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In a lot of ways, your iPhone keeps you younger. It has apps that connect you to other humans (even when you’re working from home, taking care of an infant, or trapped in grocery store line hell). It has other apps that can track your heart rate, fitness goals, weight loss goals — all kinds of goals. But there’s a downside to iPhone apps — unbeknownst to most people, some of them are affecting our minds and bodies in ways that could make us feel and look older. Here are 7 iPhone apps that could actually be aging you.
1. (Almost) all apps
The blue light from our smartphones can, over time and with constant exposure, damage the retina. Luckily, you can download an app called f.lux which reduces the amount of blue light on your screen so that it adapts to the time of day — your screen will look like sunlight during the day and will be much warmer at night so not to disrupt your sleep patterns (which can seriously age you).
2. PhotoAge Live
After a certain age, you automatically earn the right to feel confident in your shoes, no matter what anyone else says about you. And that’s why it can be very dangerous and aging to rely on an app like PhotoAge Live to let you in on how old or how good you really look (according to, um, an app). If you’re using the app for a laugh, that’s one thing, but try not to get obsessed with staring at a fine line or those sweet crinkles that appear next to your eyes when you smile.
3. TaskRabbit
On the one hand, TaskRabbit is a gift from the gods — an app that lets you find someone to clean your house, do your laundry, or organize your pantry in a flash. But unless you’re seriously pressed for time, hiring help for every task can make you less active around your own house, which could make you feel older than your age.
4. DoorDash
We all need a night off from cooking every now and then. But DoorDash is such a helpful tool for ordering food from nearby restaurants that you may find yourself relying on it more often than is necessary. And, unfortunately, fast food and restaurant meals aren’t generally as healthy or calorie conscious as the lunches and dinners you prepare yourself.
5. Health apps
There’s something empowering about tracking your heart rate and the number of steps you’re taking each day via a health app. But you should also be aware of the fact that there is no scientific evidence that health apps improve health, and in fact, some experts say they may contribute to needless amounts of anxiety when they deliver results that may not be entirely accurate. By all means, use a health app because some truly are fantastic and will help keep you on track, but don’t use them as substitutes for regular checkups with your physician.
6. Decider
There are myriad apps that help improve memory and keep your brain young and vital. Decider is not one of them. This app actually allows you to type in a question or a dilemma you’re tackling (“Should I break up with my boyfriend” is one, believe it or not) and it will weigh your options and spit out the best decision for you. This app is great for a laugh but should not, under any circumstance, be taken seriously or replace your own decision-making process.
7. Audible
If you have a long car ride ahead of you, Audible is your saving grace: an app that features an impressible number of audio books. However, depending on audio books to deliver the classics to you without any effort on your part is not going to keep your mind active in the same way as taking a few minutes out of each day to read a book.
For more tech tips, check out 5 Apps that make your iPhone battery die the fastest and 4 Genius ways to organize your iPhone apps
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