Don't forget boring old Ebook reader apps eg Kindle. Spending more of those little 5 or 10 minute breaks on reading a decent (fiction) book instead of browsing social media etc was one of the best things I've done for my happiness in the past couple of years.
Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
31–40 of 236 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
#32PlantNET, BirdNET, kiwix a good sensor readout and a map. Use the tool, don't be used by it :)
Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
#33Using attention-consuming apps in a toilet is not healthy (trust me I know).
Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
#34I've taken the opposite approach a lot of times. So instead of asking what you can add you might want to look at what apps / bookmarks that you can remove. Do you need a link to the reddit frontpage, or can you narrow it down to one or two specific subreddits that you want to check, or maybe remove it entirely if it does not add much value to your daily life.
Apps that I would recommend however are many of the apps that tries to gamify physical activity. I use Garmin, but I am not sure if the app works without owning the accompanying smart watches and there are plenty of alternatives, and the gamification and accountability that it offers around physical activity makes it a lot easier to get out of the door (which is always the hard part). Physical activity has long been known to have a huge positive effect on mental capacity and health so well worth spending an hour or so every day on.
Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
#35I've just been using Instagram as a place to browse art. I think you can't really unfollow toxic people (you technically can but your brain won't let you). But what you can do is flood it out with positive vibes. My Instagram feed is full of e-commerce memes, AI generated art, and hand drawn dungeon maps. It's not exactly useful but it keeps me inspired for the next day.
Pages on any social media associated with the US National Parks (the department and the parks themselves) are very nice looking, promote healthy activities, and are mildly educational (and give you some positive rabbit holes to go down, like identifying plants or birdwatching).
Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
#36Sorry if this sounds blunt but the question is a bit like "what's the least harmful kind of crack I can get to improve my health?" From the way it's phrased it sounds like you're struggling with mental health and excessive phone/devise usage. The two issues might be related, my advice would be no app.
I’ve been stuck in bed due to medical stuff quite a bit over the last year. My iPhone has essentially preserved my sanity. Like any powerful tool, the user can can choose to make it good or bad.
I learned quite a bit about music theory and writing music over the last year. The iOS music ecosystem is fantastic and affordable.
I’ve been drawing in procreate on my iPad for several years but this also helped pass the hours.
Those are both pretty wholesome activities for something that you describe as “crack”.
Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
#37>But I’m not at a point where I want to just toss my phone in the corner and forget about it either. Why not? it works.
Yeah... I do exactly that fairly frequently (often enough it's a running gag in my family that if you want to call me - call my wife, since I won't have my phone.)
It turns out that your phone is an incredible tool, but only if taken in small doses. In larger doses - it's a nightmare device, actively designed and engineered to suck as much free time from you as possible.
The answer is simple: Stop using it except for explicit reasons.
If I want to dick around with tech - I'll use my desktop/laptop.
My phone is for
- Checking messages twice a day, once in the morning, once in the evening (sometimes more frequently if I'm coordinating with or meeting folks).
- Maps & GPS
- Shared internet connection if I need to use my laptop while out and about
- Unlocking my e-bike
That's it. I'm down to about 5 total apps I open (phone/camera/messages/maps/ebike) and I have never liked my phone more.
5 years ago I was on my phone all the time and miserable. It's much better to lug around a magazine or kindle, or turn on a podcast. Just don't get sucked into the time trap that "social media" is engineered to be. It's literally digital cancer.
Basically - don't open websites or social media apps at all.
Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
#38> I’m in a battle to minimize social media and related apps influence over my life.
Get rid of the social media apps. You don't need them. You're lying to yourself if you think that you do. Nobody is going to miss your Instagram or Facebook posts. TikTok is a stupid waste of time and likely algorithmically programmed to make you hate your country (why we let China ban our social media apps and then let them operate in our country I'll never understand) and Reddit is a cesspool of awful, uninformed opinions and if you really need to visit a special interest community there you can just visit that manually. You don't need an account and you don't have anything interesting to say so there's no reason to post.
Instead, fill your home screen with apps with positive goals. For me, this includes having Downdog, btwb, Fitness (Apple), Wikipedia, Maps, my local newspaper, and similar style apps with all red dot notifications turned off.
> But I need to sell things on Facebook marketplace so I'll have to keep my account.
No. Use eBay or Craigslist, sell it at a yardsale, or stop buying stuff you don't need. If you can't stomach that then you delete your actual Facebook account and create a new one specifically for marketplace.
> But how will I stay in touch with all of these groups and influencers that I follow who post entertaining content?
You won't. That's the point. Otherwise stop stressing about being addicted to social media and just embrace it. There's no separation of "people I like to follow" and "I feel addicted". You cannot have one without the other.
> I'm going to lose touch with friends and family.
Good. People come and go, including close friends and family members. And if the primary way you stay in touch is social media, well, you're just lying to yourself about your relationship with them. Let it go. It's unhealthy to cling to past relationships.
> Yea but I do stay in touch but I also like to see their new baby pictures
Well great, instead of seeing all of this stuff beforehand, just see them in person like you regularly do and ask them to show you pictures and then you can sit down and have a meaningful interaction.
Yes I understand that HackerNews and LinkedIn and other sites that I use are also social media. There are degrees of addictiveness. I don't believe you can only "minimize" top social media apps. They do provide value to a lot of people, but if you feel that you're being pulled away from your real life and you're literally posting asking how to win the battle over social media apps and their influence, the best thing you can do is start disengaging with the most addicting ones.
Some people can buy a bag of M&Ms and eat just one and put the bag down. Most people can't.
Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
#39Extremely unpopular opinion from a software engineer on a tech forum but: mental health is as far away from the Internet as possible. The more you can integrate the slower pace of nature and natural life, the better your mental health. Your physical presence is optimised for long days of doing fuck all, sitting in the grass, waiting for a deer to pass by. Still struggling with this, but my long term life goal is livi…
This is my future plan too. Make a rooftop solar with integrated battery and buy a high speed starlink.
Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?
#40I installed a parental control app on my phone to make it automatically turn off at 10:30 PM. It's a small move that made a world of difference and I've been going to sleep much earlier as a result. (The "parent" doesn't need to be an actual parent, it can be a friend too.)