Wacky Wellness: The Weirdest Apps to Make One Healthier

New Year. New You.

While words to that affect appear pretty much everywhere this time of year, the top resolutions are saving money and being healthier.

As with a lot of things, there’s an app for that — or there was. Some of the following apps are now defunct.

Probably with good reason.

Human touch is an important part of health.

According to Psychology Today, “touch calms our nervous center and slows down our heartbeat. Human touch also lowers blood pressure as well as cortisol, our stress hormone. It also triggers the release of oxytocin, a hormone known for promoting emotional bonding to others.”

But what can one do when one doesn’t have someone available to cuddle. While now defunct, Cuddlr was the app that sought to solve this problem by allowing users to meet up for platonic cuddling. Later, rebranded Spoonr, the app shut down for the second time in 2017.

Exercise is also an important part of health. But doing the same old workout every day can get boring.

So why not add zombies?

The app, Zombies, Run! combines a virtual story with real-life fitness. Users outrun virtual zombie hoards. The app tracks users progress using GPS or their accelerometer. Users can listen to their own music with the app occasionally breaking in with short radio broadcasts. The users are sent on missions to complete random tasks (all of which, of course, include running.) The users collect items to fulfill their mission, and a few times per mission, the app warns them that zombies are coming closer and they need to pick up the pace. If the runner succeeds in outdistancing the zombies, all is well. If they are caught, they lose an item from their inventory.

Where else could anyone say that zombies improved their health?

If one doesn’t want zombies involved, he or she can try Carrot Fit. This application uses insults and threats to get users moving. Or Gym Shamer that automatically posted on a user’s social media whenever he or she failed to complete his or her workout. Perhaps, it’s not surprising that this app no longer seems to be around.

Then there’s Sweatcoins. This app rewards user with “sweatcoins” when they reach a certain amount of steps (minus a transaction fee). With one sweatcoin around the value of a penny, 10,000 steps will net a person 9.5 cents. Free users have a daily limit, so even if they walk more, they won’t earn more. In a year of 10,000 steps a day every day, the reward will be around $33.00.

Don’t worry if you work up a sweat using any of these apps. Just use the Blower app to cool down. This app supposedly transforms the speaker of an iPhone into a blower. While marketed as a candle blowing out application (do people really need one of those), one could potentially use it to cool down after a workout.

Or, you know, just wave one’s hands in front of one’s face.

We cannot neglect the importance of sleep for heath.

According to Harvard Medical School, “sleep plays a critical role in immune function, metabolism, memory, learning, and other vital functions.”

But what if one can’t sleep and is tired of counting sheep?

Count virtual sheep using one of several apps that allow a user to do so. While perhaps interesting in theory, studies have proven that the blue light emitted from phone screens suppresses the production of melatonin. Using a phone also stimulates one’s brain and interrupts one’s sleep cycle.

It might be wiser to stick to counting imaginary sheep.

Another interactive way to build one’s sleep habits is a quirky app that allows one to build a town if they go to sleep and wake up at the proper time. Reaching your goal leads to a building. Consistent goals lead to bigger and rarer buildings. Failed goals lead to destroyed buildings.

Whether still in existence or not, apps that are trying to make us healthier can be pretty strange. Apps allow people to track one’s digestive health or use an app (aptly named Binky) that aims to wean a person off social media by creating a sham of social media where the whole point is that nothing one does matters because no one will see it anyway.

So social media without the social part?

Strange or not, apps can help people become healthier. And if you’re looking to make your business healthier, that might mean a custom application, QA services, DevOps, or a variety of other technology services. If that’s what you need, contact Swan Software Solutions to see how we can help.