Although the Apple Watch has been recently launched, some of the best apps already included support for it since day 1, while the rest are rushing to comply with the latest trend. More titles will include support for the wearable in the coming months, but until then, there are plenty of great options – especially in the health and fitness sector.
There’s an app for whatever purpose you might need – from tracking your progress through your latest strength training routine, to logging every single piece of food you eat throughout the day and connecting with like-minded health communities to exchange valuable information.
Some of the titles in our roundup are not free, but their price is well worth it, given the impressive array of features these health apps are offering!
Carrot Fit – Download
Price: $2.99 (includes IAPs)
There are regular fitness trackers and then there’s Carrot. The judgmental (and sometimes mean) AI will help you track your weight and provide a crazy-intense 7 minute interval workout, that’s really effective, despite its short duration.
It also syncs with Apple’s Health app, which is definitely a useful addition, but if you want more exercises you’ll have to buy them via an IAP.
Fitstar Yoga – Download
Price: Subscription-based ($7.99/month, $39.99/year)
I’m a long time yoga fan and I always scout for the latest yoga workouts, but if there’s something that annoys me is the fact I always have to look up to the screen and check if I’m doing the pose/sequence right – and trust me, it’s not easy to do that while you’re in downward dog!
Fitstar Yoga offers a wealth of customizable yoga sequences and audio tracks, with detailed instructions right on your wrist. This is a well-rounded app for yoga practitioners of all levels that will track your progress and sync it with Fitbit, Jawbone UP, MyFitnessPal as well as the Apple Health app.
Vima – GPS Run Tracker Download/ GPS Bike Tracker Download
Price: Free (includes IAPs)
Vima’s GPS trackers for running and biking are both no-thrills apps that can track your fitness goals in a simple way.
As friendly as they are, these apps will record a plethora of data like distance, speed, time and altitude with pause & resume options, a voice summary feature that keeps you updated with your progress during the workout and display your saved runs/rides color coded by speed on the map.
Argus – Download
Price: Free (includes IAPs)
Calorie and steps counter, GPS tracker for driving, running and cycling, monitor for water, tea and coffee intake – you’ll get these all bundled in Argus. If you’re not a fan of having multiple fitness and food trackers installed, Argus is a reliable all-in-one solution.
This app can monitor an impressive number of physiological aspects and your daily activities such as food, hydration, your sleep patterns, weight, workouts, vitals and so on. Furthermore, it integrates with the Health app and it lets you create personal daily goals for hydration, sleep time and steps, since what would all that recorded data be worth without some higher purpose?
Human – Download
Price: Free
You might not be a dedicated fitness enthusiast, but it doesn’t mean you don’t strive to be active on a daily basis. In this case, Human can come in handy as this app is a more casual activity tracker offering a bit of extra motivation to move at least 30 minutes a day.
It doesn’t really matter what are your favorite workouts and other types of physical activities, and you can vary them as you wish. Practically any activity that lasts for more than a minute is going to be recorded and counted toward your daily goal. Move for 30 consecutive minutes and you’ve got yourself a streak!
Strava – Download
Price: Free (includes IAPs)
Strava is a community-based running and cycling tracker that’s packed with a solid amount of features. The app can display real-time progress and the training dasboard right on your Apple Watch, but it’s also capable of sending segment alerts on your wrist.
With Strava, you can use routes made by other users as well as create your own, receive a variety of stats like speed, burned calories, pace, distance and so on, as well as the ability to record your heart rate, power and cadence through its support for Bluetooth LE and ANT+ sensors.
The app is free, but there is a Premium subscription for $5.99/month or $59.99/year that offers additional features.
Runtastic – Download
Price: Free (includes IAPs, Pro version available)
This feature-rich app is aimed towards runners, hikers, joggers and fitness enthusiasts in general asit offers almost anything you could possibly want. From real-time workout GPS tracking and monitoring pace, duration, altitude, calories and other data, to a built-in music player, Story Runs (motivating stories you can listen while you run) and geotagging, Runtastic is continuously expanding its functionality through regular updates.
There’s a lot you can do with Runtastic from your Watch, such as the ability to see real-time information about your current activity, access tracking controls and statistics, share your success on social networks and control your music.
The app is free with IAPs, but there’s also a Pro version which you can buy for $4.99, plus two more Runtastic apps support the Apple Watch right now: Runtastic Six Pack and Runtastic Butt Trainer.
7 Minute Workout – Download
Price: Free (includes IAPs)
Have you ever heard of the Scientific 7 Minute Workout? It’s a set of 12 exercises that can be done at home since the only piece of equipment needed is a chair. It might sound easy, but trust me, it can give you a good sweat when done properly.
7 Minute Workout is the app that can show you this workout routine on your Apple Watch – there’s nothing fancy about it, but it is a good way to exercise when you’re short on time. The basic workout is free, but you can buy additional routines through IAPs, including the ability to create custom ones.
Slopes – Download
Price: $7.99
If you enjoy skiing and snowboarding, Slopes is a specialized fitness tracker aimed at these two activities. The iPhone app will automatically detect your runs and lifts, comes with a calorie tracker, offers a variety of daily summaries, plus its optimized for low battery consumption to run all day.
The Apple Watch app lets you see your stats like the time spent on the slopes vs time spent on lifts and daily totals for several stats such as top speed and distance, including comparisons between runs.
Lifesum – Download
Price: Free (includes IAPs)
Are you trying to become a healthier person? Perhaps you want to shed some pounds? Or maybe you’re too skinny and are trying to bulk up? This sounds like a TV commercial, I know, but Lifesum is a full-featured lifestyle tracker that can help with all of the above.
It’s absolutely loaded with features and besides the usual health and activity tracking functions, it also lets you scan barcodes of food products to find out their nutritional values and customize your daily nutritional levels for all major diets.
Lifesum lets you log the foods you eat, water and exercise on the Watch, plus it displays an overview of your daily activity and it’s able to send reminders and exercise suggestions on your wrist.
Clue – Download
Price: Free
Clue is a reliable period and fertility tracker I truly appreciate for both its functionality and nicely organized UI. We already reviewed Clue and it was also featured in our fertility apps roundup, because it’s such a quality product, definitely worthy of attention if you’re looking for a feature-rich period tracker.
Clue now supports the Apple Watch as it displays the current day of your menstrual cycle and time remaining until your next period on your wrist.
Hello Heart – Download
Price: Free
Hello Heart is a free blood pressure monitor that can be useful in a variety of situations, for example you having a heart condition, are pregnant or have a physically demanding job among others.
This app has a built-in blood pressure tracker, it offers weekly BP reports and it even reminds you to keep track of your blood pressure. There’s also a variety of useful information included, such as lists of doctors and drugs, as well as explanations of blood tests for diabetes and cholesterol.
Hello Heart can send notifications on the Apple Watch and lets you quickly log your blood pressure straight from your wrist.
Medication Alarm – Download
Price: Free (includes IAP)
This app is exactly as simple as it sounds – although useful nonetheless. If you’re on medication – especially if you take several types of pills, multiple times a day – Medication Alarm lets you setup custom reminders.
It offers an overview of today’s upcoming medication at a glance plus it send notifications on your wrist. The app is free, but ad-supported, which can be removed using the $1.99 IAP.
