15 Psychology Apps You Should Be Using
You didn't think psychology was an industry immune to the mobile explosion taking place across the globe did you? There is nothing that will replace the importance of research, counseling, and teaching in psychology, but the new mobile technology available offers interesting supplemental resources and allows people to take some sort of control over their own psychological health.
We are hardly experts on what should be considered an effective or ineffective resource, but we have had the opportunity to use some of these applications, talk to others who have used them, and read the reviews across the Internet, and we have put together a list of the 15 psychology applications that you should be using right now.
This list is not in any particular order nor is it meant to be comprehensive. Consider it a supplemental resource of supplemental resources and don’t be afraid to try some of these apps out yourself.
Psych Guide
If you are starting out in the world of psychology, or if you are currently going through your education, stop and check out the Psych Guide App. The two Psychology masterminds that created this app have gone the distance in creating an app that makes it easy to find and research concepts that you will be dealing with during your education.
Thus far the app has all 5 star reviews, and as we all know, that isn't easy to do. Creator David Webb and Dr. Michael Britt have out done themselves with this app.
PsycTest Hero
Studying psychology can often involve a lot of memorization. The folks at The Psych Files recognize this and are back with their second app to make the list in PsycTest Hero, which is designed to help students prepare for psychology tests. The app takes the concept map idea and combines it with a fluid and easy-to-use interface to make studying for psychology tests easier than ever.
The diverse and comprehensive content gives students all the information they could possibly need on a number of different subcategories within psychology. So put away your clunky PowerPoint presentations and index cards and get your mobile psychology study buddy instead.
PsycExplorer
Whether you are already a psychology professional, a psychology student working towards a career in the field, or just a person with an innate sense of curiosity, PsycExplorer is an application with information for you.
Created by the professionals behind The Psych Files podcast, PsycExplorer has research articles, interviews with industry leaders, and a veritable library of credible blogs. Combine those resources with answers to some of psychology majors’ most common questions and you have one of the best psychology resources readily available on your phone or tablet.
3D Brain
The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory brings you an interactive and informational look at the different components of the brain and how they all work together. Interested parties, which should be most psychology majors and professionals, can learn how each brain region works, what functions it governs, and how it works with the other regions of the brain to influence your actions and behavior.
But this isn’t some boring and monotonous text-based app, these interactive structures deliver the information in an entertaining way and link to academic and research sources to back up their information.
Live Happy
Developed by the research team at Signal Patterns and based on the research of psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky, Live Happy is designed to help people take control of their own happiness by suggesting a series of activities that are supposed to increase and promote happiness.
The app gathers information about you and your personality, and then offers suggestions of activities that will make you live a happier life. For psychology professionals, the app is an interesting study in the quantification of happiness, and for people who might be feeling a little blue; it is an excellent opportunity to try a new method of finding happiness every day.
Get Live Happy here (No longer available)
The Questions
Night and Day Studios has developed an app that they think will help people build more successful long-term relationships. No one is immune to the occasional misconception about their own relationship, but The Questions was created to help people gain a better understanding of their relationships and how to make sure they are making the right choice.
Through 76 questions backed with additional information, this easy-to-use app helps people evaluate and understand their relationship in ways that they may not have considered before, which will help you stick out the tough times, or cut and run from something bad.
Get The Questions here (No longer available)
TraxItAll
If you are one of the millions of people around the globe who has trouble following through on the goals they have set for themselves, then TraxItAll is here to offer some help. Not only does the app boast an easy-to-use and innovative interface, but it is an incredible way to identify goals, set priorities, and then track your progress as you set out to accomplish those goals and fulfill those priorities.
There are other goal-setting systems, but TraxItAll ignores the fluff and offers a simple, straight-forward product that makes it much easier for someone to set and track their goals without too much thinking or headaches.
iCounselor: OCD
Created by one of the most popular self-help tools in mobile, iCounselor, this app boasts incredible functionality as it offers information on obsessive-compulsive disorder and also helps user learn about and practice skills that will help them resist their compulsions.
This app shouldn’t replace professional help, and some wish that they would add more focus on obsessions, think of it more like an in-depth and informational resource that will aid your effort to curb OCD. It’s simple, it’s easy to navigate, and it’s a resource that is using technology to combat the issue, and for that they deserve to be applauded.
Popplet
We are admittedly stretching the meaning of psychology by including Popplet, but this ideas marketplace felt like too cool a resource not to include. Basically, their simple interface is a place to store your ideas so that you can do things like plan projects, record thoughts, and study for tests easier.
Similar to Pinterest in some ways, Popplet lets you build up niche boards for your ideas so that you can sort your thoughts and your Popplet projects easier. It may not be a resource for the professional psychologists, but it’s an idea capturer, and if that isn’t psychological than I don’t know what is.
PTSD Coach
When evaluating the effectiveness of iPhone applications, it’s important to determine the credibility of the source. Well, in the case of PTSD Coach, the source is pretty much bulletproof. Created by the Department of Veteran Affairs’ National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Department of Defense’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology, PTSD Coach is an award-winning app that offers credible information about the disorder and its effective treatments, tools to help screen for symptoms, and advice and suggestions on how to cope with those systems.
Like the others, this app is not intended to replace professional help, but it is an excellent resource that you can always carry with you in times of need, and of course it’s free, which makes it all the more appealing.
Personality Types
No questionnaire, no matter how in-depth and thoughtful, will ever be able to truly pin down a person’s character and personality. But as technology continues to advance, at least we can get closer. Personality Types uses the 16 Myers and Briggs Types to help users understand their own personalities and the personalities of others around them as well. The easy-to-use and sleek interface allows users to read up on the different types and get more in-depth information quickly, determine their type through a comprehensive questionnaire, and compare themselves to others to determine how compatible their personalities are.
Developed by UCLA professor Dario Nardi, this intelligent app has the ability to cut right to the core of people’s personalities and gives the user more information about human interaction, right at their fingertips. If you are interested in the work of Dr. Carl Jung, or just want to see whether your opinion of your personality matches with one of the 16 Types, this app is a no-brainer.
Stroke
The good folks at Doctot, a health informatics company based in Ireland, have been hard at work trying to become the No. 1 resource in the medical sector for interactive software tools and iPhone applications, and Stroke is the product of their hard work. The company’s medical background and expertise helped them design Stroke, which is designed to let the medical practitioner use an efficient and easy-to-use tool to measure the status and progress of Stroke patients.
The app uses some of the most widely respected assessment scales in the world and makes them easy to navigate so medical practitioners can quickly track how the patient is coping with the disease. It is, of course, not going to help cure someone’s stroke, and it won’t provide the therapy a patient will need, but it will give the attending clinician an effective and efficient way to keep track of a patient’s progress, which should make their jobs easier.
iCouch CBT
The startup iCouch CBT has quickly become one of the most effective mobile platforms in the psychology community thanks to its simple yet useful idea, and the talents and experience of its creators. iCouch attempts to make counseling easier to access and more affordable through advanced video technology. Basically, the app connects people needing therapy with licensed and credentials counselors, all through the technology of the Internet.
The site is private, highly encrypted, and really simple to use and reuse. The best part is that online counseling has been found to be as effective as in-person counseling, and now all the travel and financial hassles of trying to make it to a regular counseling appointment have been eliminated. Now, if you want counseling, all you have to do is plug into the app and find exactly what you are looking for, because, as they say it, the couch has been brought to you.
EPPP Flash Cards
Stressing out over the Examination of Professional Practice of Psychology? The good folks at StudyPsych have you covered with a comprehensive – albeit expensive – app that consists of nearly 3,000 flash cards that cover all the content that will be covered on the examination. Designed by a licensed psychologist, the app is intelligent enough to help the user focus on areas that are struggling with, and it’s easy-to-use interface and framework mean that it is probably easier to stay organized and in touch with your studying progress.
It is quite possibly the most in-depth and intensive mobile psychology studying platform in existence and the StudyPsych claims to have been contacted by many who said the app has helped them study for the exam. We aren’t saying that this app should be your sole resource for studying for the exam, but there is absolutely no way this app can be detrimental to your studying efforts because now, you can study wherever you are, without worrying about carrying hundreds of flashcards around in your pocket.
APA Journals
This is easily the simplest app on the list. This free application is developed by the American Psychological Association and it is basically an aggregated list of articles, research, and studies that are available in the APA’s database. Its layout is simple but effective, and its interface is incredible easy to use, making it a must-have resource if you are a psychology 
student, an active researcher, or just an interested party.
Any students, researchers, and clinicians worth their salt know that keeping up to date on all of the latest trends, research, and news in their industry is an important tool to increasing your effectiveness. Conveniently, the APA understands this too, and they want you to have access to all of their data, research, and information, which is why they created the app. It’s not going to wow you with its design or its functionality, but it’s not supposed to. It’s supposed to keep you well informed about your industry, and hopefully make you a better psychologist or psychology student.
iCBT
No human is immune to the pressure, stress, and anxiety that come with trying to balance all the different aspects of their life. In the world of psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is considered one of the most effective forms of therapy when it comes to treating everything from stress to eating disorders. The folks at Bonfire Development Advisors saw those two facts, and created an app that is based on Dr. David Burns’ idea that using CBT on a day-to-day basis is important when it comes to managing stress.
The app’s intelligent interface lets users identify the sources of the stress easily, and offers suggestions, advice, and information on how to combat that stress. The best part is that when you find yourself in a particularly stressful situation, you can have some form of aid with you at all times. The app isn’t meant to replace professional care but rather supplement it. This way, people can take control of their stress management and try to keep their lives as comfortable as possible.
