Five apps to try for your health – and the pros and cons of each

Millions of Australians are using health-related apps in a bid to boost their fitness goals and improve their overall quality of life. We take a look at the pros and cons of some.

Millions of Australians are using health-related apps in a bid to boost their fitness goals and improve their overall quality of life.

Whether you’re looking to track your steps and running activity or even book appointments with a GP, useful apps can assist.

The latest data from market research company Ipsos reveals more than 18 million Aussies spent an average of 68 minutes viewing health-related content last month – an increase of 20.9 per cent compared to December 2024.

To help you decide what to download, here are some of the most popular apps on the market.

MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal

This app will help users track their progress toward their nutrition, fitness, weight loss and water goals. It offers an all-in-one calorie counter and intermittent fasting, macro and fitness trackers.

It also includes a food barcode scanner, meal planner and diary.

Using the app’s premium features allows macros by meal, workout routines, recipes and unlimited weekly digests.

Cost: A$29.99/month (premium)

Pros:

Extensive food database

Easy integration with smartwaches and fitness apps

Cons:

Expensive monthly subscription compared to other apps

Some glitches when syncing with a smartwatch

Fitbit

Fitbit

The Fitbit app tracks your steps, active minutes, mindfulness days, calorie burns and sleep.

The app offers a monthly membership option and depending on the Fitbit model, users can access in-depth sleep tracking, guided meditations, nutrition insights and video workouts.

You can also track your food and water intake, menstrual cycle and weight, but this does require users to manually put in their stats.

Cost: A$14.99/month (premium)

Pros:

Easy to navigate

Offers irregular cardiac rhythm feature for some devices

Cons:

Can at times provide inaccurate sleep tracking stats

Problems syncing stats with other fitness apps

AllTrails

AllTrails

If you’re looking for hiking, running, and bike riding trails in your local area, this app can assist. AllTrails is perfect for all outdoor lovers and accommodates for all fitness levels.

There’s downloadable offline maps and alerts for wrong turns and more than 300,000 trail maps to explore.

Cost: A$35.99/year (premium)

Pros:

Users can find nearby trails within their current location

Crowdsourced data allows options to upload photos and reviews of trails

Cons:

Some hikes are incorrectly graded

Unoffical trails listed on the app

Samung Health

Samsung Health

This app is compatible with most of the Samsung smartwatches and provides detailed food and exercise insights including a steps tracker and calorie counter.

Users can use the ‘together’ feature with friends and family, which allows them to take part in challenges with them including a steps leaderboard.

Cost: Free

Pros:

Offers snore detection with some of its smartwatch models

Provides personalised health and wellness insights based on user data

Cons

The app doesn’t sync data with many third-party apps

Some users have reported privacy concerns about the app

Yoga For Beginners

There’s an app for people who want to try yoga.

Yoga For Beginners features customised workouts including chakra balancing, hip-opening yoga and bedtime yoga. There’s also coaching tips to assist with breathing and injuries.

It also keeps track of your completed and in progress workouts.

Cost: Free

Pros:
Access to hundreds of yoga programs

Yoga poses focused on pain relief

Cons:

Expensive monthly costs for in-app purchases

Some poses can be challenging and may require additional guidance

Originally published as Five apps to try for your health – and the pros and cons of each