Smartphone recovery apps to keep you sober? Wow! someone was thinking! What do we always, always have with us? Lose your keys, problem, lose your wallet, that’s an issue, lose your phone, Defcon 1 emergency!!
Losing your sobriety is the crisis that stops all other life crises. It is brilliant to pair the two items together. The smartphone recovery apps provide instant access to AA material, mediations, step worksheets, support groups.
Plus if you are struggling with a social situation the phone always provides you a way out. Step out of a family dinner to take a call. Say no to a party or place with temptations by checking in with your smartphone recovery apps.
Struggling with a decision that might compromise your sobriety? Check into a support group, check your sobriety days, work a tenth step question.
What about Getting Digital Rewards and Hi-Fives for Sober Habits?
12 Step AA Companion
If you are walking through the doors of your first Alcoholic Anonymous(AA) or Al-Anon Meeting, it can seem like landing in a foreign country.
At first, I felt like everyone was speaking a foreign language. Why were they calling me a newcomer, I had lived in this town for 5 years. What was a “big book”, a “twelve by twelve” or even “working the steps”.
The Early Sobriety Companion was made by members of AA to give newcomers a head-start in acclimating to AA’s recovery environment. It is an AA English dictionary of terms and slogans used by AA and AlAnon
The Early Sobriety App walks you through the AA basics of Meetings, Sponsorship, and Prayer.
The 10th Step App and the 4th Step App are the two founding components of the twelvestepapps.com. The simplicity of the 10th Step app makes it easy to go over the day’s activities in less than 5 minutes.
Clearing your mind for peaceful sleep. Both apps store your day to day thoughts and are printable. The printable part is awesome for the 4th step.
Get your thoughts together, type it up and then you are ready to call your sponsor to set the 5th step date! Maybe not a complete replacement for the old school journal but at least a place to record thoughts on the fly.
Sobriety Coin
This app is multi-focused not just for sobriety in substance. With sobrietycoin.com you can track your progress on multiple habits: drugs, smoking, gambling, debt, fast food, and video game addiction. With the paid version (costs less than a video game) you can track eight recover dates at once. (Not recommended to start all at once though!)
Even cooler you can track the money you save by not doing one of these habits!
• Tracking for one sobriety date
• Two coins to choose from
• One encouragement image to share with friends
• Notification of milestones
• Ability to track money saved
• Coins that glisten with a tilt of the device
Celebrate Recovery
Celebrate Recovery is a “come as you are” program for all people with hurts, habits, and hang-ups. You do not need to be a Christian or believe in God to benefit from this program just show up.
This app returns to the Christian based roots of the AA program (founded by the Oxford Group). Each of the Twelve Steps is undergirded with its scriptural roots.
Celebrate Recovery encourages the use of the whole Serenity Pray written by prominent theologian Reinholt Neighbor.
Get support through encouraging posts, 12 step readings, finding a local meeting and jumping in a support group. There is also a Celebrate Recovery Bible app. The CR Bible app connects the traditional 12 steps to their corresponding bible verses.
Sober Tool
Like the ones above this one tracks days sober, tells you how much money you saved and provides information about support groups. A unique feature of the Sober Tool is the individualize relapse prevention questions and plan.
Sobertool starts by asking direct questions about how you are feeling and what you are struggling with today. From there the app will give you a simple phrase to ponder and a to do idea.
The simplicity of the app makes it easy to change thoughts and actions one day and one small step at a time. Keep moving forward in your recovery minute by minute with sobertool.
Recovery Box
The recovery box focuses on the why of a behavior. The idea being you can’t change a behavior you don’t recognize or know why you are doing.
“RecoveryBox is designed to work with any addiction: drugs, gambling, pornography, alcohol or customize your own specific to your needs.”
- Recovery box includes many of the items about plus some cool extras.
- Full set of how to get the most out of the app set up videos
- Huge List of customizable addiction issues codependency, pornography, anger, overwork, social media
- Customize the App to use with Celebrate Recovery or With Traditional Twelve
Reviews on the recoverybox.com app focus on the flexibility of having several tools rather than just one or two. Plus, the combination of AA and CR programs in one app with texting ability makes it highly functional.
Susanna’s Music writes…Absolutely love it !
“I’m a food addict in recovery, this tool equips me for what I need to make everyday successful. I was looking for something that combines with the 12 Step Program, and everything they use in “Celebrate Recovery”. This is it! Always with you on the phone where ever you go. I love the fact that I can txt my accountability partner from it, track my triggers. I’m going to promote it to everyone I know that struggles with hurt and hang-ups. I thank God sent it!.”
Finding the Program For You
Pen and paper– My sponsor would say there is a lot to the connection between the action of writing by hand on a piece of paper and how the brain works. There is a deep connection. I still do a journal for that reason. Below is a Tenth Step Solution Worksheet to Print.
Meetings in Person– I do not think there will ever be a time that the computer can replace an in-person meeting. Many of us are still learning how to handle relationships honestly. Group settings are a great place to practice boundaries, think through plans and practice new behaviors.
Phone Apps– I am delighted with these phone apps. They present more tools. In a pinch, we can always call up the app on the phone to help self-sooth, find a meeting or write done an issue.
Online Meetings and Groups– Like the phone app, I think these groups are helpful and keep us in the loop but, and this is a big but, they can offer too much anonymity. Being physically present with fellow home group members and a sponsor who”holds your history” are extremely important to your long-term recovery.
What Smartphone Recovery Apps Do You Like?
I am playing the apps this holiday season and would love your thoughts!
For those that love paper and pencil here is a great 10th step option.
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You make great points! I didn’t even know this kind of thing existed. I will be sharing this!
Blessings,
Bonnie
Me either when I found them I thought how cool is this!!
I have one tip about the title, though. I thought it was a recovery for the smart phone when I read the title and was confused at first. Maybe “Addiction Recovery Apps for Your Smartphone” or something like that? I thought it was about recovering lost apps.
Yes, thank you! I really struggled with title this time. Addiction apps just does not cover it all. Any thoughts appreciated!