Apps to replace doomscrolling
“What do you open instead of doomscrolling?”
30 answers from 28 people · Updated Nov 2, 2026
A low effort way to look at a new piece of art every day.
Handwritten digital letters to and from people all over the world you can be as simple or as creative as you’d like. Very wholesome.
3
A game that’s even more smooth, relaxing, and addictive than 2048, with the gentlest touch of challenge. Threes game somehow hits the spot for both take-me-out-of-my-misery days and for I’m-smart-I-got-this days. You can play mindlessly or confidently and both are equally relaxing, engaging, and pressure-free. It takes maybe 20 minutes of random play to figure out the rules, and then you’re set up with YOUR FAVORITE GAME for years to come. Perfect if you like Wordle and 2048. (NOTE: There are many versions of the app. Get this one.)
131
My read-it-later app of choice! Thoughtful design, top-notch article parser, tagging, searching, queue filtering, pretty quoteshots, etc: “Sync your newsletters, follow your favorite writers, and save anything from the open web. You can even save YouTubes and podcast episodes and Matter will transcribe them to time-synced text.” Anyway, one of my most used apps, and a great companion to Libby for all your on-screen reading needs. Also honorable mention to Instapaper, my first love. I left when they got bought, and then bought again by Pinterest, and it seemed like it was getting worse (can’t remember why I thought that) but it looks like they stayed the course and some time ago spun back off to indie, and have kept improving it, so probably also a great choice.
I've recently become addicted to doing chess puzzles on Lichess. Free and endless. Something to do with my phone that doesn't rot my brain (I don't think?)
1
My go-to app for a thinking type of game. A word play puzzle game that has a lot of fun rules to learn — it takes a bit to learn how to recognize them, but the payoff is priceless. It’s so exciting getting a puzzle correct!
2
4 recs
Weird fun dumb little rabbit hole apps that make good alternatives to doom scrolling
Good Sudoku taught me how to play sudoku! I go through wild bursts of obsession with this game every 6 months or so.
2
RSS is one of the best bits of the internet. If someone tried to invent it now, it would be an ad-filled, walled-garden disaster. Thankfully it was invented when people had greater aspirations for the internet. Unread is my favorite reader because a) it works fine on the free tier with no restrictions, and b) the reader view (where you can get it to fetch the article text even when the feed doesn’t expose it) is effective and configurable per feed.
3
Metazooa - daily puzzle game about the animal kingdom
If you, like me, have always wanted a stronger handle on the animal kingdom's taxonomy, this is a fun, bite-sized way to learn. The goal is to identify the daily animal within 20 guesses, and each wrong guess is traced back to the closest category it shares with the answer. There's always a little lesson about the latest shared category, which gives some guidance about what to guess next, and there's a bank of animals so you're not totally on your own to think of every animal name. Resets at 8 p.m. (in Baltimore).
Artle - the daily art exploration game
A fun way to test your art history knowledge
great little app that comes in a widget for your lock and Home Screen to drop you little vocab words. My favorites so far are sonsie, loquacious, and apperceptive.
1
12 recs
Places on the internet (and on my itty bitty phone) that bring me extensive joy
9 recs
favorite apps from someone who wants to spend less time on her phone but is, regrettably, an Internet Person
This app helps you read the classics in daily bites
I would not have even started the Russians were it not for Serial Reader. The app delivers a bite-sized section of a classic novel of your choice each day until you’re through the book! Rinse and repeat. Perfect if you’re short on time or struggling to build a habit.
382
I am doing my very best not to doomscroll or mindlessly sit on my phone when I could be doing literally anything else but! There are times when you will have to wait and sometimes I'm just not in the mood to read the book in my bag or sit with my own thoughts (woof). Enter: Instapaper. You can save articles you want to read there, pop the app on your phone. Now, instead of scrolling social media or getting mad at the news, I use that 15 minutes in a waiting room or on the bus reading an article I kept meaning to get to for the past 5 months. Reclaim your time and your attention span. Bonus: sometimes Instapaper can save articles for you to read despite a paywall being in place.
18
These little bite sized puzzles are my favorite way to start the day. And the illustrations and narration are so charming! Tons of different puzzle types with a variety of challenge levels. And the hint system is incredible for beginners or for days when your brain isn’t really there yet.
41
Beautiful town building game. Like Sim City but without the stress of having to become a modern civilization. Super slow paced!! Like washing your brain with cold water
One Sec app for more intentional phone & app use
This app helps you develop better phone & app usage habits by interrupting your usage of social media apps, etc. For example, I have it set up so when I try to open Slack outside of work hours, it interrupts the app launch and makes me rotate my phone three times or take a few deep breaths. This makes me notice when I open Slack out of habit without even thinking about it. I have the same setup for Reddit and Instagram. Highly recommend.
3
ever since i made my home screen grayscale and minimalist, i find myself picking up my phone and going, "wait – what was i even doing?" then putting it right back down. the lack of colors and stimulation has kept me #offline and i'm lovin' it ! paired with a Brick... BOOM! sayonara phone addiction!
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