Porn used to be something of a secretive activity – burned CDs saying “Work” or “Data” being exchanged in college halls and magazines teasing you from the top shelves of convenience stores. A mysterious cardboard box in your dad’s basement workshop, perhaps? But with the rise of the Internet, it’s safe to say that the secret’s out. Porn is ubiquitous, and for some it may even slip into addiction.
Your reasons for watching it are your own, as are your reasons for wanting to stop. But if you have decided on the latter, these are the best iPhone and Android apps to help break your porn addiction.
Also read: How to Block YouTube Video Channels
1. Porn Addiction Calendar – Quit
Platforms: iOS
Ok, admittedly this isn’t the kind of app you’ll want hanging around on your home screen, which could lead certain prying people to start asking questions. But Porn Addiction Calendar is a well-designed app with many systems that make your journey away from porn that much more rewarding.
First, there’s a counter that tracks your porn-free progress and a dedicated screen that shows you how much time you’ve saved in your life by not watching porn. You can set your own reasons for quitting porn or use one of the app’s preset reasons, which are supposedly based on scientific research!
To gamify things a bit more, you can earn badges as you progress. There’s a “Distractions” section to help you relax as you’re quitting porn and motivational quotes to inspire you on your personal journey.
2. Headspace
Many of the apps on this list focus on counseling and accountability, but nearly all of them would be complemented by an app that helps you slow things down a bit in your mind and takes you to a place where you can meditate and give yourself a break.
There are plenty of mindfulness apps out there, but Headspace is one of the best. It teaches you the fundamentals of meditation in short segments that train your attention span and focus. You can even benefit from quick one-minute meditation exercises, which are a great way to distract yourself and relax when the porn urge takes you.
This is a great app for meditation and mental discipline, which is an invaluable part of combating any addiction – porn or other.
Also read: 10 of the Best Mobile Apps to Help You Stay Healthy
3. rTribe Counseling App
Porn addiction is, at its core, a problematic behavior that functions just like any other psychological addiction. So in seeking help for it, you should go in search of the kinds of professionals and communities that deal with addiction every day.
In that spirit, rTribe is an app that isn’t specifically focused on porn addiction but lets you anonymously chat with professionals and communities who may be suffering with the same problem. You can arrange text and video sessions with counselors who have worked for years in the fields of anxiety, depression and addiction.
There are several paid tiers of counseling you can receive, which include daily provider check-ins from licensed therapists and certified coaches. There’s an excellent progress tracker, too, motivating you to hit those targets in combating your addiction.
4. Victory
Platforms: iOS
Possibly the most strategically-oriented app of the lot, Victory helps you identify patterns in your behavior when you get the urge to watch porn. It tracks your progress through a calendar, and if you “suffer a setback,” as they so coyly put it, you enter some information about the types of feelings that prompted you to get back into it.
Victory checks in with you throughout the day, inspires you with motivational quotes, and keeps track of every day you don’t succumb. If you’re feeling particularly brave, you can also set up the so-called “Bat Signal,” which gets sent out to your designated accountability partners when you feel the urge, urging them to pray for you.
You don’t need to buy into the religious stuff, though. Whether you’re a believer or not, this is a great package to help keep you hands off.
5. Covenant Eyes
Platforms: Android
Covenant Eyes is an incredibly powerful app that has taken a bold step in the battle against pornography. When it comes to accountability, the app has its tricks and does its job well. This app monitors what you’re doing online and sends a detailed report to a responsible partner/friend who holds you accountable for everything you do on the Internet. The report contains a list of all the sites you visited along with the ratings, which are based on the content.
The app also has a filter feature that lets you block certain websites that display adult content. This comes in handy when you want an Internet accountability software for employees since it automatically blocks porn. If you have children, the software can help you monitor what they are viewing online so you can block the bad stuff and keep them from early exposure to explicit content. Covenant Eyes is available for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS.
6. ReWire Companion
Platforms: Android
The ReWire Companion app can help you much in your journey to recover from porn addiction. The app analyzes your progress with advanced relapse statistics and keeps track of your current streak and past relapses, as well as streaks of your accountability partners. And if you earn badges throughout your journey to recovery, it will keep track of them, too.
The ReWire Companion app is designed with the Emergency Urge helper tool that helps to keep those temptations away. By unlocking these tools, you get random motivational posts that keep you in control. The app also calculates the time wasted on porn, then displays the results so you can evaluate yourself and make the right choices.
7. Ever Accountable
Just as the name implies, Ever Accountable helps the user overcome porn addiction by making them accountable to another person. However, unlike other apps that rely on the principle of accountability to help users beat porn addiction, Ever Accountable does not filter questionable Web content. Instead, it flags the content, leaving the decision of what is appropriate to you and your accountability partner. This way it gives you the freedom to choose what is right rather than force you to behave in certain ways.
Also read: 8 Best Android File Manager Apps
Had enough of Google watching over you on Android? Here’s our guide on fully signing out of Google on your phone. Also, if you don’t want your iPhone shaming you about screen time, then we can help you turn the feature off.
Image credit: Man watching erotic movie on computer at night. by DepositPhotos
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