During the third quarter of 2013, Android accounted for 81 percent of all smartphone shipments worldwide compared to 12.9 percent of iOS smartphone shipments, according to a report from the International Data Corporation (IDC). This is a new milestone for Android, which has been surpassing iOS shipments for a few years now. Some apps, like Basis Band's connected app, went to the Google Play store even before hitting the iTunes app store.
A few months ago, MobiHealthNews rounded up the top 20 paid health and fitness apps in the Google Play store. The list consisted of a few sleep apps, some fertility trackers and many fitness coaches and ranged from $0.99 to $3.99. The Google Play store also offers a free app store with a similar range of app offerings and some lite versions of the paid apps. In the free store, there were double the number of fertility trackers within the top 20 than the paid store -- six total, and a similar number of activity trackers and fitness coaches. We have rounded up the top 20 free standalone apps listed in the Google Play store (leaving out apps that required a connected device).
MyFitnessPal's Calorie Counter offers a database of over 3,000,000 foods and boasts a "fast food and exercise entry" process. After entering in food in the app, or online, users can add friends to track and share each other's progress. Besides food, the app can track 350 exercises and if the user's exercise isn't preloaded, he or she can enter it into the app.
This is the first of many period trackers on the list. Period Tracker has just one button to press at the start of a woman's period every month. From there, the app logs those dates and calculates the average of 3 months' menstrual cycles to predict the start date of her next period. A woman can also view current and future period dates, ovulation and fertile days, her moods and her symptoms in a month-view calendar. The app also offers a diary for women to update their mood for later viewing.
One feature on WebMD's health app is a symptom checker that uses a picture of the human body to help people explain symptoms and see potential conditions. When the user identifies a set of potential conditions, WebMD has medically reviewed information about conditions relevant to the user and the option to learn more about causes, treatments, and related symptoms. Other features include a database of drugs, supplements, and vitamins; a pill identification tool, which helps users identify prescription drugs and over the counter medicines by pill shape, color, and imprint; and a search function to find the closest physician, hospital, and pharmacy based on location.
Lose it! wants to help users lose weight with a daily calorie budget, a food and exercise tracker, and a system that connects users to people, devices, and food information that could help them achieve weight loss goals. The app customizes a weight loss plan that fits the user's life encourages users to set a weight loss goal. Some features include a barcode scanner, recipe builder, and meal or exercise planning guides. Goals that Lose it! lists are weight, body fat, hydration, sleep, steps, exercise (in calories and minutes), NikeFuel, nutrients and body measurements.
This is the second period tracker on the list. The calendar on this app is meant to record not only cycles, symptoms, and moods, but also intercourse and type of birth control pill. The app aims to help a woman keep her period a secret, but if she wants, she can also switch to having multiple accounts to track periods and cycles for different people. The app also lets users share the information with a doctor, which they say, makes it easier when discussing pregnancies or switching to birth control.
Google's own fitness app, My Tracks, records the user's path, speed, distance, and elevation while he or she walks, runs, bikes. Users can view their data live, annotate their path, and hear periodic voice announcements of their progress. The app also syncs with Google Drive. The app also connects to a few third party sensors like Zephyr HxM Bluetooth heart rate monitor, Polar WearLink Bluetooth heart rate monitor and ANT+ heart rate and speed distance monitors, although those require an ANT+ compatible phone. My Tracks is also an open source project and open to contributors.
With RunKeeper, users can track running, walking, cycling, hiking, biking using the GPS in an Android phone. The app will produce statistics around pace, distance, time, and calories burned. Users can also listen and control music during a workout. Because RunKeeper also integrates with many sensors, the app will also measure heart rate over time.
While CVS's app has a lot of general features like ordering photos of pick up, creating a mobile ExtraCare card and accessing weekly deals, the app also offers many health features. Some include the ability to refill, transfer and manage prescriptions, revisiting the prescription history, scan a pill bottle to refill and finding a local CVS.
Even though Nike offers runners a wearable device, the Nike+ FuelBand, the app does not require a connected sensor to work. The phone's GPS and accelerometer will record distance, pace and time working out and audio feedback at every mile helps users understand their progress. Users can set up Nike-generated playlists for a run and share results with friends on Facebook. Nike recently made two announcements that aren't related to its app -- a new generation of the Nike+ FuelBand and the next “evolution” of the Nike TechStars accelerator, called the Nike Fuel Lab.
10. I’m Expecting - Pregnancy App
This app is meant for a woman who is already expecting. The app offers weekly updates about the baby's growth, a symptom tracker that compares symptoms to those of other pregnant moms to see if they are common. To begin, a mother must enter her baby’s due date. Mothers can also monitor their weight throughout the pregnancy, ask questions about pregnancy and follow others’ questions in the app's online forums, keep track of doctor’s appointments and tests, and watch a baby grow with fetal development images developed by medical experts.
11. MyDays - Period & Ovulation
Women can track and predict period, ovulation and fertility with this app. The app is password protected and offers notifications for periods and ovulation times. MyDays also supports multiple users and allows users to enter in birth control and intercourse information. Women using the app isn't confined to only seeing their information in pink -- the app offers customizable colors. The app adds, "many men find MyDays useful for understand their partner's cycle".
Tools within the Weight Watchers mobile app can only be accessed if the user has a Weight Watchers subscription. If the user has a subscription, they can track food, activity and weight, follow progress with the app's interactive chart, get tips for how to make healthy habits second nature based on location, and find workout ideas for any fitness level. In a recent survey that Weight Watchers conducted, Baylor College of Medicine found that even though Weight Watchers offer online and mobile tools, the biggest impact of the program exists within the meetings.
MapMyRun's app tracks pace, GPS route mapping, distance, route navigation, calorie counting, elevation and nutrition. All the while, the app also records real-time stats during workouts and offers voice prompts that give the exerciser updates as he or she proceeds.
Created by two ER docs, iTriage offers patients a symptom checker, doctor search, a database of medical symptoms, diseases, conditions, procedures, medications and drugs and a hospital locator. From the app, patients can also check in while they are on their way to select hospitals and check wait times for the emergency room. iTriage also recently announced they are working with parent company Aetna to offer mid-sized employer groups a customizable version of the app that guides users to in-network providers.
This is the second pregnancy-specific app on Google's list. This one offers a nutrition guide to help women manage weight gain and view tips for how to eat well, a forum that groups women who are all giving birth around the same time, a tracker to record the baby's kicks, and a video library.
Noom's weight loss coach offers free weight loss plans for users. The company reports users lose an average of 10 pounds in two months when they use the app because the app coaches instead of just tracking.
This app, made by fitness app and device maker Azumio, uses a user's built-in camera to track color changes on the fingertip, which indicates the user's heart rate. The data from heart rate measures is graphed for the user to see trends in his or her heart rate information.
BabyBump Free is a pregnancy app that keeps soon-to-be parents informed about their pregnancy progress and allows parents to track and share their experiences with their community. The app also has an online store in which the makers of the app curate their favorite baby and pregnancy products.
Noom Walk, which launched in June, uses a mobile device's accelerometer to track fitness without using a lot of battery power, a feature that Google recently added to its Android 4.4, or KitKat. The app is also compatible with number 16 on Google Play's top 20 list, Noom Weight Loss Coach.
20. SleepBot - Sleep Cycle Alarm
This is the only app exclusively for sleep on the list. SleepBot wants users to help users "find out what's really happening in that missing third of [their] life." The app offers users an alarm cycle, movement tracker, sound recorder, sleep debt log, analysis of the data and trend graphs.
