About
Given the current prevalence of wearable technology, Fitbits have exploded in popularity. The Fitbit app is a great way to track your activity and health (if paired with a Fitbit tracker). In essence, the tracker device used (be it the Fitbit Flex, Charge, Blaze, etc.) performs the collection of data, and the app presents this data in the form of graphs and charts, and also provides the ability to set goals and log food and water intake.
Features
Step tracking
The app lets you set a goal for the amount of steps you want to take per day. Upon viewing the dashboard, you can see where you stand in relation to your goal for the day. You can also view a chart of your past week, month, quarter of a year, and full year. The app also calculates your averages steps, so you can see if you are becoming more or less active.
Distance tracking
Similarly to step tracking, distance tracking reveals the total distance that you have walked. Goals can also be set, and graphical summaries can also be viewed from within the app.
Activity monitoring
The app also presents information on physical exercise, detecting when you have been moderately active for a minimum of 30 minutes in one session. Unfortunately, this feature is more targeted towards cardio exercise, and those who exercise using weights may not be able to fully reap the benefits of this feature as a result. I found that when playing football, the feature would work properly, however wouldn't recognise that I was exercising whenever I went to the gym.
Sleep tracking
The Fitbit app can also track sleep. It provides graphical summaries about sleep cycles, and provides logs of previous nights to see if your sleeping pattern is changing. Personally, I find it hard to sleep while leaving my tracker on, and so I usually give this feature a miss.
Food logging
The app also allows users to log what foods they have eaten, to display accurate information about calorie intake and burning. I personally do not use this feature as it is too time consuming, and my goal is not to lose weight. However for those who wish to keep track of their calorie intake and want to adjust their exercise pattern accordingly to lose weight, this is a pretty nifty feature. The feature takes into account your current weight, target weight, age and BMI to calculate a calorie budget. Logging your food intake updates your position in relation to your calorie budget, so you can see how you are fairing. Meals bought from establishments (fast food, popular restaurants) can be searched through the app and added in. They are pre-filled with the amount of calories they contain. However for homemade meals, it will mostly require users to fill out details about the meal they are logging, which can be difficult. This is a great tool for those looking to lose weight and monitor their diet, however as previously stated I didn't find this particularly useful for myself.
Exercise tracking
You can also log exercise using the app. This feature, once turned on, will track exactly where you are going and deliver some information about your exercise upon completion. The feature is only for those who run, walk or hike, however, and if these activities are not part of your exercise routine, this faeture may not be too useful for you.
Download Links
Fitbit is available for free on the App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android.
The Verdict
The Fitbit app provides some pretty neat features to track your exercise and diet. It integrates these two areas remarkably well, and can be a great companion to your health. That being said, it is not for everybody. Those who exercise in ways other than walking or running will find it hard to accurately track their activity. Features such as food monitoring can also be useful, but may require a lot of time taken out of the day to log all information in, especially if you need to manually add a meal that isn't already part of the database. As such, this app has many great features and a great user experience, however I wouldn't recommend it unless you are big on running or walking as your primary way to exercise.
Score
★★★☆☆
Reviewed by Juzan
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