musicMagpie Blog

Let's be honest: we're all a bit addicted to our smartphones. How many times have you panicked when you've left your smartphone at home, or felt sad or lonely when it ran out of battery?

Well, it's time to fight back and we're going to fight back using…erm, our phones. Alright, so it's ever-so-slightly ironic to use an app to fight a smartphone addiction mainly caused by apps, but hey: sometimes the best way to beat the system is from within.

So, in this week's edition of the Surprisingly Easy App of the Week, we've found some of the best smartphone addiction-busting apps around. Download them today and get ready to see your phone less!

(By the way, you can find out how bad your smartphone addiction is by taking our test!)

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BreakFree

BreakFree monitors your phone and app usage and then provides tips on how to reduce it.

To do this, the app sends notifications reminding you to spend some quality time away from your device when you go over a certain level of usage.

It also offers a range of phone management tools, including the ability to block notifications, disable the internet, reject phone calls and auto-respond to texts. You can even schedule times to turn off certain functions, which is useful if you're planning to spend some quality time with your family.

BreakFree is only available on Android at the moment, but there is an iOS version planned.

Download BreakFree on Android

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Moment

Moment is one of the only addiction-busting iOS apps at the moment but it provides more than enough data to make you vow off your phone for good (or at least a couple of days).

Moment allows you to set a daily limit for your smartphone usage, and lets you know when you're about to hit your limit. Once you've hit your limit, the app hits you with annoying notifications to tell you to put the phone down.

Moment recently introduced some new Family features too, which allow you to monitor and compare usage across numerous phones. You can also set "˜family dinner times', during which people can't use their phones. If they try, they'll get an embarrassing klaxon letting everyone know they've failed – so don't even try sneaking off to the toilet for a sneaky look at Facebook…

Download Moment on iOS

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Flipd

Flipd, an Android only app at the moment (an iOS version is planned for later this year), is the app for hardcore smartphone addicts. Rather than turning off certain functions on your phone, it locks it entirely. You set a time, "˜flip on' the lock and that's it: you can't use it.

Fortunately, you don't have to go entirely cold turkey; you can call 3 numbers of your choosing, as well as the emergency services (please don't call them because you feel lonely). You also get 60 seconds of access to your phone for every "˜Flip' you set.

Download Flipd on Android

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If all else fails, you can always sell your smartphone with musicMagpie!

And don't forget to give our own surprisingly easy app a try too:

Download musicMagpie on iOS | Download musicMagpie on Android