It sounds counterintuitive: using your smartphone to break your smartphone addiction. But there are great apps out there [1] dedicated to it, including one called Checky [2]. If you're the type of person who needs to use a smartphone-only sidewalk lane [3], then Checky might be for you.

Source: Checky [4]

The whole point of the simple app is to count how many times a day you check your phone, find out from where, and give you a score to share on social media with the hope of decreasing the number. Developed by Calm — the company behind the website [5] and meditation app that promise to relax your mind — it's available for download now on iTunes [6] and Google Play [7].

This all sounds like a good idea, but the reality is many of our Checky numbers might not accurately reflect how often we're online. If you check your email and social media from a computer and use a texting desktop service like iMessage, you know you're plugged in way more often than it seems.