking for users by their Amino ID, links, and keywords. So, if you’re new to the site, it will unlikely do any good. Joining the communities, however, will be more useful for chatting with new people. In the same search tab, there are subsections for searching via available communities, specific chatrooms, and trending stories. The same keyword-based logic applies.
This is fairly simple. Go to your profile section (tab ‘Me’), press the three lines at the right top corner of the app, find ‘Account’, and tap there. In that section, users will see a ‘Delete Account’ option color-coded red. It’s going to be pretty hard to miss, but remember that this action is permanent, and all of your data gets deleted. So, should you decide to use Amino again, you will have to register all over again and join new communities from scratch. Alternatively, you can always Logout or disable notifications from the app if it becomes too distracting.
Amino apps do not keep track of its users, and even if they do, they keep this info to themselves. Still, a quick look at the available communities will tell anyone that Amino users are calculated in millions. Why? Simply because this app has 250,000+ registered communities, and the most popular ones have somewhere in-between 500,000 and five million subscribers.
There is also no info on the precise age demographics, but since this app was built with mobile natives in mind, we assume most users are indeed between 16 and 24 years old. Of course, there could be some younger and older people, but overall, it seems that Amino is mostly populated by its target, late teens / early twenties demographic.
Stats on gender composition are as vague, but according to one of the user-populated polls, it looks like most users are girls. 80% of participants identified themselves as ‘girl,’ 10% as a boy, and ten more percent as other. But then again, this poll only had 30 votes and, considering Amino’s enormous database, these stats cannot go anywhere near accurate.
Besides, given the number of communities dedicated to comics, tech, and sports, we must assume there are quite a lot of male users on Amino. In fact, this app’s gender composition can even be more or less equal — judging from what we’ve seen in the communities.
Amino does not discriminate against any sexual orientations, which is clear right from one of the first login screens. Users can indicate their gender as male, female, or non-binary. Besides, it has a pretty active LGBT+ community, which can also be set as one of your primary topics of interest.
Once again, there are no restrictions regarding race, nationality, or even country. This is an all-welcome app; however, there are no stats on the exact ethnic composition of this app. But given its large number of users, we’d have to assume that fairly everyone is represented on Amino.
Religion is not a common topic for the Amino community. Still, there are no restrictions either. Regardless of their denomination, people are always welcome to join.
Even though technically Amino does offer a paid membership, absolutely all of its truly essential features are available free of charge. Any additional perks users may want to pay for do not affect one’s experience with this app. Take a look at the details below and see for yourself.
Free users can create an account, fill in their profile, add bio, join existing communities, and create their own ones. They can interact in chat rooms, follow various people, post stories, and share content. People can also link their websites and social media profiles. Everything that’s fun and useful about Amino is available free of charge. And the best part — all of that comes without any annoying ads. Not unless users enable those to earn coins (see details below).
Still, Amino does offer a paid membership plan for its most dedicated users. This subscription is called Amino+ and boasts the following perks:
As you can clearly see, all of those features are not necessary at all. Most people would agree that a few extra stickers are not worth paying for. If you’re not one of them, good news for you – the Amino+ subscription is very affordable. Besides, users can always choose the duration they are most comfortable with. Here are the available options with prices.
Next, Amino offers coin packages, varying in price from $0.99 to $99.99. These coins can also be used to buy frames and stickers and unlock some of the app’s premium features. In terms of payment plans, Amino is highly versatile because it does not force users to commit to any long-term membership plans. People can stick to the coin system, which allows them better control of their finances. Besides, there is a free 3-day trial version for the Amino+. And, users can earn some Amino coins by enabling in-app ads.
Since Amino is an app that does not yet have a desktop version, all payments are processed through users’ respective mobile stores.
As is often the case, all payments auto-renew automatically. If you want to downgrade to a free plan, you can always do so in the Account tab under My Wallet option. Simply find the Subscriptions option in a Wallet and customize all you like.
Amino is not the only quality product in the Narvii network, and everything is top-notch when it comes to cyber-security. This app keeps all of their user data private — both when it comes to interaction within the app, and any financial data users share to buy a subscription.
On the other hand, some parents have a reasonable concern that this app might not be exactly child-friendly. Technically, it has an age rating of 12+, but most argue that teens should not use it unless they are at least 15. Truth be told, Amino’s main target audience is even a bit older than that.
Still, despite some parents’ concerns, we do not think it is such a teen-inappropriate product. This app is moderated, has a strict no-nudity and no-harassment policy. Besides, it allows blocking and reporting any abusive users. So, it’s really not that bad, and even though some topics may not be suitable for early teens, one should not forget that this app is more of social media. And social media often takes a life of its own.
Yes, it’s not an app for babies. It is a social media community where people can interact based on their interests. Of course, some parents may be unhappy when their teen child joins an LGBT+ community on Amino. But, most probably would not be too happy if that happened after thirty. All in all, Amino is a safe app full of interesting content, and we see no objective reason for trashing some of its more sensitive topics and communities.
While it is technically possible to create a scam account with a newly registered email, we still believe that Amino user database is mostly (if not entirely) authentic. After all, this is no dating app — it’s just an online community by interests. Spotting an inactive or fake account is as easy as it is on Facebook — just look at the person’s home page, shared stories, and posted content. Any genuine profile will have some traces of activity, even if this person is more of a passive participant who reads more than posts.
Amino is an app that does not have a website — not yet, at least. Perhaps, it won’t even get one since Narvii never announced such intentions. Besides, this tool was made with a mobile-native generation in mind, so having a desktop would fall out of line with their philosophy.
Amino works pretty much like any social media site. Users can create their accounts, join different communities, post stories on their profiles, and follow any other users they find interesting. In a way, it works like a combination of Facebook and Twitter. Amino allows joining an unlimited number of communities, not unlike Facebook groups. At the same time, following people and adding connections is based on interests, just like with Twitter. Here, you do not need to interact with your sister’s classmate — all users choose their peers by common interests.
This app is a fun, perfectly polished-up product that gets regular updates and keeps improving as we speak. Even though Amino is incredibly feature-rich, it still offers intuitive and easy navigation — not only for the young. Sure, your grandma might not find this app so easy to use, but most tech-savvy people will not have any problem with Amino. Its neat design and high versatility are perfect for people who know what a quality app should look like.
All in all, Amino is a pretty much standalone product. It can compare with Facebook and even a bit of Pinterest with its boards. Still, despite any similarities, Amino remains relatively unique. Another similar network that pops to mind is Reddit, but it gets way more hectic and — often — less innocent.
If, however, you are looking for Amino alternatives because you did not get any dates there, consider any other dating site, starting with giant Tinder and ending with any niche service that targets specific romantic goals. Amino, after all, is not for dating but for socializing.
Amino is a great tool for its target audience. It is designed for young, tech-savvy people interested in joining various communities and getting relevant updates with useful information on topics they find interesting. Whether you’re into the latest Marvel movies or vegan recipes, you will definitely find something to your taste. This social media app for the young is definitely worth checking out — the range of interests and communities is truly impressive. And Amino offers it free of charge!