I tested all the apps for digital wellbeing: these are the best

Plus, how I set up my phone to change my social media habits

Apr 02, 2023

Hello,
In the past weeks I tested 34 iPhone apps to figure out which is the best for reducing unwanted screen-time. You will find my conclusions in this issue, along with my iPhone set-up designed to change my behavior at its core

Let’s get started.

iOS apps for digital wellbeing

I split the apps into five different categories and picked the best app for each. So you can choose the one that suits you best.

Real-time nudges

Best: one sec,
It forces you to take a deep breath and examine your intentions before opening an app. It does its job, and has the reasonable price of $9.99/year. I don’t recommend using it as intended, but as a short-term solution to retrain your behavior (more on this below).

The screens you get once you open *Facebook* with *one sec* active

App-blockers & website blockers

Best: Attentive - it is well-designed app/website blocker for $18/year.

Honorable mentions: Freedom. It is a website-blocker, but it also block access to apps like Facebook, Instagram… It is on the expensive side at $40/year, but works on your other devices and you can usually find discount codes online.
Another mention is Burnout Buddy, which at $6 one-time-purchase is the cheapest app-blocker I found.

Psychology-based

Best: Zario
Honestly, there are not many other apps based on psychology. Zario gives you daily challenges for a better relationship with your phone. The challenges are hit or miss, but the app is free, well-supported, and worth trying out.

Honorable mention: not less but better. I liked their cognitive behavioral therapy- based approach, but the app is now unsupported.

Statistics

There are apps that just help tracking your statistics. I personally haven’t liked any of these, and the Screen Time setting on your phone provides more than enough data. No app to recommend here.

Other

Best: Unscroll
I love this one. It gives you a budget of X minutes a day to use on all social media websites, which you can access through the app. It uses the browser version, which is much less enticing. Free to use.

Unscroll - it gives you a time budget that is always visible at the top and you can distribute among your social media

My current iPhone setup for social media

Right now it is very simple:

Unscroll for Instagram and Facebook. I noticed that it takes me less than 10 minutes a day to keep up-to-date with what my friends are up to.
One sec. I use this if I install an addictive app. I think of one sec as a temporary solution as I train my behavior to open addictive apps only if there is anything actionable (e.g. messages to reply to…). When I catch myself opening those apps because of boredom or FOMO, I close them and stay with the emotion. Once I feel confident with my new behavior, I stop using one sec.

Practical advice corner

Friend of Dachi Mehret Biruk shares some great advice for a more fulfilling life:

A monthly ritual for tricking myself to spend more time offline: Right before the start of the new month, I go over the upcoming four weeks and I try to schedule 1-2 plans for each week; the theatre, trying new bars/restaurants, visiting museums, a live show, visiting a friend, book club, meetup events, etc. I look at the films currently playing, the museum schedules, go over my meetup groups’ events, and even Google ‘things to do [city] [month] .’ The internet is an excellent place for finding things to do in the city. I buy tickets in advance, commit to time and place with people, and even plan the cute outfits I’m going to wear so I don’t chicken out last minute; “I’m tired,” “I’m sad,” “I’m lonely,” “I don’t have anything to wear,” etc. […]

Dachi