5 Annoyingly Addictive iPhone, Android Apps
(Image: Jeshoots via Pixabay)
In a perfectly distraction-free world, our iPhones and Android smartphones would be pure productivity machines. On top of enabling global communication, most provide access to hundreds of apps designed to help you get things done.
However, anyone who has downloaded Candy Crush can attest to the fact that smartphones are capable of both maximizing and destroying productivity.
Smartphones have quickly transitioned from nice-to-have to must-have devices. It's nearly impossible to get through the day without calling, texting, emailing, scrolling through social networks, or playing games.
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Your smartphone can be great for helping you make the most of your time, but it can just as easily zap multiple productive hours in a day. The mere awareness of a phone notification, for example, is enough to distract us from whatever we're doing.
In fact, our use of digital media, smartphones, and social networks has started to reshape the way our brains work. Researchers recently discovered the human attention span dropped 25% between 2000 and 2013, a result of our brains adapting to our increasingly digital environment.
Because we are constantly engaging with technology, our brains have been retrained to concentrate in shorter time spans and more frequently crave new stimuli. Our brains like to keep busy.
Maybe that's why we like playing mindlessly distracting games when our brains aren't otherwise engaged. For every item on your to-do list, there's an app to help you get it done -- and a game to interfere with your productivity.
To help you in your next period of procrastination or boredom, we've collected a roundup of the most addicting, distracting games available in app stores today. Have you played these before? Did we forget your favorite mindless puzzle or game? Let us know in the comments.
QuizUp
If Trivia Night is a weekly event on your calendar, you'll love multiplayer trivia game QuizUp. Touted as "the biggest trivia game in the world" onApple's iTunes, the platform lets you go head-to-head with friends or random strangers in trivia face-offs on topics ranging from geology to Harry Potter. It's easy to find new topics that match your interests and chat with people who have something in common with you. It's free on iOS andAndroid.
Overglide
While it's not an app in the same sense as other picks on this list, Overglide is just as addicting. It buries itself in your Notification Center in a sneaky attempt to distract you from all communication and productivity. That's right -- you thought you were going to check that voicemail or respond to that patiently waiting email, but it turned into yet another fruitless mission to fly a little paper plane through a series of obstacles. Available on iOS for 99 cents.
Definitionado
This is a game that may do your brain some good. Definitionado tests your knowledge of word definitions, riddles, idioms, and trivia to solve puzzles. Completing puzzles will earn you coins, which you can use in exchange for hints when a tough problem rolls around. It's available for free on iOS andAndroid.
Two Dots
If you like simple, connect-the-dots puzzles, you'll be a fan of Two Dots. The plain white background has been replaced with images of jungles, arctic tundra, and deep-sea depths. You connect dots to create lines, sink anchors, put out fires, and accomplish other goals along the way. It's free on iOS and Android.
