If the question of “How to develop a health & fitness application for a startup business?” is not letting you sleep at night, then you are on the right page. We are exploring the easiest way to get started with Fitness app development. On the way, we will explore varieties of fitness apps, features for a health & fitness app like BetterMe, and schemes to generate maximum revenue.
Why?
Because health & fitness applications like MyFitnessPal and Fitbit are generating lucrative revenue of over $1.44 million and $1.43 million, respectively. And Statista report suggests the eServices Fitness apps’ revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2020-2024) of 0.6%, resulting in a projected market volume of $23,127m by 2024. And we want you to leverage this market opportunity.
So, let’s get started!
Build a Fitness App of a particular Nature
To develop a fitness or workout app, first & foremost, you need to decide what type of fitness app you want to build. It is a crucial aspect as major decisions for fitness app development rely on this single attribute. It affects the decisions related to app features, functionality, design, revenue models, Mobile App Development Company, etcetera.
Here are the main three types of mobile fitness applications used by giant fitness companies;
Workout Apps
Workout mobile apps are more likely to work as a gym or an exercise studio. It gives the user a command to choose what part of their body they want to work out on. Say, for example, Full body workout, Core strength, Upper body, Lower back, or Custo workout. A user can schedule a session with a trainer and connect via a live streaming feature, where a trainer can explain and observe a customer’s exercises and vice versa. Further, such apps let their users set specific routines to meet their desired goal, whether to gain muscles or lose weight.
Sworkit, Tone It Up, Freeletics are the best app to analyze before starting a Diet and Nutrition app development.
Diet and Nutrition Apps
Diet and nutrition apps work as a tracking and monitoring device of a particular function of the body. It helps users track the number of calorie intake/burn, monitor their food habits, water balance, body weight, and so on. Such statistics aid a user to control, lose, or gain weight and manage nutrition consumption. In diet and nutrition apps, a barcode scanner feature is mandatory. It educates users about the nutritional value information the food contains just by scanning their barcode.
MyFitnessPal, Waterlogged, Lose It! are the best app to analyze before starting a Diet and Nutrition app development.
Activity Tracking Apps
In the activity tracking fitness app, a user can track any physical activity, such as steps taken, hours slept, speed and distance of running, stairs climbed, etcetera. Such apps enable users to save the routes, set goals, measure progress, create custom challenges, and invite friends. These apps track a user’s every movement with the help of a mobile GPS. Activity tracking apps compatible with wearable devices render the utmost user experience.
Strava, Nike Run Club, RunKeeper are the best apps to analyze before starting a Diet and Nutrition app development.
Features to cover in your Health & Fitness App Development
App features must list out depending upon the type of health & fitness apps you want to build. If it is getting hard to select any one model, you can Make an App like BetterMe. BetterMe is a fusion of Workout and Diet & nutrition app models. Let’s glimpse at several basic features to Develop a Fitness App like BetterMe;
- Creating Accounts:
A user creates an account on the app to store information, retain, and compare the details. Further, individual user accounts across the app create healthy competition among users.
- Adding Personal Info:
Diet and workout programs in the app are to set according to a user’s personal information, including age, height, weight, and other physical parameters.
- Configuring Notifications:
It works as motivation and reminder when users forget about their daily routine or feel too lazy to skip any health or fitness exercise.
- Setting Goals & Track progress:
Health & fitness apps are supposed to help users get to their fitness goals and progress tracking to motivate them to get going.
- User Activity Tracking:
Apps like BetterMe also contain a feature that tracks users’ physical activities and measures the time consumed in such activities.
- Calorie Tracker:
This tracker shows precisely how much a user has consumed in a day and monitors their macros (recorded routine).
- Meal plan:
The BetterMe health & fitness app allows users to optimize Nutrition plans made by certified experts to boost their progress with diet options like intermittent fasting, keto, vegan, etc.
Trending & Competitive features for health & fitness mobile applications:
- Food Logging with barcode scanner
- Geolocation
- Enable connection with wearable devices
- Live Streaming option
- Educational Content or Video Tutorials
- Gamification & social media integration
- A personal trainer or coach subscription
Develop a Health and Fitness App with multiple revenue models
Wondering how these apps would have been making money? No worries, we have got your covered with that, too. Here are revenue streams that health & fitness apps use to make money. Bonus: you can go with multiple revenue streams to streamline your profits, bingo!
Paid apps:
You can make your app paid, which means a user has to pay before downloading/installing your app. The price may vary based on the mobile platform (Android/iOS), application type, and the content you offer.
In-app purchases:
By selling premium services within your app like customized diets, fitness charts, or healthy meal recipes, and features like virtual training from experts, you make profits even with your free app.
Advertisements:
You can collaborate with other fitness-oriented brands and run their advertising campaigns on your fitness app. You can charge a commission based on a cost-per-click or a cost-per-mile model.
A reward for reading so far: Multiple Mobile App Monetization Models and Strategies to Make Money with an App
Supervise your fitness app development process
Follow these ideal steps to avoid unnecessary potholes on your health & fitness app development journey.
Step 1. Determine a type of fitness app you want to build.
Step 2. Study the fitness app market and make a competitive analysis.
Step 3. List out essential (must-have) features and create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
Step 5. Find and hire a reliable Fitness app development company for your project.
Step 6. Prepare a ballpark estimate and set a budget for your fitness app development solution.
Step 7. Create an in-depth software requirement specification doc, including functional and non-functional requirements of the product.
Step 8. Keep track of the app’s preparation by testing its demo after every sprint.
Step 9. Let your developers deploy your app to the app store(s) and get your app’s source code.
Step 10. Keep track of user metrics and create a robust promotion strategy.
Step 11. Keep your updated with the latest trends and new features to stay competitive.
Conclusion:
Talking about the fitness app development cost, then it depends on the platforms you want to deploy your app and how complex you want it to build. Given the number of platforms (Android, iOS, Web, etc.) and app design complexity significantly increase the development time. And time is money as app developers charge hourly. Besides, the rate of development varies based on the locality of developers.
In that case, before you hire mobile app developers, it is better to estimate the cost of fitness app development with professionals.
