While it may not seem romantic, relationship apps can make it easier to remember to do the little things that build your relationship and keep it strong. One app, called Smart Couple (download link) lets you create a profile of the things that make your partner feel loved. Then it helps you keep track of how often you do them.
For example, suppose your partner feels most loved when you express love through physical touch. Using the app, you can enter how often your partner would like to have affectionate touch, then use a sticker to log each time you initiate touch. If you haven’t initiated physical touch, whether a hug, a kiss, a shoulder rub, or more, in a while, the app will remind you to do so.
The Smart Couple app also helps you keep track of your partner’s birthday, your anniversary, valentine’s day, and other important dates and remind you about them in plenty of time for you to be ready.
The app seems to be based on love languages, which were first described in the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. As such, the app is based on tried and true theory of how to build positive feelings in your relationship.
The app also allows you to keep tabs on the frequency of your negative interactions so you can balance them with positive ones. Research by John Gottman, PhD, suggests that you must have five positive interactions for every negative one to protect your relationship.
Put another way, using the app may help you make deposits in your emotional bank account. Dr. Gottman, also found that making more deposits than withdrawals in your emotional bank account is important for keeping your relationship in good health.
There are other apps that can help you keep your relationship strong. I will review those in future blogs. In the meantime, check out the Smart Couple app. It’s available for iPhones and iPads for free in the Apple store.
If you try out the Smart Couple app, let us know how you like it by using the Caring Couples web form. If using the app isn’t enough to bring positivity to your relationship, then maybe relationship counseling is a good idea. Feel free to contact us for a free consultation, to learn about our services and see how counseling can help.
