Digital Wellbeing App: 10 Solutions for Better Tech Interaction

The relationship between people and technology has become so advanced that smartphones have become our primary focus. Regrettably, we tend to spend more time looking at a screen than with family and friends. But fortunately, big companies like Google picked up on this and created apps to balance digital wellbeing.

A Digital Wellbeing App is a software program developed to help us manage and track how often we use our smartphones. These apps help balance our real and digital lives and contribute to healthy digital habits.

This article will explain digital wellbeing apps and briefly describe where the idea originated. The report will also include the top ten best digital wellbeing apps. Finally, the article will discuss why we need digital wellbeing apps. 

What Is Digital Wellbeing? 

Digital well-being is a term used to explain the relationship that we have with technology. In 2018, Google hosted an Input/Output developer conference, and this is where the term ‘Digital Wellbeing’ was brought up.

This initiative was introduced to help us use technology to achieve goals and not be distracted by it. This is even more relevant, especially because AI therapy, and t AI apps for mental health support are no longer seen as taboo options of support a persons wellbeing

Here are two brief videos created by Google about digital well-being on an Android device:

What Are Digital Wellbeing Apps And Tools?

Digital wellbeing apps and tools are software programs developed to manage and track the time spent on our smartphones. These apps and devices can also track how often we use certain smartphone apps. As a result, these apps help us improve our daily digital habits. 

Digital wellbeing apps help us find the right balance between us and our smartphones. These apps and tools allow us to use technology to our benefit. Digital wellbeing apps give us an overview of which apps we use and how long we use the app, the screen time we spend on the phone today, the total notifications we receive, and more. 

These apps and tools provide controls and features that work for any moment of the day. The features include unplugging, productivity, balance, and parental controls. Digital wellbeing apps are meant for anyone who wants to improve their digital habits.

Below is a list of features that digital well-being apps and tools have to offer:

• Bedtime Mode
  • Phone goes silent
  • Screen turns grey
  • Only alarms and important calls
• Night Light
  • Tint smartphone screen to a warm color
  • A great feature to use when getting ready for bed
• Flip To Shhh
  • Place smartphone face down to automatically turn off notifications
  • Easy way to silence smartphone without touching the screen
  • Pause distracting apps
• Focus Mode automatically sends alerts
  • Focus better by putting non-important apps on pause
  • No notifications from certain apps when you are working
  • Choose which apps are inaccessible when focus mode is on
• Dashboard
  • This is where you get all your digital well-being information
  • Check which apps you spend the most time on and which ones send you the most notifications
  • Use this feature to set and achieve digital goals
• App Timers
  • It helps with keeping track of which apps you use
  • Set setting app limits so that you know when to switch off and focus on something more important
  • App notifications do not come through when the limit has been reached
• Family Link
  • Connect your device to your child’s device
  • Use this to set digital ground rules for your children
  • Manage and track apps and websites
• Bonus Time
  • Add extra time for your child to be on the smartphone
  • Either to finish a game or homework assignment

Click here to get more information about these digital wellbeing app features we need in our everyday lives.  

Why Do We Need Digital Wellbeing Apps And Tools?

The main goal of digital wellbeing apps is to minimize the time we spend using technology. Technology is taking over the world, but we cannot allow it to take over our daily lives. 

These apps and tools also allow us to achieve the digital goals that we set for ourselves. In addition, these apps help us create healthy digital habits for ourselves and our families. 

Digital wellbeing apps and tools are responsible for creating a more productive and balanced style of living. These apps and tools may also reduce the digital addiction we might find ourselves in and how much screen time we spend using our digital apps. Another thing about these apps and tools is that they allow us to sleep better at night, reducing exhaustion in the morning. 

Below are some of the advantages that digital wellbeing apps have to offer:

Productivity

Digital wellbeing apps and tools are created so that we can spend more time being productive rather than being distracted. A user can set to focus mode automatically sends an alert for time to block out distractions and work on certain tasks.

Being more productive allows us to focus more on reaching our daily goals. In addition, these digital apps help us be more productive during work and when we relax at home.

In recent years, companies have started incorporating digital wellbeing into the workplace. This initiation has resulted in employees being more productive and engaged. In addition, employees who adopt digital well-being into their lives usually produce quality work, improving their mental and physical health. 

Balance

Digital wellbeing apps and tools help us find the right balance between humans and technology. These apps and tools also contribute to finding a balance between our work and personal lives. Technology is part of our everyday lives; therefore, we need digital wellbeing apps and tools to create a healthy digital balance. 

These apps allow us to spend more time with real-life activities instead of wasting time looking at a screen. Interacting with technology is not bad; it only becomes harmful when we overuse it. Therefore, digital wellbeing apps are essential for forming a healthy relationship between us and technology. 

Cure For Addiction

We tend to use technology more often than we realize; therefore, some people consider our smartphones an addiction we cannot control. Digital wellbeing apps and tools might not be the most accurate way to cure our digital addictions, but it is a precautionary measure. 

Digital wellbeing apps help prevents mental and physical health issues caused by a digital addiction. Using digital wellbeing apps will help with being mindful of how much time you spend on your smartphone.

Therefore, creating some form of cure for our smartphone addiction. These apps also contribute to decreasing IADs (Internet Addiction Disorders).

Sleeping Habits

Digital wellbeing apps and tools help us have a good night’s rest while contributing to healthy sleeping habits before bedtime. According to Google, there has been a rise in sleep-related searches such as “insomnia” and “can’t sleep.” These digital wellbeing apps allow us to get the right amount of sleep to achieve our daily goals the next day.

These types of apps and tools improve the quality of sleep, resulting in more productivity. In addition, digital wellbeing apps help to create a constant bedtime and wake-up time routine. This way, we can maintain our sleeping habits and still find time to do the things we enjoy and love. 

Tracking

The main focus of digital wellbeing is to track and manage the time we spend using technology. These digital well-being apps and tools help track how much time we spend on a particular app, how many notifications we get, and how many times we unlock our smartphones throughout the day. 

Keeping track of these digital habits will improve our productivity and focus at home or work. In addition, these apps and tools let us know when we are overusing our smartphones and can allow users to create screen time limits. Therefore, tracking your daily digital usage can contribute to achieving your digital habit goals, eventually, because you have set screen time limits for when you use to a healthy digital lifestyle.

Google provides a free course to learn why we need digital well-being apps and tools. This course will help you discover why it is essential to have a healthy relationship with technology. Click here if you are interested in knowing more about this digital well-being course. 

What Are The Best Digital Wellbeing Apps And Tools For Parents?

Digital well-being apps and tools should be part of our everyday lives. These apps and tools are straightforward to access if you have a smartphone or any other device. Downloading these apps and turning on the tools will help you create healthy digital habits. 

Some can also help you monitor your child’s device remotely, including their screen time and visited sites.

Below are ten digital well-being apps that you can download:

1. ActionDash

• Similar to Google’s Digital Wellbeing found on Android phone
• The main focus is to show screen time in different apps 
• Set apps to lock you out when you are using it too much
• Recognizes apps that create too many notifications 
• Download Here 

2. Digital Detox

• Various challenge modes to help decrease screen time
• Use device administrator permissions to limit phone usage
• Uses accountability to maintain honesty
• It starts with easy difficulty levels and moves to more challenging difficulty levels. 
• Download Here 

3. Digitox

• Similar to ActionDash
• Statistics based on smartphone usage
• Allows set timers for app and smartphone usage
• Calculates productive time taken to do a specific task
• Download Here 

4. Forest

• Different from other digital well-being apps
• Focus timer
• Includes multiple timer modes
• Does not keep track of usual digital well-being statistics
• Download Here 

5. Google Family Link App

• Install on child’s phone to monitor screen time and app usage
• Teach the child about digital well-being and prevent addiction
• Permission system to block out unwanted apps
• Somewhat more difficult to set up than other apps 
• Download Here 

6. Microsoft Launcher

• Launcher with various productivity features
• Includes a decent design 
• Daily and weekly digital well-being statistics
• Includes widget to view statistics from the home screen 
• Download Here 

7. Niagara Launcher

• The popular minimal launcher on Andriod phone
• A home screen that minimizes distractions
• A simple and easy scroll that comes with animations
• It does not track statistics nor has lock-out features
• Download Here 

8. Olauncher

• Similar to Niagara Launcher
• The home screen lists apps that you want quick access to
• It contains no graphics, just text, and wallpaper
• Free and does not come with unnecessary permissions
• Download Here 

9. StayFree

• Displays statistics on screen and app usage
• It comes with three self-control modes
• Includes focus mode and sleep mode
• Includes widget that shows updated statistics
• Download Here 

10. Digital Wellbeing

• Found in the Operating System of modern Android devices
• Access from settings app or phone settings
• Displays things such as screen time, app usage, etc.
• Download Here 

Conclusion

In the era of digitalization, we are more connected than ever before. But as we become increasingly reliant on technology, it’s important to make sure that we’re using it in a way that supports our well-being. That’s why digital well-being is so important.

Digital well-being apps are developed to help us balance our real lives with digital ones. These apps and tools contribute to managing our time while creating a healthy digital lifestyle.

By practicing digital well-being, with the assistance of some of the tips and apps listed in this article, we can maintain healthy digital habits and ensure that technology is working for us, not against us.