Should I use a period tracking app?
Anyone who has a menstrual cycle can benefit from using a period tracking app. Whether you’re getting your period for the first time, trying to get pregnant, or transitioning off birth control, period tracking apps can help you stay on top of your cycle. How much are period tracking apps?
How much does it cost to track Your period?
Many period tracking apps are free to use but some require monthly or yearly subscription plans. For as little as $1 per month, you can use the period tracking app Clue. Other period tracking apps like Glow ring in at about $48 per year. What are the benefits of period tracking apps?
How accurate is clue for period tracking?
Well I use Clue as a period tracker, and it's generally either right on or one or two days early. So yes it is fairly accurate but I generally pre menstrual cramps and headaches about two days before my period starts, so I also use that as a clue.
Why should I track my menstrual cycle?
Period tracking can help you to get to know your own body and cycle and observe any symptoms — such as mood swings or headaches — that may occur during a particular phase of your cycle. Period tracking can help to identify any changes to your menstrual cycle that may be an indicator of potential health issues.
How many people were surveyed about the period tracking app?
What app is used to track menstrual cycle?
Why do app developers use their findings?
Can apps predict periods?
How many people were surveyed about the period tracking app?
Data was gathered from 2,000 reviews of popular period-tracking apps on the Android Market and the Apple App Store. 687 people were surveyed and over a dozen interviews were conducted to gain a better understanding of why people track their periods. Participants were asked about their preferences regarding specific characteristics of various period tracking apps and with every single app, there was found to be room for improvement.
What app is used to track menstrual cycle?
Research conducted by a team at the University of Washington examined a number of smartphone apps used to track the menstrual cycle — including Clue, Eve, Glow, Period Tracker, and Pink Pad — and found that many apps were not as accurate or user-friendly as they could be.
Why do app developers use their findings?
The research team hopes that app developers will use their findings to improve their products: allowing users to provide feedback to improve accuracy , using gender-neutral interfaces , and taking into account that a user’s menstrual-tracking need may change over time.
Can apps predict periods?
Women reported that some apps are not accurate in regards to predicting their menstrual cycles, especially for women with irregular periods. Many of these apps don’t allow for users to make any sort of corrections or to input an explanation for why their period may have arrived late, such as a change in birth control.
What is the Dweck app?
Dweck, this app allows you to customize everything from its watercolor theme to the style of your period reminders as either personal ("your period is due on...") or discreet ("upcoming event...").
Is Cycles a good app?
iTunes. Cycles is ultra-customizable but also just looks good. With simple graphics and soothing colors, this is the period tracking app you want to download if you don’t want anyone to know you’ve downloaded a period tracking app (so you can semi-discreetly update it in public when you need to).
Can a period tracking app be wrong?
Yes, period tracking apps can sometimes be wrong—especially if you're a woman with an irregular or variable cycle. "For example, if your cycle ranges from 28 to 32 days in length, the ovulatory window shifts three to four days each month," Dr. Kudesia says. "Though the app shouldn’t miss the entire fertile window, it may be unable to pinpoint the exact day of ovulation." Similarly, if you have a cycle longer than 35 days, there is, in Dr. Kudesia's words, "a substantial likelihood" that you're not regularly ovulating, which the app may not flag as possibility.
Is period tracking app accurate?
The answer: They should be—that is, if you're a woman who has a regular ovulatory cycle and who habitually updates the app.
Is Flo a tracker?
Bonus: Flo also turns into a pregnancy tracker if and when you ever need it to, so it’s pretty all-in-one.
Can you track your cycle on your Apple Watch?
Available through the iPhone Health app that's already built into the phone, Cycle Tracking gives you the ability to log info related to your cycle, including flow level, symptoms like cramps and mood changes, and basal body temp if you're looking to get pregnant.
Does a fertility tracker help with your period?
It’s technically a fertility tracker so it really excels in helping you chart your basal body temperature, cervical position, and cervical mucus. But, unlike a lot of other fertility trackers, it has the ability to chart your period, too, and gives you predictions about your menstruation or fertility based on the data you input.
What is a period tracking app?
Period tracking apps can help you to learn more about your cycle and plan for future periods.
How long does the period tracker lite last?
Press a button at the start of each period and Period Tracker Lite will record your data and use the average of 3 months worth of data to calculate your next period.
What is the purpose of the Period Calendar app?
Period Calendar can help to track and predict your period, plus provide information on your fertile window and potential ovulation date. In addition to the basic menstrual cycle tracking function, the app can be used to record temperature, intercourse, birth control, weight, cervical mucus, mood, and any other symptoms.
How many apps are there for menstrual cycle?
There are hundreds of apps that track and analyze the menstrual cycle, so how do you know which one is the best fit for you?
How often do periods come?
Periods usually arrive once each month, but the exact date, flow, cramp severity, and accompanying symptoms are not quite that consistent. For this very reason, the app market is flooded with period trackers that aim to offer insight into your monthly cycle.
Why is tracking your period important?
Tracking your period can be useful for several reasons. Period tracking can help you to get to know your own body and cycle and observe any symptoms — such as mood swings or headaches — that may occur during a particular phase of your cycle.
What is the purpose of the clue app?
Clue uses science to help its users to identify unique patterns in their menstrual cycle. With the app’s period tracker, multiple mood trackers, health logs, and exercise trackers, your health and menstrual cycle will no longer be a mystery. The developers promise to be inclusive of all ages and never use butterflies, flowers, euphemisms, or pink. ...
What are period tracking apps?
Period tracking apps are a hub for data related to your menstrual cycle. These apps make it easy to track important personal health data like ovulation, period symptoms, and the heaviness of your flow right from your smartphone.
What is the best app to track your period?
For those women, there’s Ovia: a fertility tracking app that keeps track of your period in addition to exactly when you are ovulating, cervical fluid, cervical position, basal body temperature, and other key factors that can affect fertility.
What is Eve app?
Eve is an app that also lets you keep tabs on your sexual health, all in an unexpectedly fun emoji format. In addition to monitoring your cycle, it can keep track of your sexual encounters, whether or not you used protection, your sex drive, moods, period symptoms, and when you are ovulating.
What is myflo app?
If you have PCOS, fibroids, or endometriosis, or if you are going through perimenopause, MyFLO is one of the only apps that addresses these conditions and provides comprehensive information to help you better manage your symptoms.
How much is the iCloud app?
The app is free, and you can get unlimited access to all features for $40 per year.
How often do you get your period on birth control?
The hormones in birth control pills are conveniently dosed so that you know you’ll get your period every 3 weeks or so. And, with IUDs or continuous birth control, you don’t even get one. When you aren’t on anything, though, your period can seem to have a mind of its own—coming at the exact same time, showing up a week late or a week early.
Why is it so stressful to have a late period?
If your period is late, happening too frequently, or not appearing at all, it can be stressful because you don’t really know what’s going on. “Is this normal?” is always running through your head and you can find yourself wondering everything from “am I pregnant?” to “am I starting menopause?”
Why track your period?
Even if your period is on time each month, there's value in tracking your menstrual cycle, and OBGYNs are encouraging patients to do so. Alyssa Dweck, MD, a New York-based gynecologist told Insider, "It's important you confirm that your cycles remain typical in regularity, duration, and quantity."
The best period tracking app overall
Pros: Symptoms and tracking log is thorough, provides daily insights to better educate users on women's health and what they experience in their own bodies, helps plan pregnancies, free version offers in-depth experience
The best period tracking app for family planning
Pros: First FDA-approved birth control app to track fertility, includes features for parents-to-be to better track their pregnancy
The best period tracking app for teens
Pros: Designed for a younger demographic, provides educational videos, includes a private chat feature, diary allows users to document how they're feeling, free
The best period tracking app for irregular cycles
Pros: Thorough analysis of cycle based on detailed daily logs, identifies and flags irregular cycle patterns, push notifications available for reminders like when to take your birth control and when you can expect your period
The best gender-neutral period tracking app
Pros: Tons of tracking categories, thorough analysis based on your data, encyclopedia of menstrual health terms and topics for further education, gender-neutral language, educational material on the LGBTQIA community and their experiences with menstruation
How to find the right period-tracking app
With so many period-tracking apps available across the various app stores, the best need to meet a few key criteria. Here's what to look for:
How many websites predicted a woman's fertile window?
Yet of the 53 top websites and smartphone apps the researchers analyzed that predicted a woman’s fertile window, only four—one website and three apps—accurately predicted it.
Can apps help you get pregnant?
Setton says some of the apps may not be associated with a medical institution and may not be using the gold standard measurement to determine fertility. However, while most of the apps didn’t get the fertile window perfectly correct, the researchers cannot say whether using the apps will or will not help a couple get pregnant.
How many people were surveyed about the period tracking app?
Data was gathered from 2,000 reviews of popular period-tracking apps on the Android Market and the Apple App Store. 687 people were surveyed and over a dozen interviews were conducted to gain a better understanding of why people track their periods. Participants were asked about their preferences regarding specific characteristics of various period tracking apps and with every single app, there was found to be room for improvement.
What app is used to track menstrual cycle?
Research conducted by a team at the University of Washington examined a number of smartphone apps used to track the menstrual cycle — including Clue, Eve, Glow, Period Tracker, and Pink Pad — and found that many apps were not as accurate or user-friendly as they could be.
Why do app developers use their findings?
The research team hopes that app developers will use their findings to improve their products: allowing users to provide feedback to improve accuracy , using gender-neutral interfaces , and taking into account that a user’s menstrual-tracking need may change over time.
Can apps predict periods?
Women reported that some apps are not accurate in regards to predicting their menstrual cycles, especially for women with irregular periods. Many of these apps don’t allow for users to make any sort of corrections or to input an explanation for why their period may have arrived late, such as a change in birth control.
