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Maintaining longterm relationships is difficult work. Sometimes the affection and care needed to maintain a healthy bond gets pushed to the side in favor of time spent with kids, work, hobbies, or me-time. But a new wave of apps have launched to make loving, and remembering to be loving, a little easier. We talk a lot about dating apps, but how can tech be leveraged to keep partnership fresh in the commitment stage?
A Apple phone app called Lasting charges users $11.99 a month to remind folks to be nurturing towards their partner. The app sends you alerts at certain times that you set, commanding you to do something thoughtful for your significant other. These reminders include, but aren’t limited to, “remind me to express appreciation, or remind me to text a message that makes my partner smile.”
Some would argue that being reminded takes the romance out of the action, but if we all agree that longterm connection is work, why wouldn’t we help keep ourselves accountable with reminders/schedules like you would at any other job.
Liz Colizza, the head of marriage research for Lasting and a practicing couples counselor, explains that people seek couple’s therapy because they have a hard time communicating.
“In the marriage health intro, we talk about this concept of emotional calls, which are these tiny moments throughout your day where you are attempting to connect with your partner or your partner is attempting to connect with you,” Colizza told Vox.
“It could be a call for humor if you’re telling a joke, it can be asking for a massage, it can be asking your partner to unload the dishwasher. There are different ways that we’re essentially asking our partner, ‘Are you there for me?’”
Perhaps these apps could help answer the ‘are you there for me’ question by keeping folks mindful of their relationship goals.
Although these apps can’t necessarily be used as counseling replacement, they are definitely a cheap and effective way to get the ball rolling.
