Whether one works out in a gym regularly, practices yoga religiously, goes out to run every day, follows a balanced diet, or just plans to do one or more of these things, the odds involve the use of a health and/or fitness app powering these lifestyle changes!
A fitness app is like a personal coach, trainer, and dietician, to help you stay on track.
Health and fitness apps are now a phenomenon, gaining popularity across app stores. The global fitness app market size is expected to reach over $14.7 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 23% through 2017-2023.
There are a number of categories of these apps ranging from yoga and running apps, to gym and audio workouts. With new brands entering the arena every day, users are spoilt for choice.
At Smartech, we’ve kept a close watch on this rapidly growing app category and curated a list of the top 6 health and fitness apps (in no particular order) that continue to take the Indian audience by storm:
- HealthifyMeWith over 5 million downloads, a 4.6 star average rating, and over 75 thousand reviews, this India-based app is creating ripples in the health and fitness app category. This user-friendly, all-in-one app has also been the winner of the “Best App Award” for 3 years on Google Play, and is featured under the Editor’s Choice list.
Key Features:- A tutorial database of over 1500 exercises, and an on-demand access to certified diet, fitness, and yoga coaches, whose expertise is available to the users, 24/7!
- A unique one-tap Calorie Counter feature that houses the largest food database in India, with more than 55,000 regional food items. Users simply have to tap their choices from the list, and the app automatically calculates the nutritional and calorific values in real-time. This key feature creates a habit-forming aspect, converting sporadic users into power users over a period of time
- Seamless sync with users’ wearable technology based activity trackers. Services like Google Fit, YUFIT, Fitbit and others can be easily integrated with HealthifyMe, to let users personally monitor their own fitness levels and goals
Although the facilities of coaches and trainers is available only to the premium customers, there are a whole lot of features available in the free plan, that can gradually nudge freemium users to become paid customers.
HealthifyMe also boasts of Ria, the world’s first AI-powered virtual nutrition assistant.
Price: Free with in-app purchases | Availability: Android, iOS and web
- MyFitnessPalWith an average rating of 4.6, and over 50 million downloads, MyFitnessPal is arguably one of the world’s most favoured fitness apps. Available as a mobile app and also through a website over desktops, this app packs in a lot of features like food tracking, weight goal setting, exercise, and activity logs.It also has an extremely supportive community that creates a sense of belonging for users who are on their respective health and fitness journeys.
Key Features:- Diet and exercise tracker to ascertain optimal nutrient and calorific intake. The app uses gamification principles and customisable goal setting tools to engage and motivate users about their own fitness
- Food tracking houses an evolving database of more than 11 million food items. Users can also conveniently import nutritional information for the recipes that they cook at home. They can even log food items from the menu of their favourite restaurants. The users also get the features of a macro-nutrient counter and in depth insights about the food they consume
- Goal setting or weight loss/gain and activity tracker to monitor the activities
- Easy syncing with 50+ apps and devices including Fitbit, Jawbone, Garmin, Runtastic, and many others
These features make it a complete fitness app that is highly user friendly and adds consistent value through a wide-variety of features.
The highly effective marketing strategies that this brand follows, is a huge contributor towards its growing success.
Price: Free with in-app purchases | Availability: Android, iOS, and Web
- AaptivAaptiv allows users to work out when they want, where they want, and the way they want. This is an audio-based app which has hit more than 1 million downloads on Google Play and has an average user rating of 3.6 stars.Delivering on its philosophy of “Personal Training for Everyone”, the mobile app has more than 9000 positive user reviews that endorse it.
Key Features:- Unlimited access to professional audio-based fitness sessions led by certified personal trainers and coaches. Users can also exercise with specifically curated music playlists featuring popular and well-loved artists
- Flexibility to choose from hundreds of workouts and diverse activities like running, elliptical, strength training, Yoga, and one of the most effective forms of exercise – the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). For runners, there are speciality conditioning programs for 10k and 5k runs
- More than 30 new programs are added to their impressive list every week
Thousands of trainer-led and music-accompanied workouts, structured weekly and monthly programs, and classes for every level of fitness are some of the features that make this app very popular for users who prefer working out at home, rather than a gym.
Recently, Aaptiv even opened a pop-up gym, to extend its digital offering to physical spaces.
Price: Free with in-app purchases | Availability: Android, iOS and web
- SworkitWith an average rating of 4.5 stars and downloaded on more than 5 million smartphones, Sworkit has been consistently rising as one of the most favoured apps in the health and fitness industry. This fact is endorsed by more than 1,10,000 reviews, earning it a place on the Editor’s Choice list on Google Play.Moreover, Sworkit has been rated as the #1 app (in the fitness section) on several parameters such as safety, stretching, progression, etc. by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The developers also claim to have delivered more than 50 million workouts spanning all fitness levels.
Key Features:- Designed specifically for busy people with a need for a no-nonsense solution for raising their own fitness standards
- Huge database of bodyweight exercises for beginners, intermediate, and advanced fitness levels. Their 6-week programme is geared towards getting the users leaner, fitter or stronger, or all three if they wish
- More than 400 guided video workouts and exercises
- Customisable workout options. This app enables the users to not be dependent on equipment or the internet for exercising regimes
The app developers intend for their app to be utilised by health and wellness coaches, personal trainers, and physical therapists as an adjunctive training tool.
Price: Free with in-app purchases | Availability: Android, iOS, and web
- 7 Minutes Workout (by Simple Design Ltd.)This is yet another heavyweight app in the fitness sector, with more than 10 million downloads and an average rating of 4.6 stars with more than 400,000 reviews on Google Play.Winner of several awards like the Best of 2016 App, Top Trending App and Best Self-Improvement App, it has also featured on the Editor’s Choice list on Google Play.
Key Features:- A 7-minute workout plan based on High Intensity Circuit Training (HICT). HICT has been scientifically proven to be the most effective and safest way to lose weight, and improve the overall fitness of users
- The app can be highly customised to include the user’s desired needs, from HIIT routines to just fat burning exercises. The shorter workout time is one of the key reasons why more and more people are gravitating towards this app
- Beautiful character and UI design, Google Fit support, and voice guidance
There are many apps on the Play Store with the same or similar name that might leave you confused, so you might want to do a little more reading yourself!
Price: Free with in-app purchases | Availability: Android
- Down DogThe more than 1 million downloads, an impressive 4.9 stars rating and +35000 reviews solidify Down Dog’s claims of being the #1 app for practising Yoga at home. With “Great Yoga Anywhere” as its tagline, the app features excellent audio/video tutorials of Yoga exercises for people of varying fitness standards.Its impressive track record makes it the only Yoga app featured in this list.
Key Features:- Highly customisable. For instance, users can choose from 7 different instructor voices and also the background music to personalise their app usage experience
- Seamless syncing with multiple devices and wearables. Users also have the option to go offline
- The “Boost” feature that focuses on 12 different practice such as flexibility, core strength, etc.
With over 30,000 different configurations, Down Dog makes practising Yoga a thoroughly fresh and enjoyable experience every time.
Price: Free with in-app purchases | Availability: Android, iOS and web
Mobile Marketing for Health and Fitness Apps
The health and fitness app category is growing by leaps and bounds, and the future continues to grow brighter. In this highly competitive market, every step, starting from spreading awareness till preventing uninstalls, is a challenge.
Only an extremely solid mobile marketing strategy powered by user behavioural data, enriched with the power of Machine Learning, can determine greater chances of success. Given the nature of industry, continuous (but, not overbearing) user engagement is of utmost importance. Only a well-engaged and happy customer base can propel such apps towards expanding their horizons into corporate partnerships and brand alliances.
The beauty of this app category is the seamless way in which higher adoption becomes a function of habit. App stickiness can only be driven up by delivering value consistently through a great UI/UX and a personalised mobile marketing strategy through the use of high-conversion channels such as push notifications and in-app messages.
In my next post, I’m going to highlight key mobile marketing best practices that apps can benefit from in this category!
Do you use a health and fitness app? What has your experience been like? We’d love to hear from you!
And, if you happen to be a mobile marketer, we’d be thrilled to help you chart out your own app’s data-driven mobile marketing strategy – just like these apps – to help you scale your mobile app business!
