Free Fitness Sharing Apps for iPhone and Android

Lose It!

Free Fitness Apps for iPhone & Android — Uwe Krejci / Getty Images

What We Like

Enormous food database includes restaurant food and popular delivery-service meals.
Strong social aspect with challenges.
Free version includes most of the features people use.

What We Don't Like

Needs attention daily.
Some database entries don't include complete nutritional information.
Some features require a premium subscription.

Lose It! is a personal favorite of mine. If you want a web-based fitness community to get you motivated, this one is a must to try. You can join groups, add friends, comment on other users' profiles or logged activities, participate in events and so much more. Lose It! is a calorie-tracking app that calculates a daily calorie budget for you based on your personal stats and goals and provides you with a built-in library of foods and exercise activities to use for daily logging. Lose It! is available on the web and also for iOS and Android devices.

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MyFitnessPal

What We Like

Online diary interface for recording calories and exercise.
More than 350 exercises in the database.
Customizable personal diet profiles.

What We Don't Like

Cannot edit the serving size of scanned food items.
Free version is ad supported.
Requires a wireless signal even to record calories.

Similar to Lose It!, MyFitnessPal is another hugely popular app and online community that can track your calories and activity so you can reach your fitness goals. You can interact with other users, set your goals based on your personal information and choose from its library of over 3 million food items for all your daily tracking needs. MyFitnessPal is available on the web, for iOS and for Android.

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Fitocracy

What We Like

Covers just about every exercise scenario.
Social aspects include interest groups, challenges and quests, fitness teams, and a leaderboard.
Clean interface for logging workouts.

What We Don't Like

No diet/calorie component.
Doesn't accept custom exercises.
Accommodates metric and imperial measures, but you must choose one and can't use both.

Fitocracy is a complete fitness social network that acts as your very own daily workout tracker and coach, with over 900 different exercises you can follow for strength, cardio and ab training. Users, called "Fitocrats," can help motivate you through your own journey. You can follow other Fitocrats for daily inspiration, join challenges, get help from those who are experienced or even launch a one-on-one duel if you're feeling super competitive. You can get Fitocracy on the web, and on both iOS and Android devices.

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Fooducate

What We Like

Grades foods using 10 ranks with the some ranked A+.
Scans barcodes on products for nutritional information.
Contains a food database for when users don't have a label to scan.

What We Don't Like

Adding features and tracking additional nutrients requires a subscription.
No activity component is included.
Aimed at a novice audience, not at all levels of users.

Next time you go grocery shopping, get ready to use the Fooducate app. This nifty app uses your device's camera to scan the barcodes of food products and returns grades based on the product’s ingredients and nutritional components. For example, one brand of bread may be graded with a C- due to refined flour, while another type of bread may be graded at an A- for including whole wheat flour. You can also search for food products by name or category within the app, see product highlights (good and bad), or compare products so you can choose alternatives. You can get it for both iPhone and Android as well as on the web.

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Fitbit

What We Like

App tracks activity, weight, food, hydration, and sleep.
Smartphone users without a Fitbit device can track basic stats like steps, distance, and calories burned.
Challenges with friends, leaderboards, and earning badges increase motivation.

What We Don't Like

There's no way to edit stats when you don't wear your Fitbit part of the day.
You can't delete old messages and notifications.
App needs improvement in the food tracker for home-cooked meals.

If you have any one of the Fitbit activity tracker gadgets, you're going to want to get the mobile app that goes with it. In addition to tracking activity, you can set your daily calorie target, which updates itself automatically as you log meals and snacks in the app. Log all of your food, water, workouts, and extra activities on the go, even if you’re offline. Choose from foods and activities stored in the database or add your own custom entries, and compete with your friends on the app leaderboard. There's an Android app and an iOS app, and you can also access your account from the web.

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RunKeeper

What We Like

Stats clearly displayed in clean, attractive interface.
Includes maps of runs with splits.
Also tracks walking, elliptical sessions, and other exercises.

What We Don't Like

App is a data-hog that drains batteries.
Advanced features require a subscription.
App is too complicated at times for users who want only the basics.

If running is your thing, you might be surprised by what the RunKeeper app can do in terms of tracking your runs while creating a complete plan for you. Instead of purchasing an expensive GPS watch, RunKeeper gives you comparable results completely free of charge. The Health Graph integrates a variety of factors like GPS tracking, Wi-Fi body scales, heart rate tracking, sleep monitoring devices, eating habits, workout activities and social interaction with other users to help you track and better understand how your choices can impact your goals. Available for iOS and Android.

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Nike Training Club

What We Like

App includes workouts for all fitness levels.
Warmups and cool-downs are included in workouts.
App offers Workouts of the Week and beginner meditation tips.

What We Don't Like

Large app takes up a chunk of space.
Popular Plans feature replaced by counterintuitive Collections.

The Nike Training Club app creates a personalized workout for you and teaches you different exercises using a combination of photos, videos, and print instructions. The app requires you to choose your workout goals and then select an appropriate workout regimen for you. For example, if you want to focus on particular muscle groups in terms of strength and toning, the app selects the best exercises that target those areas. As you persist through your workout regimen with the help of the Nike Training Club app, you earn points to gain access to additional workouts and recipes. You can also configure your workouts to run with your music library and create a log to track your progress. It's available for iOS and Android.

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