It seems there are apps for just about anything, but could a couples app, such as Happy Couple, really improve your relationship? In other words, once you find that special someone (these days, often through a dating app), are there apps that can help keep that relationship going for the long run? Each relationship app is different and every couple is different, so there’s not a simple answer. Before signing up, it’s a good idea to take a moment to think about any potential downfalls or risks as well as the potential benefits.
Potential Benefits
First, ask yourself why you are considering a couples app, and what your motivation is. Could an app offer the chance to improve communication and enhance emotional intimacy, or is it simply another “screen time” activity that will further limit the face-to-face time so many of us are lacking?
There are a number of ways that a couples app could improve your relationship. Apps with questions that you’ve been putting off or avoiding could be a stimulus to have an in-depth conversation about some of those issues. While technology can create distance between a couple, it can also help create closeness. Keeping in touch with your partner via fun or flirty texts throughout the day is a great way to express your love and that you are thinking about him or her. Alternatively, never having any deep, meaningful face-to-face conversations is not likely to sustain the intimacy needed for a long-term relationship to survive.
Some apps help people examine the day to day challenges couples face and the difficulty in maintaining balance. An app may help you both look at your individual responsibilities in the relationship in a concrete and clear way, and even help you see if you are heading in the direction you hope by looking at short-term and long-term goals.
A particularly positive benefit of following prompts and addressing questions on these apps is that they may help you break through some of your assumptions about the other person. We all make assumptions about what our partners enjoy and value, but sometimes we are wrong. And being wrong can lead to any number of misunderstandings. Yet, many couples make choices each day based on these assumptions.
Another one of the potential benefits of an app is the potential of deepening your relationship’s honesty, communication, and connection—and working through any unspoken issues you may be harboring. What if you are honest, for example, and let your partner know that you think he is poor at apologizing? If you are prepared to work through the issue together, it could bring the two of you much closer.
