5 Awesome Apps for Better Health
These days, smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices are every bit as ubiquitous as the personal computers and laptops that preceded them. They really come in handy and are a great tool for both work and personal use.
In addition to keeping you in touch with friends, colleagues and clients across great spans of distance, your mobile device probably boasts dozens or hundreds of apps that provide near-constant updates about goings-on and tools to make your life easier and better. Apps have helped to transform the digital experience and many are available for free!
Below are five must-have better health apps to help you live more fit and healthy.
1. Pedometer FREE
With an intuitive interface and a formidable density of information, this clutch program renders the analog pedometer obsolete. While some may be sad to see it go, it’s hard to argue against Pedometer FREE’s superiority.
Compatible with iOS and Android, this app measures your total and per-minute step count, your average speed, and your total elapsed time. It also has a lap feature, making it perfect for otherwise boring jaunts around the track.
2. Fitness Buddy
Whether you’re new to the gym or feel like expanding your burgeoning repertoire of exercises, iOS-compatible Fitness Buddy ensures that you never step out of your comfort zone. While the program’s free version boasts a catalog of some 300 weight-training exercises for every part of the body, you’ll probably want to pony up the 99-cent asking price for the encyclopedia-like paid version.
With over 1,700 unique exercises and detailed explanations of the muscle groups involved, it’s thought of just about everything.
3. MyFitnessPal
Not to be confused with the previous item on this list, MyFitnessPal is a free-of-charge calorie counter that makes the science of calorie management accessible to non-dietitians. It’s quite simple to use. Simply set your daily calorie goal and enter everything that you consume into the app’s calorie calculator.
Now that the app is compatible with virtually every mobile platform, MyFitnessPal has gone viral. It’s been featured on the BBC, the Today Show and in several international publications.
4. WebMD Mobile
Best-known for curating an online medical encyclopedia that’s popular with laypeople, WebMD has moved into the mobile space with a vengeance. Compatible with iOS and Android and completely free, WebMD’s mobile app features a brilliant symptom checker that may help you determine if and why you’re ill.
It can’t completely replace a doctor’s advice, but this app can help to illuminate the often-opaque world of medical diagnosis. If you’re looking for some educational reading material, it also contains a catalog of thousands of drugs, conditions and treatments.
5. iTriage
If you move around frequently, iTriage is a must-have app. Compatible with iOS, Android and Blackberry, the program maintains a comprehensive database of hospitals and urgent-care facilities and uses your GPS location to point you to the nearest one. It also provides real-time updates of emergency-room wait times, and you can even use it to remotely check in to the ER at some hospitals.
