You unlock your phone to glance at the time or read a brief message. Suddenly, an hour slips away while you find yourself immersed in a continuous stream of celebrity gossip, amusing cat clips, terrible news items, influencer rants, and whatever else the algorithm has deemed appropriate for you.

Despite likely wishing to stop squandering your time and energy on this tedious content, you inevitably repeat the cycle the following day.

Doomscrolling, characterized by the excessive consumption of content via social media, is rampant. A survey conducted last year revealed that 64% of Americans admit to participating in doomscrolling. 

Experts have cautioned that doomscrolling can adversely impact various aspects of your well-being, such as your mental health and ability to concentrate. Prolonged scrolling can result in mental exhaustion, trouble focusing, and disrupted sleep patterns. If much of the content you’re viewing is negative or upsetting, it may leave you feeling demoralized, anxious, and emotionally depleted. 

Breaking the doomscrolling habit can be challenging, but numerous apps offer engaging and constructive content.

Of course, you could always opt to read a book or take a stroll (we have a guide on ceasing doomscrolling), but this list caters to those moments when you find yourself with a few free minutes and seek an alternative to endless scrolling on your phone. 

Dudel Draw

If you’re looking to take a breather from doomscrolling and explore something creative, Dudel Draw could be an app worth trying. Every day, it presents a random shape for you to transform into a drawing. These daily shapes range from simple geometric figures to more intricate and abstract forms.

You can also get your friends involved in the creativity by comparing your different artworks, which provides a pleasant diversion from sending each other countless TikToks or Instagram Reels.

Dudel Draw is available free of charge on iOS.

Radio Garden

For those who still want to stay connected to the world without scrolling through social media, consider using Radio Garden. This app provides access to over 25,000 live radio stations from around the world. 

Upon launching the app, you’ll encounter green markers indicating cities and towns. Tap on any marker to tune into radio stations broadcasting from that area. You can save favorites or search for radio stations, countries, and locations. 

Radio Garden is free to use, with an optional ad-free premium subscription available for $2.99 per month. It’s accessible on both iOS and Android. 

Elevate

Elevate is an app meant to enhance your focus, memory, reading, math skills, and overall cognitive functions. It offers more than 40 games designed to train various abilities you utilize daily, from accelerating your reading to efficiently comparing prices. 

You can monitor your training streaks and evaluate your cognitive performance over time. 

The app provides a free version which allows access to three games daily, or a yearly subscription priced at $39.99 for unlimited access. It’s available on iOS and Android. 

Vocabulary 

Vocabulary is an application that assists you in learning new words each day. You can select your difficulty level and choose categories that pique your interest, such as emotions, the human body, business, and more. Each entry includes a definition, illustrative sentences, and a pronunciation guide. 

The app also features mini-games to reinforce the words you’ve acquired. You can set weekly goals for how many words you wish to learn and establish a steady learning regimen. 

Vocabulary provides a free trial, followed by a cost of $4.99 per month or $59.99 annually. It is accessible on both iOS and Android. 

Seterra

If you’re an aficionado of geography eager to challenge your knowledge or simply want to enhance your geographic understanding, Seterra is the app for you. It includes over 300 games designed to test your mapping expertise. You can explore world flags, investigate oceans, seas, and rivers, and learn about mountain ranges and volcanoes across the planet.

Seterra allows you to monitor your advancement in various categories and view leaderboards for top performers in each game. 

The app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android. 

NYT Games

The NYT Games app provides a variety of word, logic, and number games that rotate daily to engage your mind. You can tackle the crossword puzzle, try your hand at the word-guessing game Wordle, group related words in Connections, and discover how many words you can form from seven letters in Spelling Bee, among others. 

The app charges $5.99 per month for unlimited access and archives, although some games, like Wordle, Strands, and the Mini Crossword, can be enjoyed for free. 

NYT Games is available on both iOS and Android. 

Drops

If you’re eager to learn a new language but prefer an alternative to Duolingo, Drops presents a viable choice. The app employs visually stimulating mini-games to assist you in acquiring vocabulary and essential phrases in over 45 languages, featuring bite-sized lessons meant to be completed in around five minutes daily.

Drops caters to both novices and seasoned learners aiming to enhance their foreign language vocabulary.

The free version allows for five-minute lessons each day. For unlimited access and premium features, you can subscribe for $11.99 per month or $79.99 per year. The app is available on both iOS and Android.

This article was initially published in March 2026 and receives regular updates with fresh information.