New Year's Resolution Apps: CARROT Fit, Lifesum, Mint and More

[MacRumors]

January 1 is a popular day to begin New Year's resolutions, but many people fall back to bad habits by February because the goals they set are not realistic. If you are one of those people, consider focusing on making small improvements to your lifestyle this year by taking advantage of iOS apps that can help you succeed.

Drink more water with Lifesum, a free healthy living app for easily tracking each glass or bottle of water you drink. The daily goal is set to 8 glasses, or 68 fl. oz, by default, but can be adjusted based on your personal needs. Water intake data can be exported to Apple's official Health app.

Drinking water can contribute to better alertness and productivity, weight loss, improved digestion and many other benefits. Lifesum can also help you track your breakfast, lunch, dinner and exercise. Some features require upgrading to a Lifesum Gold subscription. [Direct Link]

Save more money with Mint, a free app that links to your U.S. or Canadian bank account and provides an overview of your cash flow, recent transactions, upcoming bills and spending habits based on categories such as restaurants, groceries, fast food, alcohol and bars, clothing and more.

Mint enables you to create budgets to help you save money. Aim to reduce your spending by a realistic amount relative to your net income. If you spend $83.33 less per month on non-essential purchases, for example, the savings quickly add up to $1,000 in one year. [Direct Link]

BUDGT [Direct Link] is a simplistic budget and expense tracking alternative that does not link with your bank account. The app costs $1.99.

Get in shape with CARROT Fit, a top-rated fitness app that delivers an exhaustive 7-minute interval workout based on 12 high intensity 30-second exercises with 10 seconds of rest in between each set. The app also features a step counter, weight tracker, workout calendar and more.

CARROT Fit is $2.99, so it is worth a try before signing up for an annual gym membership or personal training, which can easily cost upwards of $300 or $50 per hour respectively. The app's 7 Minutes in Hell workout can be completed anywhere, and the only equipment needed is a chair. [Direct Link]

Quit smoking with Smoke Free, which tracks how much money you have saved since quitting, how many cigarettes you've avoided smoking, how long you've been smoke free, how many hours of life you've theoretically regained, overall health improvements and more.

Smoke Free provides you with daily missions and tips to help you stop smoking, and rewards you with badges for not smoking or avoiding cravings for various lengths of time. These features can be unlocked via in-app purchase, while most of the app's other features are free to use. [Direct Link]

Wake up rested with Sleep Cycle, a free intelligent alarm clock app that analyzes your sleep and wakes you in the lightest sleep phase, allowing you to feel rested and relaxed. The app has patented technology that monitors your sleep movements using sound or vibration analysis.

Simply open Sleep Cycle and place your iPhone on a nightside table or floor near your bed, and the app will find the optimal time to wake you up during a 30 minute window that ends at your set alarm time. Make sure that your iPhone is connected to a power source to ensure it does not die overnight. [Direct Link]

Sleep Cycle offers an optional annual Premium subscription for $1.99 per year featuring online backup, long term sleeping trends, sleep notes, a heart rate monitor, Philips HUE lightbulb support and more. Sleep Cycle's developer Northcube AB says the app was developed using proven sleep science and years of research and development. The app is also fully integrated with Apple's stock Health app.

Organize your life with Wunderlist, a popular task management and to-do list app acquired by Microsoft in June 2015. The app allows you to create to-do lists with optional subtasks, notes, files and comments, and set due dates and reminders for important deadlines.

Wunderlist is free to use, while upgrading to Wunderlist Pro is optional and provides unlimited access to Files, Assigning and Subtasks for $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year through an auto-renewing subscription. [Direct Link]
Lifesum, Mint, CARROT Fit and Wunderlist have companion Apple Watch apps available.

Article Link: New Year's Resolution Apps: CARROT Fit, Lifesum, Mint and More

 

[vjl323]

Though it costs 99c, I've been super happy with WaterMinder - an app similar to LifeSum. No IAPs [or yearly service fees] involved and it is super fast. It also has a Watch app that makes it even quicker to add water, and my experience with the developer has been very positive.

I used to use Wunderlist for one of my businesses, but this year, I felt they started to go downhill by making the app more complex than it needed to me [my goto app for getting things done is OmniFocus, so I know all about power-user features, but I used Wunderlist for a very simple and specific need that OF would have been overkill for, and I wanted to keep the biz todo stuff separate from the stuff in OF]. Still, Wunderlist's pricepoint make it worth trying out to see if you enjoy it.

 

[binaryskies]

I used the Smoke Free app last year to help me keep track of how much money I was saving while not smoking. It's a pretty simple app but really helps you see how much you spending on cigarettes! I've been cigarette free for over a year and 3 months. I recommend this app to anyone who is looking at kicking the horrible habit!!

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

January 1 is a popular day to begin New Year's resolutions

I find it better to start them on October 1, the new fiscal year.

I used the Smoke Free app last year to help me keep track of how much money I was saving while not smoking. It's a pretty simple app but really helps you see how much you spending on cigarettes! I've been cigarette free for over a year and 3 months. I recommend this app to anyone who is looking at kicking the horrible habit!!

Congratulations! That is one of the hardest habits to break.

 

[inbtw33n]

Habitica. Both browser and app "game" for your life. No need to start or end habits on new year's.

 

[KiwiAdventure]

Who needs any of these apps surly people have the common sense required.

 

[Sill]

Who needs any of these apps surly people have the common sense required.

Evidently not. I never could understand the need for "to-do list" apps like Wunderlist or any others: "The app allows you to create to-do lists with optional subtasks, notes, files and comments, and set due dates and reminders for important deadlines."

So does a sheet of paper.
Nice side benefit to that sheet of paper: the paper can be folded and put in my pocket, and if I forget it somewhere I wouldn't lose my mind like if I'd lost an iPad or it got stolen.


Nor do people have the common sense to not put so much personal data "out there" for companies to data mine. Mint stands out on this list for being the most egregious - "a free app that links to your bank account". Anything that personal that is free may just be trying to get you interested in a pro upgrade, but it also means they have your information and can use it or abuse it. "Mint enables you to create budgets to help you save money." Yes, I'm sure we're all completely incapable of doing so without the "free" app. Then again, given that the article has this math lesson: "If you spend $83.33 less per month on non-essential purchases, for example, the savings quickly add up to $1,000 in one year", I imagine its directed at people who buy things they don't need when they're on sale because of all the money they save.

Even with the deep lack of common sense, I'm really surprised that there is a water-reminder app. The whole "drink 8 glasses of water a day" thing has no basis in science. You need to drink when thirsty, no more. The only time you'd ever break that rule is if you're an athlete or in a very physical job, where your effort and the environmental conditions can outstrip how fast your sense of thirst is triggered. Drinking too much water can damage your kidneys over time. Plus, if you dilute your electrolytes past a certain point, you lose consciousness and possibly die. I've been there. I changed my behavior. Didn't need an app.

Sleep Cycle is the craziest one of the bunch. Reminds me of when the Soviets used to bug diplomats' rooms in the hopes of hearing them talk in their sleep.

 

[0098386]

An app to monitor water intake? Strange. When it comes to water it's;
Q: Should I drink more water?
A: Yes.

Habitica. Both browser and app "game" for your life. No need to start or end habits on new year's.

Some of my friends use this, it seems to work for them!

 

[dogolaca]

MINT used to have an OS X app, but they discontinued it without warning. Typical support of Mac users by Intuit.

 

[vjl323]

Habitica. Both browser and app "game" for your life. No need to start or end habits on new year's.

I used that app when it was called HabitRPG and ended up liking the website more than the iOS app. With the rebrand, perhaps the iOS app has gotten better? It was a very cool app/game, but for me, I only used it on a desktop browser.

Forgot to mention - I've been using Sleep Cycle for a while now and really enjoy it - I like that you no longer need to keep it on the bed, under the bottom sheet like you used to do.

 

[AbSoluTc]

Evidently not. I never could understand the need for "to-do list" apps like Wunderlist or any others: "The app allows you to create to-do lists with optional subtasks, notes, files and comments, and set due dates and reminders for important deadlines."

So does a sheet of paper.
Nice side benefit to that sheet of paper: the paper can be folded and put in my pocket, and if I forget it somewhere I wouldn't lose my mind like if I'd lost an iPad or it got stolen.


Nor do people have the common sense to not put so much personal data "out there" for companies to data mine. Mint stands out on this list for being the most egregious - "a free app that links to your bank account". Anything that personal that is free may just be trying to get you interested in a pro upgrade, but it also means they have your information and can use it or abuse it. "Mint enables you to create budgets to help you save money." Yes, I'm sure we're all completely incapable of doing so without the "free" app. Then again, given that the article has this math lesson: "If you spend $83.33 less per month on non-essential purchases, for example, the savings quickly add up to $1,000 in one year", I imagine its directed at people who buy things they don't need when they're on sale because of all the money they save.

Even with the deep lack of common sense, I'm really surprised that there is a water-reminder app. The whole "drink 8 glasses of water a day" thing has no basis in science. You need to drink when thirsty, no more. The only time you'd ever break that rule is if you're an athlete or in a very physical job, where your effort and the environmental conditions can outstrip how fast your sense of thirst is triggered. Drinking too much water can damage your kidneys over time. Plus, if you dilute your electrolytes past a certain point, you lose consciousness and possibly die. I've been there. I changed my behavior. Didn't need an app.

Sleep Cycle is the craziest one of the bunch. Reminds me of when the Soviets used to bug diplomats' rooms in the hopes of hearing them talk in their sleep.

Who **** in your wheaties this morning?

 

[inbtw33n]

I used that app when it was called HabitRPG and ended up liking the website more than the iOS app. With the rebrand, perhaps the iOS app has gotten better? It was a very cool app/game, but for me, I only used it on a desktop browser.

Forgot to mention - I've been using Sleep Cycle for a while now and really enjoy it - I like that you no longer need to keep it on the bed, under the bottom sheet like you used to do.

Yes, it was rebranded a couple months ago I believe. iOS user experience is far better now though it still takes a while to connect to the server at times (might be just cuz I'm on an old 3G phone, iPad wifi doesn't take very long at all).

 

[sinsin07]

Evidently not. I never could understand the need for "to-do list" apps like Wunderlist or any others: "The app allows you to create to-do lists with optional subtasks, notes, files and comments, and set due dates and reminders for important deadlines."

So does a sheet of paper.
Nice side benefit to that sheet of paper: the paper can be folded and put in my pocket, and if I forget it somewhere I wouldn't lose my mind like if I'd lost an iPad or it got stolen. ...snip

Above sounds real old school.

Paper easily lost, phone not so much.

Phone always with me, pen and paper not so much.

Make list on the fly of things to do, things to buy etc..

More Eco friendly.

 

[dec.]

My new years resolution: Buy less apps that I'll only open once or twice and then forget about...

 

[AngerDanger]

My new years resolution: Buy less apps that I'll only open once or twice and then forget about...

Then you are going to love this app I've been working on…

 

[Eric5h5]

An app to monitor water intake? Strange. When it comes to water it's;

Q: Should I drink more water?
A: Yes.

Incorrect. Possibly fatally so, if you take it to an extreme. Drinking water for the sake of drinking water can, in fact, kill you (look up water intoxication). For normal activities you should drink water if you're thirsty, the end. Why do you think our sense of thirst evolved in the first place? If it wasn't properly functional, our species wouldn't currently exist.

--Eric

 

[aberrero]

Personal Capital is much better than Mint. Truly free with no advertising and a much better interface (they make money if you invest with them, but the link to the service isn't in your face).

It is more about money management and data than it is about "advice" the way Mint is, but Mints advice has gotten pretty bad lately because all they do is advise you to sign up for a credit card through their sponsors instead of the actual best fit for you.

 

[Les Kern]

When is the shark considered "jumped"? An app to monitor water intake? Why stop there? What we really need is an app for monitoring ass-wiping. Pretty sure most people are doing it wrong. It's worth at least 0.99.

 

[Dizzy Slip]

The daily goal is set to 8 glasses, or 68 fl. oz, by default

Since when did a glass of water equal 8.5 ounces?

 

[Zimmy68]

Everyone realizes that drinking more water makes you healthy is a myth?

Right?

Here is a fun app, drink more water... when you are thirsty!

 

[gusapple]

Nor do people have the common sense to not put so much personal data "out there" for companies to data mine. Mint stands out on this list for being the most egregious - "a free app that links to your bank account". Anything that personal that is free may just be trying to get you interested in a pro upgrade, but it also means they have your information and can use it or abuse it. "Mint enables you to create budgets to help you save money." Yes, I'm sure we're all completely incapable of doing so without the "free" app. Then again, given that the article has this math lesson: "If you spend $83.33 less per month on non-essential purchases, for example, the savings quickly add up to $1,000 in one year", I imagine its directed at people who buy things they don't need when they're on sale because of all the money they save.

I understand the hesitance that comes with putting your personal info into an app that is free, but I can assure you that Mint isn't "some free app." It was developed by Intuit, which is a respected financial application company. They make their money by linking you to financial services you may be interested in without giving personal info away at all. The ball is totally in the user's court. I have used it for years and I like it. Lots of businesses are out to get you and always have an angle, but this one is about as safe as they come.

 

[balconycollapse]

I can't fault anybody that wants to be their best self. The water bottle tickles me. At some point everyone has told themselves crap about how their going to get this thing or that thing and really get in shape or learn this or that. I justified an iPad Pro as a "study tool" for my gf scientific paper reading. But if it moves you just a bit closer so be it. At the end of the day ya still gotta do it. "Talking doesn't cook the rice"
Sometimes stuff doesn't have to be rational and it brings joy to our lives and that's enough to justify it.

I evangelize only one self help item and it's the GTD framework -- as a coder the whole concept was quite appealing. Started using the technique in the mid 2000s using the OS X app Things. Works with pencil and paper if you want too but now I use Trello. Great stuff if you nerd out about being efficient

Getting Things Done by David Allen
https://itun.es/us/AWF70.l

 

[zen]

Incorrect. Possibly fatally so, if you take it to an extreme. Drinking water for the sake of drinking water can, in fact, kill you (look up water intoxication). For normal activities you should drink water if you're thirsty, the end. Why do you think our sense of thirst evolved in the first place? If it wasn't properly functional, our species wouldn't currently exist.

--Eric

Absolutely right. I haven't looked at the water app, but the advice to drink 8 glasses of water a day is highly irresponsible - you need about 8 glasses a day to live, but that counts all the water you get from food and regular drinks (tea, coffee, coke, whatever).

Forcing an additional 8 glasses of water down a day when you don't need it will screw up your kidneys eventually.

 

[MH01]

just buy a gym membership like everyone else.... Which you stop using some time in February.

 

[8692574]

Incorrect. Possibly fatally so, if you take it to an extreme. Drinking water for the sake of drinking water can, in fact, kill you (look up water intoxication). For normal activities you should drink water if you're thirsty, the end. Why do you think our sense of thirst evolved in the first place? If it wasn't properly functional, our species wouldn't currently exist.
--Eric

Water intoxication can happen with HUGE quantity of water in a small period of time, In 2008, Jacqueline Henson — a 40-year-old mother from Huddersfield, who was on a stringent weight-loss programme — died of water intoxication after drinking four litres (1 gallon) of water in the space of a couple of hours.

Now I can too say that too much water is dangerous but no one in the right mind would drink one gallon in 2 hours.

Also no one said that you need 8 cups of water to survive (we all know there a re liquids in food as well) but that does not mean that being WELL idrated is better than just enought.

You can also tell if you need to drink more or less fluids by keeping an eye on the colour of your urine. Ideally it should be a light, straw colour. Any darker probably means that you’re dehydrated and need to drink more