Looking for the best happiness apps to increase your overall life satisfaction?
Happiness has no universal definition—it varies depending on a person’s situation. But generally, it is something that people from all walks of life are entitled to.
In this post, we have gathered the best happiness apps you can use to try to improve your life’s potential. These apps can help you track your moods to see what you need to improve.
Let’s get to it!
1. Happify
Founded by three serial entrepreneurs (Tomer Ben-Kiki, Ofer Leidner, and Andy Parsons) in New York City in 2012, Happify aims to change people’s lives by providing ways to become happier. As stated by its founders, the purpose of the app is to use gaming and technology to build a better life for its users.
After you download the app and create an account, Happify will score your happiness based on a questionnaire. The questions are all about the most minor details in your life, particularly your health. Then, the app provides you with a series of tracks that you can use to start living a healthy, stress-free life.
Every track has a theme that is further divided into parts. Each part is then divided into various sets of activities, including guided meditations, writing assignments, and exciting games. As a basic free user, you are entitled to a few tracks with limited access. If you upgrade to the premium product (Happify Plus), you get to enjoy unlimited access to more than 30 tracks.
Happify is available on desktop, tablet, and mobile. If you want to start increasing your happiness based on scientific evidence-based research, you might want to try this app.
2. SuperBetter
SuperBetter was originally founded and invented by Jane McGonigal, a researcher and game designer. She is also a TED Talker and a bestselling writer.
In 2015, the game was acquired by Keith Wakeman, who turned it into a corporation now known as SuperBetter, LLC. Along with the game, Wakeman also acquired the trust of McGonigal, who is now the company’s chief science officer.
The app aims to help people build grit and resilience, and develop the ability to stay strong, persistent, and positive despite all the challenges that life may throw at them. It is based on a framework called Live Gamefully, which brings out your heroic strengths and gives you a better mindset.
SuperBetter works by providing you with daily activities that you can track until you reach your goal. It uses a point system, and you gain points for each step you complete. Such steps include taking a walk or drinking a glass of water.
What’s great about this app is that you can actually be a superhero if you like—you can collect power-ups, win against bad guys, and get help from friends and allies.
3. My Gratitude Journal
Gratitude makes people happier. There are many things to be grateful for, and there are many ways to practice being grateful. One of the best among these is journaling.
My Gratitude Journal takes journaling to a more advanced level. While some people may enjoy the traditional pen-and-paper method, some would probably prefer to have a diary on their tablets or smartphones.
To use the app, you need to download it and then create an account through Facebook, Twitter, or email. For your first journal entry, you must upload a photo, type a description of what you are grateful for, and then add your location.
Every day, you keep track of five things you are grateful for. You will be sent notifications and rewards to develop the habit of journaling. Likewise, you may set daily reminders, search for inspirational quotes, and revisit your past entries through the app.
Note, however, that the app is only available for iOS users. The company behind it has yet to develop an Android version.
4. Headspace
Headspace's short yet sincere tagline explains its purpose: “Your guide to health and happiness.” Its mindfulness meditation and exercise guides aim to help you live a healthier, more rested, and happier life.
Through its guided meditation techniques, the happiness app has three main goals:
- Reduce your daily stress and anxiety.
- Help you stay focused and drive away distractions.
- Increase your compassion toward other people.
The Headspace app offers a variety of meditation guides—from basic to advanced—for the different aspects of your life. These include sleep, work, happiness, and a lot more. If you feel like you’re about to get burned out, the app has you covered—it has a meditation guide for that, too!
Overall, this happiness and meditation app teaches you how to breathe properly, meditate mindfully, and live your life fully. In addition to meditation guidelines, it has exercise plans that can help you manage your stress, regularize your breathing, and make your life happy.
Even if you do not know how to meditate, the app can help you learn to do so. It offers courses that teach meditation, breathing techniques, and even better sleep quality and personal growth.
5. MoodKit
MoodKit was designed and developed by two clinical psychologists: Dr. Drew Erhardt and Dr. Edrick Dorian (the same creators as Moodnotes). It adheres to the principles and techniques of cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is considered one of the most effective psychotherapy methods.
MoodKit is an app that allows you to track and assess your mood through journaling. It is like having your cognitive-behavioral psychologist in your pocket.
This app lets you rate and record your mood throughout the day. Likewise, you can take notes of your observations about those moods and assess yourself at the end of the day. Additionally, the app provides a list of daily activities you can do and several tips you can follow to increase your life satisfaction and happiness.
MoodKit aims to develop self-awareness and healthy attitudes. Moreover, it wishes to change people’s lives by changing their thoughts and feelings.
6. Track Your Happiness
Invented by Matt Killingsworth during his doctoral research at Harvard University, this app aims to use modern technology to answer the age-old question: “What makes people happy?”
Killingsworth believes that the true meaning of happiness is different for everyone. The factors affecting happiness vary depending on what is important for each person, and these factors are precisely what the app wants to discover.
Every day, the app sends you questions about what you are doing and feeling. For every 50 responses, you will get a happiness report to recognize exactly what makes you feel the happiest. Moreover, you will know when and where you are feeling the best.
Track Your Happiness is an app approved by the Harvard University Committee for use with human subjects. If you want to know more, developer Matt Killingsworth has a TED Talk.
7. Unique Daily Affirmations
Brought to you by Gopher Apps LLC, the Unique Daily Affirmations app gives you “unique daily affirmations” to help you face challenges, succeed in your endeavors, and create a positive vibe.
You only get one affirmation daily, which you need to say out loud. The developers recommend repeating the affirmation repeatedly to stimulate your mind. It has been scientifically proven that the more you repeat information, the more your mind retains it.
Throughout the day, your subconscious mind will preserve the affirmation. As a result, you will have a positive attitude toward whatever comes your way.
To use the app, press the large gray button to reveal your daily affirmation. You may share, save, view, or skip the affirmation by tapping the bottom left icon. You may also add your affirmation by tapping on the bottom left part of the icon that says “Add Your Own.”
8. Daylio
If you want to try journaling without using too many words, Daylio is perhaps the best app. More than a simple happiness app, it is an award-winning, mood-tracking app that allows you to record your emotions by choosing the best videos.
Daylio offers you a variety of videos to choose from. These videos depict your moods, so you only have to select the one that best reflects your feelings. As such, the app is best for more visual people.
Daylio features a “statistics and calendar” tool that allows you to record your feelings. This way, you can determine the patterns in your attitude, behavior, and feelings. You can include additional notes about your moods to have a broader view of what the patterns are trying to illustrate.
Other app features include reminders, backup entries, PIN locks, monthly and yearly statistics logs, and a lot more.
9. Happy
The Happy app believes that ultimate happiness is achieved by starting within. Hence, it promotes finding happiness through solitude and introspection. It allows you to know yourself better to share positive vibes with others.
Like all the other apps mentioned in this post, it has activities promoting gratitude, mindfulness, and self-love. It offers features that build resilience and grit and focus on improving mental and emotional health.
What makes it rather interesting is that it is a shared community. While it advocates for happiness in solitude, you can let other people into your space. This is an international community, so if you feel like sharing your joys with a stranger, you can do so.
Happy seeks to help you get rid of your anxious thoughts. There are people all around the globe who are as nervous as you, and you can share that challenge with them.
A Final Word on These Great Happiness Apps
Life can be stressful. There are many things to worry about, including work, school, home, and other issues..
But despite all the obstacles and challenges that life may throw at you, remember there is always a reason to be happy. There is always something to be thankful for.
If you want to live a healthier, happier life, try one of the nine happiness apps we shared above. Figure out which one best fits your schedule and personality, and then use it to add a dose of happiness to your life.
Happiness Related Posts:
- 15 Best Apps for Making New Friends
- 7 Self-Harm Tracker Apps and Websites
- Benefits of Gratitude: 31 Reasons to Be Grateful
- 7 Best Mental Health Apps: Increase Life Satisfaction
- 8 Best Gratitude Apps to Be More Thankful Every Day
- Increase Your Positivity with the 13 Best Daily Affirmation Apps
Finally, one proven way to improve your happiness and life satisfaction is to focus on goals that truly matter. To get started, check out this FREE printable worksheet and a step-by-step process that will help you set effective SMART goals.