It seems all you hear today is how technology is ruining relationships. Either some spouse or boyfriend got caught texting someone inappropriate pictures or surfing an adultery website … or maybe it’s just one partner spending too much time playing video games late into the night instead of, y’know, playing snugglebunnies like they should. Whatever the scenario, modern technology always seems to get a bad rap when it comes to couples. However, the good news is there are apps designed for your smartphone specifically to help you and your partner connect more easily and in some cases, more intimately.
Get a (virtual) room you two
Sometimes, connecting with your spouse, partner or significant other is all about knowing all the little things that make them happy … or make them squeal, in some cases. That’s where the Kindu app comes in. Kindu helps couples explore their sexuality in a pretty safe, non-judgemental and confidential way. The app provides couples with more than 600 examples and options of turn-ons, role play and other sexy and fun activities, which they must each answer “yes” or “no” to, privately on their individual phones. Kindu then reveals the options and activities to which you each answered “yes” and the next thing you know it’s Fifty Shades of Gray all over the place. Best of all … your answers stay confidential. If you say “yes” to a particular activity or turn-on, but your partner says “no”, Kindu keeps your little secret safe, making the app a perfect way to break the ice on a lot of your fantasies and secret desires.
It’s All a Game
The Kahnoodle app goes in a bit of a different direction, and focuses on all the things that made you a couple in the first place. Essentially, Kahnoodle turns your relationship into a video game by applying game-like concepts, like accumulating points and rewards, to your everyday love life. Partners are asked to rank their “love signs” or preferred shows of affection (verbal praise, touching, etc) and when one member of the couple demonstrates a love sign, they get “Kudos” (or points) that go towards filling the other partner’s “love tank” (which totally sounds like a naughty euphemism). The Kudos can also be redeemed for “Koupons” and other rewards. Kahnoodle also lets couples exchange private messages, as well.
Just The Two of Us
While test messaging is a great way to keep in touch with your significant other, it’s also the same way you communicate with all your other friends and family. Make instant messaging a little more intimate with Avocado, an app that lets you privately message, share moments and create to-do lists (for dates, outings, holidays together, etc.), plus users can send each other photos and videos, all to one private and secure place. You can also share your locations through a GPS feature, and get into some “surreptitious co-presence” by still being able to hug and kiss even when you are apart. The app accomplished this by having you hold your phone to your lips or your heart, which will vibrate in reaction, letting the other person know you’ve made contact. But why is called Avocado, you may ask? Well, apparently Avocados only grow in pairs, as the tree won’t produce fruit unless another tree is grown alongside. Awww, I bet you want to start calling your partner “Avocado” now, don’t you?
A Couple by any other name
Very similar to Avocado is Couple, which used to be known as Pair, but the app changed its name when it acquired its U.K. rival Cupple, and presumably learned how to spell. Just like Avocado, Couple lets users have private chats, create lists together, share a calendar and check on each other’s locations through a GPS feature. Couple also has its own version of hugs and kisses through its real-time “thumbkiss” feature, which allows you to see where your partner places his thumb on your screen, which vibrates and turns red when you “touch.” The app also offers a Live Sketch mode which lets you draw a picture or play games like tic-tac-toe together, as well as a “Moments” feature that automatically merges all of the couple’s photos, videos and sketches in one convenient place, so you can easily see all the things you’ve been sharing.
Couples Therapy
Forget going to a relationship counselor, the Tokii Couples app bills itself as the first “interactive self-help management platform”, specifically designed to improve relationships through interactive games, quizzes and trading. Tokii is a private and secure app that offers four different tools to help you work on your love life. Its Discovery Games feature has more than 300 quizzes and activities designed to stimulate conversation, explore new feelings and fantasies, and even get couples competing to see which one knows the other best. And the app’s MoodMeter makes it easy to share how you’re feeling throughout the day with more than 100 different emotions and states to choose from, including neglected, inspired and hungover (a state which probably won’t help your relationship). In addition, there is a Profiles section with quizzes that give a view into each partner’s personality and preferences to determine how they best like to be loved. There’s also a Trading Post feature so couples can negotiate for things like household chores and intimacy.
That’s just a sampling of some of the more interesting apps on the market for couples, however there are tons more out there … and more being developed every day. Some are pretty simple, but brilliant, like the Grocery Smart app that lets you and your partner coordinate shopping lists (instead of coming home and finding your partner already went to the store and now you have four dozen eggs to go through). Others are variations on Couple or Avocado, like iLoveNote or Love Maps that let you keep track of your relationship and get to know your partner better. Personally, the best smartphone app for couples that I would recommend is any map app that comes with GPS and directions. You don’t know how many arguments have been avoided by simply having an app to help us out when we’ve gotten lost on a road trip. Now if only someone could create a “Put the Toilet Seat Down Reminder” app, we’d be in business.
