NEW YORK – October 29, 2026 -- Two in three 10-year-olds in US Findmykids families use more than one chat-enabled app in a typical week, and by age 12 most use three or more. The study covers 30,778 children aged 10 to 17 on Android phones, tracked over four weeks in August and September 2026.
A typical 10-year-old uses two chat apps a week
From age 15, the typical child uses four. YouTube and texting are not counted. Among 10- and 11-year-olds, 34% used both a chat game and a messenger in the same week, with Roblox plus WhatsApp the top pairing at 28%.
Roblox reaches 57% of children while dating apps reach 1.5%
Roblox reached 57% of children aged 10 to 17. All dating and anonymous-chat apps combined reached 1.5%. About half of 10-year-olds use a social app, before 13, the minimum age on most platforms.
Findmykids sees which apps were open, not what was said
For context, a 2022 Thorn survey found that two in three 9- to 17-year-olds said someone they knew only online had asked them to continue on another platform. The FBI says sextortion offenders often push for such a switch. Those figures come from other samples and methods than the Findmykids data.
Families can agree on warning signs early
Findmykids advises setting the rules in advance. If an online-only contact asks a child to switch apps, keep secrets, send photos or money, or meet, the child tells a trusted adult without fear of losing their phone.