Now that you left the security of rehab and are back in the real world, you may be wondering how you will stay true to your new lifestyle. Your smartphone and tablet can be helpful in this process and serve as a lifeline to the mobile sober community. Drug and alcohol addiction recovery apps are fun, easy, and helpful tools in maintaining your sobriety and they are available for almost every mobile device on the market. Which ones are right for you? In this article, we break down the applications by category including sober trackers, inspirational and mental health apps, and sober relationship apps to help you find a new friend or even someone special.
Sober Tracker Apps
- Clean Time Counter – this app is a day counter for anyone recovering from alcohol, drugs, or any other substance use or addiction disorder. Some features include customizing it any way you choose, finding support in the community section, and creating a gratitude list.
- Sober Time Sobriety Counter – in addition to offering a sobriety day counter, the app also features daily motivational messages, a community forum to share your progress, and even a section to see how much money you’ve saved!
- I Am Sober – in addition to tracking your sober days and showcasing an online community, the app helps you build new habits and provides ongoing motivation by allowing you to take a pledge to sobriety every day. You can also analyze daily triggers and find patterns that made your day easier or more challenging.
- Nomo – created by an actual person in recovery, Nomo features a counter but also has tons of optional features like accountability, partner searching, clock sharing, milestone awards, journaling, as well as games/exercises to help you stay focused and sober.
- SoberTool – created by a licensed chemical dependency and certified alcoholism counselor, this counter and community app also provides a search feature where you enter a word to describe how you currently feel and it will lead you to answers to deal with those feelings so that you can refocus “relapse thinking to recovery thinking.”
Inspirational Apps for Sobriety and Better Mental Health
- Twenty-Four Hours a Day – the app includes 366 daily meditations from the classic meditation book for people in recovery from addiction. It offers a thought, meditation, and prayer for each day.
- Breathe2Relax – recommended by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), this app is designed to teach users breathing techniques to manage stress. Since many suffering from substance use disorders also face mental health issues, the skills taught may be applied to those with co-occurring disorders such as anxiety and PTSD.
- ThinkUp Positive Affirmations – this app features over 300 affirmations for multiple life goals including staying sober. You can also personalize your own affirmation, add music, and connect to the Apple Health app to track the length of your daily practice through the Mindful Minutes metric.
- My Possible Self – Combining research and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques, the app helps users manage problems by identifying negative thoughts and behaviors and suggesting “modules” of therapy that can help them the most.
- Happify – Also recommended by the ADAA, the Happify app is designed to help you break old patterns and form new healthier habits. Through science-based games and activities, the program helps users fight back negativity and develop a happier state of being.
- AA Speakers – The AA Speakers app lets you listen to motivational speeches of those in recovery as well as workshops and books from AA.
Sober Relationship Apps
- Sober.ly and Loosid – are apps designed to make sure those in the addiction recovery community never feel alone. They offer real-time, stigma-free support for those in sobriety in a fun environment. Sober.ly allows you to design your own avatar for purposes of anonymity and join in a “hub” where users can check-in, find meetings, get inspired, and share stories. Loosid also offers access to dating, events, groups, and travel.
- Clean and Sober Love and 12-StepMatch – are sober dating apps that function like typical matchmaking sites with the ability to “like” someone and create a profile, but are designed for those in recovery. Both apps understand that it’s hard enough to date today, but finding someone in sobriety can seem like an almost impossible task. The 12-StepMatch app is geared to those in the 12-Step communities like NA and AA and offers this disclaimer, “It is suggested by AA and most 12 Step Groups of Recovery to wait one year before entering into a romantic relationship. In the course of that year, 12StepMatch can help you find friendship, support, and hope in recovery that ‘The Promises’ will come true for you.”
- Sober Grid – Sober Grid is a large sober mobile community and resource for tracking and sharing progress with others as well as giving and receiving support. It also offers a 24/7 live certified peer recovery coaching feature. The app is similar to Facebook’s design with public and private options and an in-app newsfeed.
It can be very difficult for those in recovery to discuss their challenges and feelings because of fear of judgment and the stigma surrounding addiction. These apps help those in recovery deal with the social, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of their sobriety journey in a healthy, convenient, and fun way. Of course, these tools should not substitute specialized treatment and that’s where Silver Lining Recovery is ready to help. We offer professional addiction recovery services such as intensive outpatient treatment, individual counseling, and 12-Step programs that provide the necessary skills, support, and ongoing treatment needed to keep you focused on your sobriety. If you or a loved one is suffering from a substance use disorder or addiction, please reach out to Silver Lining Recovery today at (866) 448-4563.