Everybody knows that fitness, as well as healthy lifestyle, is trending these days. That’s why health apps become extremely popular. There are thousands of them for both IOS and Android but never enough – everyday people try to find something new on the market.
Therefore, your health and fitness app will find its users too. A key to success here is not to mix all the possible features in one app, but create an application with nice, easy interface and smart functionality. People love easy and useful software. That’s what it is all about.
What kind of health and fitness app you can build?
If we look at the top charts of health and fitness apps, we most likely find there five types of products.
Activity tracker app. Whether you are sleeping, walking, running, cycling or exercising, this app will track everything and collect the daily data. The main point is to check your activity and set fitness goals according to it. There are “all in one” apps on the market, which track everything and applications for every single activity.
Workouts app. Here we have two types of apps: the one having a list of weight loss and muscle-building exercises that you can combine the way you want, and another offering a full gym workout plan or home workout plan.
Yoga app. Yoga today is not only deep mental and body practice but also a popular fitness trend. Some of the yoga apps provide just separate asanas; some teach different kinds of yoga or give full complex of exercises.
Personal coach app. This is not just a regular app but an interactive gym coach, who makes up workout programs and tells exactly what to do. It is very similar to online personal training sessions you can have with the real coach.
Food apps. Those applications offer a full nutrition plan, make a grocery list, count calories, control water/tea/coffee intakes, make a food journal, track diet or suggest recipes.
Key features of a health and fitness applications
There are few key features every health and fitness app just must have onboard. They can be considered as “the basis” for the successful and popular fitness app.
- Personalized account. Health applications deal with personal data, so every user will have to create an account. There are two ways of registration: via social networks or via e-mail. The first one is faster and easier but many people still prefer the traditional one. Once the account is created, it is time to add all the information: age, gender, weight (kilograms and pounds), height (feet and meters), and photo.
- Social networks connection. This feature allows registering and logging in via social network, invite friends, check their activity and synchronize the app with Facebook, Instagram (Google+, Twitter etc.) accounts for collecting and storing all the data. Furthermore, thanks to this option users can easily share their goals and progress.
- Geolocation service. An essential feature for the tracking apps. Allows drawing of running, walking or cycling routes and current location tracking. It can be implemented with the help of Google or Apple navigation services but not only.
- Push notifications. Notifications will remind the user about upcoming workouts. Notifications should contain standard options like time, frequency and sound adjustment.
- Goals setting. 95% of diet and fitness apps are about setting and reaching goals, moving forward and becoming fitter and healthier day by day.
- Statistics. Collecting and storing data is highly important for progress tracking, workout planning, and self-motivating. Statistical reports help users to move forward.
Read also:
These are the basic features of every health and fitness app, no matter if it is activity tracker, workout planner or food journal.
Additional features and design tips
Health and fitness application development process is complicated. After you plan your main functionality, it is time to establish additional features. Here are many factors to take into account, but the key thing to remember is that the app should be easy and user-friendly. Therefore, there is no point in putting everything in one pot. Choose features according to your target audience needs and development budget.
Workouts planning. It can be the key function or just an additional one (for example, if you develop an activity tracker app). Exercises may vary for men (more strength-training and muscle-building plans) and women (more cardio and weight-loss workout plans).
Voice commands. An amazing feature for personal coach type of application. Voice commands make the training process interactive and entertaining.
Yoga workouts. If your target audience is women, they will appreciate additional yoga complexes. However, relaxing asanas is the nice way to finish a workout. If you develop a full yoga application, it will be nice to add meditation exercises and breath techniques explanation.
Food journal with calories counter and nutrition planning. A very useful additional feature for workout planning app. Physical activity and healthy diet usually come together, so nutrition features will make your app more useful and popular.
Workout music playlists. Nice add-on to a running or workout app. Nobody likes running or working out in silence, so users will appreciate it.
Healthy recipes with voice commands. Another nice feature, which you can add on nutrition app. This function will suggest healthy and tasty meals and give instructions on how to cook them step by step.
App design is also important, so it should be nice, simple and smart.
- Logo. The first thing people see is a logo. If they like it, they go forward reading the description and downloading the app. Therefore, the logo should be simple but original. For example, a lot of applications place heart or human symbol on the logo, so you better to look for another solution.
- Interface. Even if the app has a huge functionality, the interface should be simple and easy to use. Colors and infographics are also important.
Of course, people prefer certain app because of possibilities it gives to them. However, if it is difficult to understand what it is about and manage with it, users will move to another product. Therefore, you have to do a thorough research in order to understand what design elements can be easily understood and what not.
The estimated cost of app development for health and fitness
The estimated cost of application development depends on many factors. The price will be higher, if you hire a local developer – their rates sometimes go to a $250 per hour. Otherwise, outsource developers often offer lower prices ($50-$150 per hour). The amount of time required to develop an app strongly depends on app complexity. It can take up to 600 hours to develop app only for Android phone or iPhone, so it can take up to 1200 hours to develop an app for both OS. However, time rates also depend on the developer’s qualification and experience.
Free or Paid?
Today health and fitness app is the best solution for probably every second person. Using an app is comfortable and cheaper than going to the gym or hiring a personal trainer. Almost all health apps are suggested on the free or paid basis today. Tracker fitness app development is expensive, so there is a point to make some features paid. Here you have two choices:
- Provide free standard options (account creation, statistics, targets setting etc.) and paid additional features.
- Provide monthly/yearly fee for app usage.
If your app is complicated and contains many additional features, there is a reason to make it paid. Many popular health and fitness apps are running on this basis.
Easy workout tracker app development
But what If you are not familiar with app development and design? In this case, it is better to delegate it to professional developers. Yes, the price can be higher than if you would build it your own, but in the end, you will save about 500-800 hours (or twice more if you want to develop an app for both Android and IOS).
What is more important, you will control all the process and give new creative ideas, while your mind will be free from thinking about the technical part.
If you want to get your unique IT-solution get in touch with our company and our qualified team will develop the best health and fitness app according to your preferences and needs. Our experts are specialized in mobile app development for Android and IOS, so you will get a smart, user-friendly and nicely designed solution. Contact us today and we will bring your app to life.