5 Popular Android Apps To Help You Stick To Your New Year's Resolutions
As the year comes to a close, you may be flooded by thoughts of the many things you wish you did differently or more (or less) of, and you aren't the only one. By the time December comes, most people tend to compose a list of goals they want to accomplish in the coming year. While some are successful in attaining these resolutions, a huge majority will probably lose momentum, the will, or the desire to keep at their progress for a number of reasons.
If you're feeling optimistic right now about doing what you've set out to do in the coming year, it's best to arm yourself with all the tools to keep your motivation levels high not just in the first few weeks but all year long. Android users can download a whole gamut of apps that'll aid them in their quest to be better versions of themselves. Below is a list of suggestions currently highly downloaded and well-rated in the Google Play Store.
Drink more water or read more books: Habit Tracker
As the app name implies, Habit Tracker is a tool you can use daily to keep tabs on how regularly you're accomplishing your tasks. Upon the first launch of the platform, you'll be asked to provide your usual wake-up and wind-down times so the app can determine when to remind you when to finish going through your daily checklist. Then, you can set a target goal: to live healthier, try new things, be more focused, or sleep better, to name a few. Finally, you can set habits you'd like to build by choosing one of the suggestions provided or typing your own. There are many more habit presets to choose from if you're having trouble coming up with your own, arranged into nifty categories you can browse through when you hit the Create a New Habit button.
Set habits will generate a daily checklist. Once you accomplish a habit, you can check it off the list for the day. You can add habits related to your daily routine as a regularly occurring event or one-time tasks on specific dates, like doctor visits.
App stats are generated depending on how often you use the app, which could be a great motivator to keep at it. You can produce a habit streak by following through with accomplishing one consistently, generating numbers for how many habits you complete in a week, your rate of completion for specific habits, and perfect days when you do everything listed.
Habit Tracker is free to use, but you can upgrade to the premium version — currently priced at $11.99 per year, with a free seven-day trial — to remove ads and gain an unlimited number of habits, among other additional features.
Be more productive and organized: ColorNote
People who love making lists already have a tried-and-true method for staying on task. Next year, consider taking it a step further by color-coding your notes. ColorNote has over 100 million downloads and an almost-perfect rating on Google Play, making it the perfect note app to try. It's straightforward to use: Hit the "+" symbol to create a note, choose whether to create a text note or a checklist, and then type into it. You can change the note's color to use it as an organization method later. In addition, items added to a checklist can be reordered and removed. To save the note, hit the back button.
The app also has a useful Calendar tab that you can use to add and organize notes and to-do lists by day. Saved notes and lists can be sorted in several ways, including by creation time, reminder time, alphabetically, or by color. Depending on what works for you visually, you can view all your saved notes in a list, with details, or in a grid.
Every note can also be shared, locked, synced across multiple devices, or backed up online, but to do so, you'd need to create an account using your Google or Facebook login or an email address.
Maintain a healthy weight and eat better: MacroFactor
There's a variety of nutrition and calorie counting apps for Android devices that you can explore, but one of the best we've personally tested thus far (also highly rated on Google Play) is MacroFactor. It's a food log and nutrition coach app all in one that's powered by a highly adaptable algorithm that adjusts to your unique metabolism.
You can count calories by scanning the bar code on food items. If it doesn't pull up an entry from MacroFactor's product database, you can use its new label-scanning feature to easily create a new entry with the appropriate nutritional facts stored. You can also add your recipes and get an accurate reading of how much every serving is worth calorie-wise.
For more nutritional help, you can create a calorie and macro program to follow, whether it's low-carb, keto, carb-focused, or balanced. Diet plans are based on a goal: gain, maintain, or lose weight — and other preferences. Once you customize a program, all you have to do is log your food daily and do a weekly check-in so that the program makes sustainable adjustments that will keep you on track toward your weight goal minus the hardship.
Serious food trackers will benefit from MacroFactor's comprehensive nutrient insights that log your caloric intake and how much protein, fat, carbohydrates, sugars, vitamins, and other minerals you consume every week. You can also watch trends related to your energy expenditure, weight, and body metrics, among other things.
To access MacroFactor's robust slate of features, you'll need to pay a subscription fee of $5.99 a month, which is still cheaper than paying for a trainer or nutritionist. You can, however, try it for a week for free to see how you like it.
Maintain a daily journal: DailyBean
A common New Year's resolution is to write about each day's events in a diary. If you don't have time for serious chronicling, DailyBean is one of the best journal apps for Android that you can try, if only for its simplicity and overall cuteness. You can choose what aspects of the day you'd like to record, like emotions you felt, people you spent time with, what the weather was like, hobbies you enjoyed, and even the number of hours you slept, among so many other things. Simply tap on today's date in the calendar, choose a "bean" to rate your day, and select your answer for your chosen record blocks. You can also include a short note, ideally something that describes what the day was like so you can read and reminisce about it later.
New users of the app, once they launch it for the first time, are automatically given a seven-day free trial of the premium version of DailyBean, which eliminates ads, includes advanced analysis of your mood trajectory and other personal metrics, and allows you to add up to three photos per day. Moreover, first-time subscribers are granted 180 clovers that can be used to purchase app themes to make the interface more lively and habit-forming.
Once the seven-day free trial elapses, the app automatically reverts to the free version. To retain the previously mentioned perks, you can splurge for the monthly pass of $4.99 or the annual pass, currently discounted at $14.99 per year.
Learn a new language: Duolingo
Many people include "learn something new" in their list of goals for the new year. If achieving fluency in a foreign language is one of your goals, one of the best Android apps for language learning that you should explore is Duolingo. To date, it's got 4.7 out of five stars, has been downloaded over 500 million times, and has the Editor's Choice badge on Google Play, so if you are new to the language app space, this would make a great first choice.
English speakers can choose from 39 different languages to learn. The app is incredibly easy and fun to use, with lessons conveniently chopped up into digestible sections, ensuring comprehension and retention. The app also has several features that motivate you to keep using the service, such as side games, quests with friends, and the opportunity to retain a streak and a high standing in competition rankings.
Although you can certainly use Duolingo for free, to maximize your learning potential, it's highly recommended you upgrade to a Super Duolingo subscription. For $79.99 a year pre-tax, you can learn a language without incessant ads, have unlimited mistakes and unlimited tries to get perfect scores in lessons, and have personalized practice sessions. New users who opt for Super Duolingo get a two-week free trial of Duolingo's full slate of features.