Before 2020, finding the right app at the right time was essential for things like fun, travel, and transportation. Now, it’s also important for health and wellbeing. With gyms being closed, many people are getting used to working out at home.
Digital health and wellness apps have become our personal trainers and means to track our progress, and this app category has been growing fast. Data says that the number of health and wellness app users in the U.S. increased by almost 20 million since 2019.
In this post, let’s talk about the reasons why digital health and wellness apps had become so popular and what might await them in the future.
The State of Health and Wellness Apps Industry in 2021
The digital health and wellness app industry has been booming. As people spend more time inside, they need to learn to manage nearly every aspect of their lives, which includes physical and mental health. App developers have apps for pretty much every need, be it a personal fitness trainer or a yoga app for relaxation.
Popular apps show us that people take advantage of many opportunities, be it fitness, yoga, or nutrition. The most popular ones are Calm, Headspace, and Fitbit—apps that help with physical or mental health. The total number of downloads of Calm for Android, exceeds 244,000 times, making it a huge success story.
The entire list of the top 10 apps in the Google Play Store looks like this.
Source: Statista
These download numbers are showing popularity among Android users. Combined with iOS and other platforms, the top health and wellness apps have tens of millions of installs worldwide and bring in impressive revenues.
For example, various sources say that Calm brought in $99.4 million in revenues within the first 11 months of 2020 and amassed 28 million installs worldwide. Combined that with the revenues of the top 10 apps, the total number exceeds $1 billion—a drastic change from just two years ago.
Source: Quartz.com
Most apps on the top 10 list were in the niche app department just a couple of years ago, but the pandemic allowed them to move out and become hugely popular. As this American Psychological Association study found, 46% of American adults experience high levels of stress, so many people are looking for good apps to help alleviate it.
In fact, online research tools estimate that about 33,000 people search Google for “meditation apps” and “free meditation apps” every month.
Author’s screenshot
That’s why the market of health and wellness apps is as competitive as ever, with new apps and trends popping up all over the place. The time to develop an app couldn’t be better, with the demand being all-time high.
Related: Why Your Business Needs a Mobile App in 2020
Mobile Health and Wellness Apps Get Support from Healthcare Community
The global medical community is increasingly recognizing and supporting the use of mobile health apps during the pandemic.
These apps help people stay connected to healthcare providers, follow treatment routines, get notified about medications, receive personalized health-related content, and do much more.
Teladoc is an excellent example of such an app.
Author’s screenshot
Teladoc is a popular telemedicine app for iOS and Android that tens of thousands of people use to connect with healthcare professionals.
The University of Health Sciences at UC Berkeley is Teladoc’s partner that provides board-certified professionals to help with illnesses like flu, infections, allergies, and common colds.
People who use healthcare apps like Teladoc can provide their medical history, request consults, and meet with doctors online. The doctors are allowed to issue prescriptions that patients are free to submit to a local pharmacy.
Medication reminders and trackers are other popular types of digital health apps.
Pill Reminder & Medication Tracker is an example. The app is widely popular and has an excellent rating of 4.8 stars based on 96,600+ users.
Author’s screenshot
Here’s how this app helps:
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Sends medication reminders for all kinds of medications
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Tracks doses, activities, and measurements in a user’s journal
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Provides a logbook with records of taken and skipped medications
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Sends daily motivational content to encourage following medication schedules
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Allows to share the medication journal and data with a doctor to monitor the schedule and adherence
Like healthcare apps, wellness apps also had their content checked by professionals to ensure quality advice.
Headspace, a mindfulness app we’ve mentioned earlier, has partnered with experts to create high-quality guided medication strategies for users.
Headspace’s website has some information about them. This one below shares information about a meditation and mindfulness expert whose knowledge helped to create evidence-based techniques and tips for the users.
Source: Headspace.com
Headspace has these features to offer:
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Stress and anxiety medication techniques for people of all skill levels
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Techniques for falling asleep and battle restlessness
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Work & productivity focus training for motivation, performance, and concentration
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Physical health mindfulness for pain management
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Inspiring stories and interviews from experts to motivate practicing mindfulness and staying positive
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Medication courses, exercises, and training — including personalized plans based on users’ data.
Getting support from experts or certified professionals is a major trust factor, so apps that manage to secure it get ahead of the game. Nevertheless, the market for digital health and wellness apps continues to develop rapidly, with demand being high for both paid and free apps.
How to Make a Popular Health or Wellness App?
Many companies have successfully jumped on a trend and developed popular apps to help others with managing their physical and mental health.
A great app is likely to share these characteristics:
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Easy to use. Straightforward onboarding and sign-in process, clean and simple interface, and intuitive app environment are best practices that apply here
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User area functionality. Each user should be able to create an account to access personalized content like fitness plans, treatment recommendations, etc.
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Tracking functionality. Many wellness and healthcare apps have integrations with wearable devices for fitness or healthcare
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Payment feature. Apps should allow users to purchase premium plans or services without leaving them to go to a website
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Geolocation. Some healthcare apps require location information to make local recommendations of services and facilities for patients
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Live chat. This feature might be needed to connect users with fitness trainers, healthcare professionals, or customers service
Features like video conferencing and appointment booking might also be required for some apps. A successful app will have a diverse set of options, so you’ll need a talented team of developers to make it a reality and let you grow your business.
Digital Health and Wellness Apps Beyond 2021
What does the future hold for these apps? As of early 2021, no country in the world has even gotten close to re-opening all gyms, offices, and keeping people completely safe there. People are still enjoying fitness, meditation, and nutrition apps, so the boom is very likely to continue beyond 2021.
If you decide to start your own business and create an app, your timing might be perfect. Search through app stores, see what people like, and create a vision of an app. You have a much better idea of how to make it a successful one after reading this — and the demand has never been higher.