Absence makes the heart fonder. This definitely rings true for long-distance relationships — you rely on texts and calls as your primary mode of communication, while you don’t get to see your partner regularly, or at all, for that matter. Communication, trust and commitment are fundamental pillars in any relationship, but they become especially crucial in an LDR where you need to maintain a strong bond despite the physical distance.Â
LDRs also require adjustments, where you need to put in extra effort to coordinate schedules, compromise and sometimes even deal with time zone differences. They may be emotionally draining too, where you often feel loneliness, longing and you miss them oh-so-much. Basically, LDRs are hard! But they can be very rewarding when you come out of it a stronger couple.
It can be difficult to cope with all these feelings and adjustments, so finding healthy ways to manage them is important. One such way you can do so is through apps, which can assist your relationship in a number of ways including spicing things up, forging a deeper emotional connection or facilitating your day-to-day lives. These are our picks for apps that will help you feel closer and more connected to your partner, no matter where they are.
Touted as the best all-in-one relationship app for couples, Lovewick serves various purposes. It allows you to keep reminders of anything from your partner’s go-to Starbucks order to their mother’s birthday and collaborative wishlists where you can keep track of things you want to do, be it movies to watch together or ways to spice it up in the bedroom!
Their couples card game is great for spicing up video calls and allows you to discover new sides to each other, while the date night planner has a surprising number of suggestions for couples in long-distance relationships.
Available on the App Store and Google Play
Appearing as a widget on your home screen, simply snap a photo in the app, add a caption, and hit send! This will send the photo to their home screen, where your partner can reply. The photos go chronologically, so your latest photo will replace the one you previously sent.
Available on the App Store and Google Play
Loveit is similar to Locket as you can also send photos to your partner in the app, but this app also allows you to send inspirational quotes, drawings, and even virtual ‘actions’, such as kisses, hugs and bites.
Available on the App Store and Google Play
Ever tried watching a show with your long-distance partner, only to have trouble synchronising both screens and dealing with the echo on the call because you want to be able to talk to each other during the show? Rave is just the app for you. The app synchronises the show on all screens and even has an added chat and voice chat function for ease of communication.
Available on the App Store and Google Play
The app has daily questions that you and your partner both answer — since you can’t see your partner’s answers until you both answer, you can answer freely and honestly. There’s also a comparison feature, where you pick a topic and share your thoughts about your partner.
You can also try out the app’s couple quizzes and games, where you can understand your strengths while also finding areas to develop in your relationship.
Available on the App Store and Google Play
The concept behind this app is simple — when you and your partner both hold the screen in the Held Together app at the same time, the phone vibrates because you are ‘holding hands’. Cheesy, but fun.
Available on the App Store and Google Play
With My Love, you can easily see how long you have been together with your partner. While this may seem obvious, the app comes up with new milestones you can celebrate, such as ‘1111 days’ or ‘50 months’. You can also customise the app with a photo of you and your partner!
Available on the App Store and Google Play
Think of Love Nudge as your personal assistant in your relationship — through the app, you and your partner can learn your love languages so you can show your love in a way that means the most to your partner. Based on your respective love languages, you can set and track activity goals and monitor the levels of each other’s ‘love tanks’ to facilitate better communication and intimacy.
Available on the App Store and Google Play
Besides sharing a calendar with your partner, Cupla lets you manage a shared to-do list, set reminders, keep track of planned dates, and even plan dates for the future. Cupla syncs your calendar with Google, Outlook and Apple and puts them into a single view for your convenience — it does the same for your partner, which is great for transparency but also for ease of planning dates as one glance lets you know their availability.
And with Cupla’s date night planner, you can set goals for how often you want to go on dates, and view all upcoming planned dates in a timeline.
Available on the App Store and Google Play
To play Desire with your partner and spice up your relationship, send them dares, which they’ll earn points for once they complete it. Once you rack up enough points, you unlock the next level where there are even hotter challenges. And fret not — the app caters to long-distance couples with specific categories for long-distance relationships.
Available on the App Store and Google Play
Text: Natalie-Elizabeth Tan/Her World