5 Period Tracker Apps That Know More About Your Body Than You Do
Some women are total pros at tracking their menstrual cycle, but for others, remembering the last time Aunt Flo stopped by is a real struggle. The thing is, your period isn't just a monthly reminder to buy more tampons-it's a key to understanding so much more about your body if you have the right tools.
Enter: period tracker apps. These handy resources not only help you visualize your cycle on a calendar, but they also let you track other aspects of your health, such as your mood, sleep patterns, sexual activity, diet, and more.
You could discover, for instance, that you have a lower sex drive just before ovulation, or maybe your cycle is six weeks instead of the typical four, which affects when you can get pregnant. Any irregularities could also set off the alarm for when things are going awry in your body: an unusually heavy period can be a sign of uterine fibroids or hormone imbalance, while a lighter-than-usual period could result from stress, weight gain, or even pregnancy.
While these apps are not a substitute for your doctor, you'll have a wealth of information when it comes time to chat in person about health issues you may be having.
Ready to learn things you never knew about your body? Try one of these highly rated apps that are available on both iPhone and Android phones. Bonus: They're all free to download!
Clue
Few apps give a greater overview of your menstrual cycle than Clue, a period and ovulation tracker that's highly recommended by both gynecologists and thousands of reviewers.
"The most obvious benefit to using any period tracker app is that it helps you predict when your next period will come. That’s super helpful-I now know that mine comes every 26 days like clockwork," says one Prevention editor, who uses the app regularly. "But Clue has also helped me discover all sorts of things I didn’t know about myself, like the fact that I get insomnia when I’m ovulating and then again the day before my period."
Clue lets you track up to 30 different health variables, everything from cravings and skin quality to sleep and sex, and you can turn on reminders for your fertile window, ovulation day, birth control pill, and more.
Available on iOS Available on Android
Flo
Presented with a sleek, feminine design, Flo offers a simple-to-use format with an even greater emphasis on information about your reproductive cycle, which is contained in its own tab under "Insights." Here, you can scroll through mini blog posts that answer all of your burning questions, like "What causes cervical cancer?" and "Can you swim during your period?" Short surveys or quizzes allow you to personally interact with the app, and gives you a chance to measure your knowledge against other Flo users.
Plus, Flo offers a more expansive pregnancy mode-once you turn it on, you'll get to see your countdown to giving birth, and the "Insights" section will switch gears to offer more pregnancy- and baby-related information.
When it comes to tracking health variables, Flo's options are limited to the basics (weight, sleep, water, sex drive), but this can be a good thing if too many choices overwhelm you. If you just want a pretty, easy-to use period tracker app that helps you learn more about your body in an engaging way, this one's for you.
Available on iOS Available on Android
Eve
Modern and colorful, Eve is a friendly, accessible app that's more similar to a social media platform than the traditional period tracker. Eve offers the typical cycle calendar that adjusts to your individual habits and 10 basic health variables to record each day.
But where this app really stands apart is its extensive network of community forums, which feel very similar to Facebook in that you can join an endless number of groups-many related to health, but plenty that aren't-that sound interesting to you. Here people can actually post photos, share tips, comment on each other's posts, and answer polls. A daily "cyclescope" offers personable advice for that day based on where you are in your cycle, written as if it came from a cool, wise older sister.
Like other apps, Eve offers a variety of paid content too, which you can unlock for $3.99 per month for an annual subscription or $1.99 per "gem," as they call their informative, service-oriented articles. Many of these are sex-related and sound like they're straight out of Cosmopolitan, so if that's your thing, then you'll definitely appreciate Eve and its community.
Available on iOS Available on Android
Period Tracker Lite
Period Tracker Lite (or just Period Tracker, as it's called in the Google Play store) may have a pretty straightforward name, but its features are anything but basic. You'll find in-depth information and a wide range of options when it comes to tracking your health.
"I like Period Tracker Lite because I can easily record PMS symptoms with a click of a button," says another Prevention editor. "The calendar feature is particularly great because I can tell very quickly if I'm ovulating and when I should expect to get my next period. I literally always consult the app before booking big events and vacations."
You can even add new moods and symptoms that may not be in the app, and they'll let you pick a symbol to mark it. To further customize your experience, the app includes "Trying to Conceive" and "Pregnancy" modes. Its charts feature is helpful for measuring your progress in certain areas-like daily steps, temperature, or weight-over an entire month (but note that you're required to download the app's paid version, Period Tracker Deluxe, to view some of these charts).
Available on iOS Available on Android
Ovia Fertility
When you search "Ovia" in the app store, you'll see three options: Ovia Fertility, Ovia Pregnancy, and Ovia Parenting. Ovia's three unique apps focus on different stages of a woman's life, allowing each app to hone in on your current needs rather than trying to combine everything into one.
Ovia Fertility includes the period tracker function, and it also indicates your level of fertility at any given moment with a number between one and 10, along with charts that show change in fertility over time. The cycle calendar is here too, with 17 different health variables to track if you'd like. Ovia also offers a simple forum where people can post questions (or even just motivating messages).
Most notably, Ovia includes a wide variety of programs that cater to people with specific health issues, like endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), uterine fibroids, difficulties with conceiving, and more. These premium programs include exclusive, highly personalized content and health coaching, but they're only available through certain employers and health plans. If you have Ovia as a benefit, you'll definitely want to check it out.
Available on iOS Available on Android
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