Fitness App Development: Complete Guide for 2023

Do you want to develop a fitness app? In this article, we’ll look at all the aspects you should consider for this goal.

Physical activity is the basis of human health. A person who doesn’t exercise risks losing energy (and, with it, the ability to work) in the short-term scenario. In the long-term one, the absence of exercise is a pathway to major health problems. Lack of movement is among the large contributors to terminal conditions such as Alzheimer’s, according to societies combating the disease. In this light, it’s not surprising fitness and related apps are becoming increasingly popular across the world. This article will review fitness app development, outlining the key concepts you must consider for creating high-quality products for user health.

Fitness App Industry: An Outlook

The fitness app industry is currently massive. A primary reason for the significant growth of this sector was the COVID-19 pandemic. With the advent of this disease, many people lost the ability to visit gyms and other fitness-oriented locations. Lockdowns funneled a tremendous number of people into the market, as GlobeNewswire notes. Why is this important? This factor gave a massive boost to fitness app development. The products that were in the shadows before gained tremendous popularity as people started using them en masse. Moreover, many new solutions came to the market in response to the new conditions. The recent end of the pandemic will slow down the relevant growth. Nonetheless, many apps gained a positive reputation during the preceding years, creating a good image of the industry. This means its growth will continue to be potent (even if it’s not as impressive as during COVID-19). After all, there’s another factor behind long-term tendencies in the market: hundreds of millions of people are climbing out of poverty, according to Kresentia Madina writing for GreenNetwork. With this progress, an increasing number of users worldwide will be joining some fitness apps. We can safely say that the long-term outlook for the industry is incredibly positive.

Various Types of Fitness Apps

If you decide to engage in fitness app development, knowing what types of apps exist on the market is a good idea. They’re diverse and perform separate functions, fitting multiple niches:

Activity analysis/tracking apps

One of the most popular types of apps on the current market includes activity trackers. What are they doing? They help a person monitor their fitness-related actions. In this regard, a popular option includes apps for tracking the number of steps per day. Using them, one can ensure they do enough to maintain a healthy amount of activity even during lockdowns. Another popular type of apps includes sleep-related ones. Modern sleep trackers help understand the phases of sleep and offer recommendations on maximizing a person’s long-term health.

Nutrition advice apps

All fitness experts agree nutrition is the key element in any effort to boost one’s health. For instance, one can lose excess weight even without exercise if the diet is strict enough. This is the reason nutrition apps are becoming increasingly popular. They deliver an opportunity to lose weight even for those who don’t have enough time to exercise. As long as people are strict about their diet, they always have a chance to improve their health. In our opinion, this sector is promising regarding investments due to the presence of harmful diets on the market. If you offer a science-oriented option, many people will likely find your solution interesting. If you consider fitness app development, this sector is promising.

Training apps

Diets are great if you want to lose weight, but they aren’t sufficient to guarantee long-term health. When we exercise, our muscles develop, and the organism produces diverging hormones (for instance, testosterone in men) that can raise our long-term vitality. When people feel they have no energy and are incapable of doing their jobs, for example, exercise is always among the things recommended by experts. We even know exercise is an efficient method for treating some types of depression and anxiety disorders, as researchers writing for top academic publications show. In this light, it’s unsurprising that many people seek various training apps. The market here is much more robust. Nonetheless, we believe it doesn’t cover all the existing methods on the market. Many gyms have their approaches to exercise. Custom fitness app development can help them create solid solutions for the visitors to minimize the need for coach interventions.

Fitness App Development: 8 Main Steps

Fitness mobile app development isn’t a simple process. Here are some of the key factors you need to consider if you want to achieve success:

1. Understand the monetization model and define your audience

We understand it may seem greedy to start development with the consideration of a monetization model, but this step makes sense in the oversaturated fitness market. Information about exercises is openly available. Many apps provide excellent materials free of charge. This means you should at least answer the following question: do you offer something unique that deserves a subscription-based or premium model? To make a coherent reply, some thinking about the features is crucial. You should at least have an understanding of the functions. If your idea is based on being ‘safe’ and ‘traditional,’ a good approach is to use in-app advertisements. A freemium or premium framework will be the most logical choice if you deliver something unique and unavailable in other services (for instance, a unique training program from a top expert). We also recommend thinking about the potential users: imagine what monetization model would fit your audience best.

2. Outline the key functions of your app

Upon choosing your monetization model, it makes sense to proceed to a detailed outline of the features your app will have. In the first section, we’ve outlined the need to analyze the top feature. You must understand what tools will help support this core idea during this stage. For instance, an app based on video instructions should have a player that allows rewinding and, potentially, legible subtitles. In short, your aim is to consider the core features that will guarantee maximal comfort for the average user.

3. Find an experienced development partner

Most organizations offering fitness help don’t have experience in the IT sector. They’re great at content creation, but don’t possess the knowledge of internal technologies. This means you need assistance for fitness app development. The best choice is to contact the companies providing development help. If you’re interested in a good frontend and backend, Keenethics is among the businesses assisting in this regard. We’ve developed multiple projects in healthcare, finance, and education. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you want to create a high-quality product fast.

4. Perform a sanity check

A major problem for many people outside the development field is that they sometimes overestimate or underestimate the capabilities of modern technology. Having a general idea regarding monetization and key app features is excellent. However, before you start investments, it’s crucial to consult the experts about the feasibility of your ideas. This is one of the reasons to hire an expert company: it can help refine your framework and align it with technology. If you need such a service, don’t hesitate to contact us: we offer free estimates for the projects, allowing the clients to understand if their idea makes sense from the standpoint of the market.

5. Choose a relevant tech stack

A big aspect of success in fitness mobile app development is creating an app offering a good user experience. In this respect, speed, or as some users call it, snappiness, is essential to success. How to achieve it? You have to choose a platform perfectly fitting the use case of your fitness app. In our opinion, Node.js is among the best choices for such apps. Why? It enables a combination of cross-platform development and good speed. This is perfect for apps that don’t require much computing power to provide content for one user, but may involve thousands and even millions of clients.

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6. Deliver a good design

As we’ve said before, user experience is crucial in fitness app development. Apart from speed, a major aspect of success is user-friendly design. What’s your goal? Make the app understandable to your audience. Fitness apps involve diverse users, so expecting technical proficiency from everyone makes no sense. Making the design visually appealing is also a boon: many people select based on their first impressions. Keenethics is proficient in this regard: we offer our clients high-quality UI/UX analysis.

7. Develop the app

Once you’ve established all the critical aspects of your app, it’s time to develop it. We don’t have much to say here. The rules are simple:

1) Use a time-tested development model such as Agile to organize the work process;

2) Offer periodic feedback to the developers. The more you communicate, the higher the chance of achieving success.

8. Do extensive testing

The final element in fitness app development is testing. To guarantee the best client outcomes, you should test as many scenarios as possible. The more you understand about the app, the better. Lack of good testing always backfires, as industry analysis showcases.

Challenges to be Aware of in Fitness App Development

Fitness app development also has some major long-term challenges. It’s dangerous to start development without thinking about them first. The more potential points of failure you consider, the better: success requires a careful analysis of the potential issues.

User engagement

Ensuring that users remain motivated and engaged with the app is a challenge. While exercises or diets give long-term benefits, they require much effort and willpower. Many people risk losing their drive and returning to old habits. They’re openly seeking an app to help them overcome their negative behavior patterns concerning exercise. What should you do here? Our recommendations include the following aspects: we believe designing interactive features, providing personalized recommendations, and incorporating gamification elements help maintain user interest.

Competition and market saturation

The fitness app market is competitive, with numerous established players and a saturation of similar offerings. The fundamental way to succeed within it is simple: you need to develop a unique value proposition targeting a niche audience. This approach will help you avoid competition and create a portion of the market belonging solely to you. Specialists promote this model of competition as the so-called Blue Ocean strategy. And what about other tasks? We also recommend continuously innovating and updating the app to stand out and attract users.

Compatibility and Interoperability

The current computing device market has a diverse representation of solutions. Modern PC/laptop features four major platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS). Smartphones have two market leaders: Android and iOS. In this light, developing a fitness app that works seamlessly across multiple platforms and devices (such as smartphones, tablets, and wearables) is essential for success. What should you do at this stage? Success requires optimizing the user interface and functionality for different screen sizes, resolutions, and operating systems. Integration with system-specific apps, such as Apple Health, is also crucial. By ensuring interoperability, you can save many hours of work for the users.

Data Security

Fitness apps handle sensitive user data, such as personal information, health metrics, and activity history. If it leaks, some users can genuinely encounter major long-term problems. For instance, if you record the time of the key fitness activities, some criminals can even use this information to understand the schedule of a user and later invade their house. We believe only the most decisive measures guarantee the long-term safety of the users. This isn’t a low-quality investment, considering that data leaks are destructive to company reputation. Safety guarantees user respect and prevents large-scale losses from potential lawsuits. Implementing robust security measures, including data encryption, secure authentication, and compliance with privacy regulations, is crucial to protect user privacy.

Accuracy of Tracking

Ensuring accurate tracking of various fitness metrics, such as steps, distance, calories burned, and heart rate, is vital for the credibility of a fitness app. Many apps claim that they deliver reliable results, but few do this in reality. Achieving success is possible only if you have major experience in the mobile development field. Fitness application development requires advanced knowledge of math and programming principles. Why? Because, for example, the sensors installed in modern smartphones aren’t specialized to measure steps or distance. You need to create elaborate calculation formulas to guarantee accurate results.

Personalization

All of us have, more or less, unique bodily characteristics and habits. While there are clear body and metabolism types, delivering one program for all people is irrational. In this light, customizing the app experience to suit individual user needs and goals is a significant challenge. Nonetheless, this aspect is crucial for long-term success because it’ll show the readiness of your solution to consider the fundamental problems of the users. What should you do at this stage? The best choice is to implement intelligent algorithms analyzing user data and provide tailored workout plans, nutrition advice, and progress tracking. The appearance of AI is an especially vital trend in such conditions. With these tools, it’s now possible to automate many personalization frameworks.

Performance optimization

A good app is always “snappy”: time is money; many people prefer maximal speed. Achieving this factor for fitness apps isn’t simple. Fitness apps require real-time data processing, seamless synchronization, and rapid response times. What are the critical tasks you should consider? We believe one must optimize app performance, minimize loading times, and reduce battery consumption. To achieve this, you have to understand programming and mathematical principles. Producing good code isn’t simple: one needs to focus on unique logic to achieve success.

What Are the Leading Trends in Fitness Apps?

Fitness app development changes over time: some approaches become more popular, and others less popular. In this section, we want to discuss the trends that can be of interest to a maximum number of users:

Wearable device integration

Fitness apps are increasingly integrating with wearable devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers. This integration allows users to track their workouts, monitor vital signs, and receive real-time feedback. This is a perfect way to enhance the overall fitness experience. With access to high-quality information, one can create more elaborate and fact-oriented training plans.

AI-based personalization

Modern AIs are notable for their ability to learn based on input. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being utilized to provide personalized workout plans, nutrition recommendations, and fitness goals based on individual user data. This is crucial because, once again, such information improves the ability of users to make potent decisions regarding their fitness goals.

Virtual workouts and live-streaming 

The rise of virtual workouts and live-streaming has transformed the fitness industry. Fitness apps now offer a variety of workout classes and training sessions users can participate in remotely, providing convenience and flexibility in their fitness routines.

Gamification and social engagement 

Fitness apps incorporate gamification elements, such as challenges, rewards, and leaderboards, to motivate users and make their fitness journey more engaging. Additionally, social features allow users to connect with friends, join communities, and share their achievements, fostering a sense of community and accountability.

Mindfulness and mental health focus 

Fitness apps recognize the importance of mental well-being and incorporate mindfulness and meditation features. These apps deliver guided meditation sessions, stress management techniques, and sleep tracking functionalities to support holistic fitness and overall wellness.

Integration with the health and wellness ecosystem 

Fitness apps are expanding their scope by integrating with broader health and wellness ecosystems. This includes partnering with healthcare providers, nutritionists, and other wellness services to offer comprehensive solutions that address physical fitness and overall health and wellness goals.

5 Successful Fitness Apps Examples

To understand how to create an advanced fitness app, a good idea is to review the success cases on the market. Here are some products that showcase the promising nature of fitness app development:

MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal is a popular fitness app allowing users to track their diet, exercise, and overall fitness progress. It offers a comprehensive database of food items, enabling users to log their daily calorie intake and monitor their macronutrient consumption. The app also features a barcode scanner for easy food entry and provides personalized recommendations for achieving weight loss or fitness goals. Additionally, MyFitnessPal integrates with various fitness devices and apps. This means the app is a versatile tool for individuals seeking to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Fitbit

Fitbit is a well-known fitness app that works with Fitbit wearable devices. Their popularity isn’t surprising: Fitbit produces many affordable wares. In this light, many people have an opportunity to use fitness tracking and join the relevant app. The app allows users to track their daily physical activities via the devices developed by the company. What are some values one can review in the app? They include steps taken, distance covered, calories burned, and heart rate. Based on this data, Fitbit provides users with real-time feedback, personalized goals, and challenges to encourage an active lifestyle. Another vital feature of Fitbit and its devices is sleep tracking. Wearable devices track the sleep phases of a user and offer them advice on improving long-term sleep patterns. What can we say about the platform in general? We believe Fitbit’s user-friendly interface and social features make it a top choice for both fitness enthusiasts and amateurs.

Peloton

Peloton is a fitness hardware producer delivering a high-quality fitness app for users. The app provides access to live and on-demand fitness classes led by experienced instructors. One can find programs targeting diverging user needs: peloton, yoga, strength training, and cycling are present there. Contrary to the common stereotypes, Peloton doesn’t force users to buy its hardware (for instance, treadmills). There are exercise routines both for people who possess Peloton fitness products and those who don’t. Obviously, those who buy premium Peloton products will get elite treatment. Nonetheless, you can expect great service even without such an investment. Peloton has interesting community-oriented features too. All its devices are connected to a leaderboard: users get an opportunity to track the top performers and the progress of their friends. If you see major progress or want to encourage a person, virtual high-fives are available. In the end, using modern AI features, the app also delivers personalized recommendations based on user performance. The only downside of the project is that its fitness app development cost is likely extremely high. Peloton’s business model requires large reserves of funds to launch a product.

Nike Training Club 

Nike Training Club is a comprehensive fitness app designed to cater to all fitness levels and goals. It offers a wide range of workout programs and training plans led by world-class Nike experts. One can find diverse training regimens here: they range from strength and endurance training to yoga and mobility exercises. The app provides video demonstrations and step-by-step instructions for each exercise, ensuring proper form and technique. Similarly to other apps on the market, Nike Training Club gives personalization for the users. It tracks their progress and adjusts the exercises according to their experience. A major feature of the app is its focus on wellness. The users can learn how to rest properly and work on mindfulness to boost their mental health. In our opinion, Nike Training App is one of the most well-rounded solutions on the market. If you want to understand health and fitness app development, we recommend looking at this solution first.

Seven 7-Minute Workout 

This app solves a common problem affecting many people: it assists with exercising despite the lack of time. The idea behind Seven is to provide quick and effective workouts for busy individuals. What method does this app use? The app focuses on high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and offers a range of seven-minute workouts aimed at various muscle groups. To enhance its key strength, the seven-minute workouts, the app developers have also invested in other elements. Firstly, the app is notable for its high-quality minimalist interface that offers much information based on audio and visual cues. Secondly, this app also does a lot to help users personalize their experience. For example, it features customizable workouts, progress tracking, and achievements to keep users engaged and motivated. Seven shows fitness app development cost doesn’t necessarily have to be large. Many people aren’t interested in the premium feel of an app. Instead, they want a solution targeting their unique needs regarding physical activity.

Most Important Fitness App Features

Despite being recent, health and fitness app development already has rules. In this section, we look at the key features one should add to an app if they want it to succeed. Here are the key functions the majority of the users may seek while they interact with an app:

Workout and training programs

Most users join fitness apps because they want to improve their health. Exercise is among the best methods to achieve this. As C. D. Reimers from the Klinik für Neurologie (Germany) and their colleagues outline in a 2012 paper, “results of 13 studies describing eight different cohorts suggest that regular physical activity is associated with an increase of life expectancy by 0.4 to 6.9 years.” Health and fitness mobile app development requires a major focus on the training programs. Many people associate fitness and wellness with exercise. Even if your app is nutrition-centric, adding exercises makes sense to attract more users. Users like to minimize their efforts when working with some apps. If you force people to use two different frameworks for exercise and nutrition, there’s a risk they’ll eventually leave your app to join more comprehensive solutions.

Nutrition advice and programs

While exercise is important for health, people who need to lose weight can’t overcome their problem solely with workouts. The key reason behind obesity is the unhealthy relationship with food. Many individuals eat too much and enjoy harmful food (for instance, burgers from fast-food restaurants). Lowering one’s weight solely by cutting bad foods from your diet is possible. This means advanced nutrition advice is crucial for all apps. Many people using such apps want to lose weight: a solution without the most efficient framework for losing weight is unlikely to attract long-term attention from users.

Maps and other geographical information

It’s a good idea to add features that help navigate the world. We see two applications for maps on the market. On the one hand, you can use them to help people during exercises. Users who ride bicycles or like jogging will appreciate such a feature. It can help them create safe routes or find locations challenging their skills (for instance, some hills). On the other hand, a wellness and fitness app also offers users data on finding doctors or gyms. In this way, the users can target their specific needs and improve some aspects of their physical and mental health in the long-term scenarios. Do we think that all wellness and fitness apps require maps? No, not necessarily: however, such a function makes sense if the physical activities involve navigation in urban and rural environments or health-related precautions.

Notification and alarm systems

Exercises have one essential element of success: one needs to perform them regularly to achieve long-term positive results. A common problem for many people is that they actively exercise and diet for several months, losing weight and improving their health, and then drop all positive activities altogether. Fitness isn’t about short bursts of inspiration. To be fit and gain long-term life expectancy outcomes, one has to invest in their health. Exercise is useful only if you do it periodically (for instance, three times a week) over your entire life. In such a situation, notification and alarm systems become crucial for fitness tracking app development. Many people using fitness apps tend to lack leisure time. It’s easy for them to forget about the need to exercise. Exhaustion and the debilitating routine push people to ignore many vital responsibilities. A notification may be central to helping people with discipline. Obviously, some users will ignore them. Nonetheless, they can also motivate a person to start exercising too. Giving this function to the users is essential for progress in fitness.

Integrating music streaming services

Few people dislike music: it’s difficult to find a person who doesn’t listen to something. With the advent of accessible music devices, many individuals are completely inseparable from their players or smartphones, listening to something all day. What’s the reason? Music can enhance our emotions and help us understand our internal feelings. If you feel sad, an uplifting track associated with positive events in your life is likely enough to make your day. Current research on exercise shows these positive outcomes of listening to music aren’t solely common-sense observations. As Christopher G. Ballmann from the Department of Kinesiology, Samford University, notes in the abstract of their article on the topic: “Listening to music has been repeatedly shown to have ergogenic benefits during various modes of exercise, including endurance, sprint, and resistance-based activities. Music is commonly incorporated into training regimens by recreational exercisers and competitive athletes alike.” We know music can help people regulate their muscle activation, breathing, and heart rate.

In this light, it makes sense to invest in integrating audio streaming services into fitness apps. Why not leave the audio streaming aspects to separate apps? The reason is simple: fitness is about flow. If you interrupt some exercises due to a bug in the audio streaming app, your efforts will be less efficient. Certain exercise regimens are extremely strict regarding the pace and become useless without it. By integrating audio apps, you solve the problem of interruptions (or at least minimize them) and maximize the positive effects of music. How do we envision this function in an app? You can give the ability to integrate songs on the internal memory of a smartphone into a training regimen and add music from key audio streaming services (for example, SoundCloud). The more options one has, the better: the market has multiple services, and the users may want something specific. How to create a fitness app that is successful? It has to satisfy the needs of as many groups that can belong to your key target audience as possible.

Calorie and workload analysis

Apart from advice on nutrition and workout programs, a good fitness app must also give some advanced tools to help professional users maximize their impact. In this respect, calorie and workload analysis is crucial. You can offer features such as barcode analysis and analytics for exercises based on the key characteristics of the user and, more importantly, their progress. Using such information, advanced clients could modify the internal fitness programs within your app and deliver more efficient results for themselves. Hand-holding is great when a person only starts their fitness journey. If you continue limiting the capabilities of the users past the beginning stage, they’ll drop your app. How to create a fitness app holding the attention of clients for many years and even decades? Make it useful for both beginner and advanced users. Once people understand what they need from fitness, they’ll continue to use your app if you give many customization and analytics options. Users like being treated with respect: if user-friendliness turns into protective and inflexible behavior, it’ll discourage many clients.

Education-centric information

A major factor behind many kinds of unhealthy behavior in human lives is the lack of knowledge. Many people engage in bad nutritional habits or don’t exercise enough because they don’t know how to boost their health. All apps benefit from introductory videos on the key aspects of human wellness. For example, you can teach clients the basics of nutrition, exercise, and proper sleep. Education-centric information is also great for experienced users. Many companies behind fitness apps already have advanced experience in weight loss or muscle mass growth. They offer unique knowledge to professionals, attracting them to the relevant apps and boosting coverage.

Live-streaming capabilities

The problem with video-on-demand training programs is that they tend to be inflexible. For instance, it’s impossible to contact the coach and ask them for feedback during the training sessions. Live streams solve this problem once and for all. During sessions aimed at many people, moderators can offer feedback to the coach, for example. Small groups can also benefit from such an approach. The coach and their assistants can correct the actions of the clients as long as they have good cameras. How to build a fitness app that will be popular for a long time? Open the capacity for user-generated content. As examples from the gaming and entertainment sectors show, the ability to create new content based on a good platform attracts many people. Games such as Skyrim live for decades due to the modding scene. Platforms such as YouTube and Twitch are so popular because they provide the opportunity to produce creative content and spread it to a maximum number of users. If we only had TV today, many projects entertaining millions of users would have never appeared due to being considered unpromising by the top management. Give freedom to users, and they’ll keep your platform alive for decades.

Ability to integrate with other services and devices

Many people who enter the fitness app market use other services and even buy devices capable of connecting with smartphones. While we advocate for a comprehensive approach in fitness apps, some functions may be niche. Integration features can help make your app an all-encompassing go-to tool for an average fitness enthusiast. App integration and the ability to collect feedback from fitness trackers will reduce the need to use several apps for different goals. If you have high-quality calculation tools in your app, such an approach will help users manage vital equations without the threat of making some mistakes.

Fitness hardware

The current fitness-oriented market features a tremendous number of diverging hardware-based trackers. What’s the reason to create them? They offer an opportunity to provide unparalleled feedback to the users, or even some interesting training options. We recommend this path only after your app becomes popular enough (as long as it’s not fitness-band-oriented from the start). What can you do here? For example, one can create a fitness band to help the users with tracking vital statistics. The approach of Peloton is also fascinating: they allow users to buy high-quality hardware for exercises and provide advanced training programs for it. Few things can enhance your service as much as hardware.

Sleep tracking and competition

While fitness bands are one of the best ways to track sleep because they contact the users’ bodies, they’re not the only ones. Developers can also use internal microphones and accelerometers in smartphones to track key data. We recommend using this opportunity to provide users with high-quality tracking for their sleep. Why is this important for fitness? Sleep represents an essential part of proper health: if you don’t sleep enough, progress with weight loss or muscle gaining will be more or less non-existent. By allowing users to track this vital aspect of their lives, you can help them maximize the positive results of your fitness programs. Proper sleep protects against cancer and improves the outcomes of training, according to organizations such as Sleep Foundation. Adding nutrition and exercise routines and then forgetting about sleep is irrational. A good idea is to also have some leaderboards for sleep tracking. By encouraging competition, you can push more people to consider healthy habits.

How Much Does It Cost to Create a Fitness App?

We believe it’s impossible to say how much a fitness app would cost without looking at your case. Something simple can cost 15000 dollars. Large projects can involve millions of dollars in terms of costs. All projects have their internal requirements and unique characteristics. Regarding our company, the rate is between 25 and 50 dollars per hour of developer’s work (depending on the expertise of the developers and the complexity of the task). If you want to understand the cost of your app, the best option is to address the specialists. We at Keenethics, for example, offer free estimates for the products of the clients. If you would like to know about the financial aspects and learn how to make a fitness app from professionals, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Fitness App Development Monetization Strategies

All products must make profits to be successful. Some people consider this truth incompatible with idealistic goals, such as helping people. In reality, there’s no conflict between the need for profit-making and the goal of improving users’ health. If your app is unprofitable, it’s likely of no interest to the potential customers. Profit means users appreciate your efforts. It’s impossible to offer long-term help if you can’t monetize your idea. So, what are the high-quality options for monetization in the fitness app sector? How to develop a fitness app that’s profitable?

One-time purchase or subscription

The first method of earning funds on a fitness app is to require payment for access. Different models of access exist in the modern world. On the one hand, you can offer a one-time payment. When do we recommend this model? It’s great if your app provides a specific function (for instance, calorie calculation) and doesn’t require long-term support and continuous connection to the Internet. On the other hand, subscription models are also popular. When should you use one? It’s a great solution if your project has significant monthly expenses. A calorie calculator may require occasional payment for one or two months of development to remove some security threats and add new features. An app creating custom exercise programs for the users needs to do a tremendous number of calculations on the cloud server. This means it’s expensive both during development and after it. In such a situation, asking for subscriptions makes sense. You need to pay for servers and constant updates (both for security and features).

Internal purchase/separate products

Another way to monetize a fitness app is to provide additional products within it. In this case, we have many options for the developers. Firstly, you can offer basic courses for free and then demand payment for the further tiers of fitness programs. Secondly, one can deliver some hardware (treadmills, as in the case of Peloton, for example) to enhance the experience of the users. Subscription services can also work well with this model if you decide to sell hardware or exclusive courses.

Advertisements

Modern mobile and web platforms are notable for the high-quality opportunities to monetize relevant content. The key frameworks for web and mobile content have great tools for integrating advertisements. If you offer a free or freemium app (basic features for non-paying users and advanced ones for paying individuals), ads are a perfect way to earn money without demanding payment from the clients. Once again, this model is compatible with the frameworks mentioned above. You can have in-app purchases in a free app with ads, or deliver a free version with ads and premium ones without them.

All in all, these frameworks are the best ways to monetize a fitness app. As mentioned above, you can combine them to maximize positive financial impacts for your firm. Nonetheless, please keep in mind that the real answer to the “how to develop a fitness app that’s profitable?” question isn’t about monetization alone. What’s the recipe for success? You have to develop a useful app. Despite the pop-culture rhetoric about consumerism and ‘constructed needs’, people are much more rational than it seems: they choose only those products that can bring positive outcomes.

Keenethics` Experience in Fitness App Development

We at Keenethics have experience in fitness app development. One of the core projects in this regard is the Sportresurs website, which we’ve developed on a volunteer basis. Our company is based in Lviv and has decided to help the home city. The local governmental sports organizations needed help with informing the people regarding the relevant infrastructure projects. The site we’ve developed solves this problem. It offers a detailed list of all sports infrastructure objects in Lviv. Using it, citizens can learn about critical government-funded fitness locations and make informed decisions about health improvement. What competencies did this project involve? Above all, we’re proud of our design efforts and the ability to configure the relevant map to the clients’ needs. 

Common Questions About Fitness App Development

How can one monetize a fitness app?

We believe four models are notable on the market: one-time purchases, subscriptions, one-time in-app purchases, and advertisements.

How to maximize security in a fitness app?

We believe the following steps can be of great assistance to you:

• Implement strong encryption for user data.
• Use secure authentication methods.
• Regularly update and patch the app for security vulnerabilities.
• Conduct regular security audits and testing.
• Ensure secure transmission of data between the app and servers.

How should I start if I want to bring my wellness or fitness app idea into reality?

Get in contact with professionals. We at Keenethics have experience creating multiple projects for mobile and web services and can offer an analysis of your business idea. We’ll provide our insights on its feasibility, present data on high-quality UI/UX analysis, and offer our opinion on the best tech stack for the project.