There’s an App for That: Apps that Support Sobriety

According to the Pew Research Center, 68% of Americans have smartphones and 45% have tablet computers.  Along with smart phones and tablets come apps – apps that keep track of airline reservations; apps that count calories; apps that fetch drivers.  There’s an app for just about anything.

A new set of apps have been developed to help people stay out of trouble with alcohol and other drugs.  Here are a few and what they do:

There is an app that purports to analyze your BAC

Apps that Calculate BAC

There is an app that purports to analyze your BAC.  BACtrack Mobile Pro sells for $99.99 and promises to be a “police grade breathalyzer.”

Other apps calculate your BAC based upon the number of drinks you consume, your weight and gender.  “AlcoDroid” provides an estimate of your blood alcohol content (BAC) based on the drinks you’ve logged, plots your BAC development in a chart and indicates when you get below the legal limit or back to sobriety.”  According to its website, it was named Top Alcoholism App of 2015.

Staying Sober

For those who no longer drink and want to keep it that way, there is “I Am Sober.”  You can track sobriety days and milestones, how much money you’ve saved by abstaining from alcohol, and receive daily reinforcement notifications. A similar app that promotes avoidance of “going over the limit” rather than abstinence, “DrinkControl,” not only counts drinks and cost savings but also caloric intake.

There are a variety of ancillary apps offering everything from white noise to help you sleep.

Hazelden has an app that coordinates with their book Twenty-Four Hours a Day and provides “A.A. Thoughts for the Day” and “Meditation of the Day.”  There are also multiple apps related to Alcoholics Anonymous and can be found with a search of “AA Companion” on the Apple App store.

Support Apps

There are a variety of ancillary apps offering everything from white noise to help you sleep to an on-call psychologist you can talk to in the middle of the night.  There is coaching available, 12 step meeting finders, and the benefits of yoga in recovery.  You can even “go” to an instant 12 step meeting.

There are literally millions of apps out there (Android reports 1.6 million and Apple has 1.5) and finding one related to alcohol should be easy.  Do  you have a favorite app for sobriety?