Picture this: It's finally Friday, and you're gearing up for a late-night gaming session with your buddies on Discord. It’s right between the pre-game banter and the main event. A few of your friends are ready, but, you're still waiting for the others to come online, so it’s a little quiet in the meantime. 

Instead of waiting idly, why not tend to your virtual crops in Farm Merge Valley, groove to a pre-hype playlist with your friends with Rythm, or whip up a video of your friend doing the macarena with Viggle? 

With a whole world of apps on Discord just a click away, you won’t have to sit in silence again.  No matter if you're in a voice call, a text chat, a server, or a DM, or whether you or your friends are on desktop or mobile, there’ll always be something to do and play — solo or with friends!

Start the Fun with Apps

What… ARE apps…? They’re more than they appear. 

Apps bring a world of entertainment and utility right into your chat. Whether you're in the mood for playing party games, watching videos, listening to music, tracking stats for your favorite game, or exploring creative tools, apps offer endless ways to take your hangouts to the next level. Popular apps like Gartic Phone, YouTube Watch Together, Rythm, Stat Tracker, and Midjourney make it easy to enjoy these experiences together, no matter where you hang out on Discord.

Launching Apps is Easier Than Ever

The App Launcher makes using apps on Discord quick and simple. Available on both mobile and desktop, it’s conveniently located next to the chat bar in text chats and at the bottom of voice calls. Just look for the button with the shapes on it:

You can now access Activities and bots as apps in the App Launcher. Whether you enjoy drawing with the Whiteboard Activity or having Midjourney /imagine that mystical creature that’s been floating in the back of your mind, it’s all easily accessible from the App Launcher. This means more seamless integration across our platform and easier access to your favorite interactive experiences, no matter where you like to hang out on Discord.

And for those of you who were tired of tediously typing app commands, the App Launcher on mobile has a command interface that lets you easily view and select commands for quicker, type-free use.

Want to kill some time with your friends while you wait for the rest of the crew to join the voice call? Play a couple of rounds of Death by AI and let the robot overlords judge whether you’d survive a disaster scenario. Prefer to play more casually outside of voice calls? Simply launch apps like Chess In The Park or Putt Party directly in any text chat to plot your next checkmate at your own pace or practice your mini-golf stroke solo.

You can also easily use apps to edit images shared in the chat. Just select the App Launcher button in the top right corner of a shared image and choose from a list of commands to do things like describe the image, turn it into a sticker, or make the image bounce – the result will show up as a new message in the chat. See your friend share a cool pic that you want to make into a meme? Use the Caption command from the esmBot app to add a quippy caption.

Add Apps to Your Account to Use Them Everywhere

Apps are no longer limited to just the servers where they were added — you can now take supported apps to any server or DM across Discord by adding them directly to your account! For supported apps, simply open the app’s profile from the chat or member list and select “Add App”. Additionally, these apps will automatically be added to your account after you launch them from the App Launcher and authorize them. Apps added to your account will appear in the Recents section at the top of the App Launcher for easy access.

Explore Thousands of Apps

The Discord Developer community is constantly growing, building out new apps for people to utilize every day. (Learn more about how to build apps on Discord!) 

On the top of the App Launcher, you’ll find a search bar. Search for music apps, search for games. Quickly access apps you already use or discover your next new favorite app! 

With over 2,000 (and counting) apps available, there's something for everyone. Not sure what you're looking for? Scroll down in the App Launcher to see what's popular and trending right now.

But… if you’re looking for recommendations on which apps you should try out first, take a peek at this curated collection of apps to get started: 

• Farm Merge Valley: Merge your crops, expand your land, and visit your friends’ farms in this world-building puzzle game.
• Gartic Phone: Draw something, have your friend explain it, then someone else draws their explanation… on and on it goes in this Telephone-style drawing game. 
• Rythm: The cult-classic Discord music-listening App! Up to 20 friends can join along.
• Virtual Fisher: A text-based fishing game where you can fish with your friends in any community. 
• Viggle: That AI-generated video of your favorite characters dancing? It came from Viggle. Generate some yourself, directly in any Discord conversation.

See What Apps Your Friends Are Using and Join In

We’ve enhanced the way we display your activity on Discord to make it easier for you to see what your friends are playing or have recently played, discover new games, and spark more conversations. 

With these improvements, you can see what apps your friends are using directly in chat, on their profile, or even in the member list, making it easy to join in on the fun. Spot your friends playing Blazing 8s and jump right into the game with them! Learn more about this feature and how to manage your activity status controls in our support article here.

With apps on Discord, you’ll always have something fun to do with your friends. Enjoy a full suite of experiences that make hanging out on Discord even better—whether you’re playing party games, listening to music together, or watching videos to help with your study session.

So what’re ya waiting for?! Hop on Discord on desktop, web or mobile and tinker with some apps right now! 

For more details about how the App Launcher works, how to use apps within it, and how to discover new ones, check out our support article riiight here.