Habitify: Habit Tracker

I downloaded this app to try a long while ago — I think a couple labor days ago?? — and right after I downloaded it, I got a notification saying they had a premium lifetime subscription on sale. On a whim, I decided to buy it and crossed my fingers it would be a good investment because it looked exactly like the kind of habit tracker I had been searching for. I’m happy to report that it was well worth the money for me, I love this app! It’s super customizable so you can track any habit however you want. And you can set up any kind of notification you’d like to receive (or not receive). There’s something so satisfying about ticking habits off the list, and being able to see calendar views of my progress is fun. It also syncs with Apple Health and my Apple Watch, though, I admit I haven’t really used that feature much. If you’re looking for a simple list-style app that you can use to check off habits and track progress, this is definitely the app for you! And if you see the lifetime subscription on sale, I definitely recommend jumping on it!

It really pains me to write this. I loved using this app for all it offers, even bought the lifetime subscription because of it. However, after the most recent widget update, it’s been ruined. Widgets that used to be very helpful to track, especially being able to see which days I had off from specific tasks, are now ruined. I can no longer track when I have days off or my streak by simply looking at the widget. It was replaced by an “in progress” writing that then changed to “completed”. No streak counter, no days to see when to do the task. The colors have also changed on the widgets and it just makes the overall feel and look of using the app undesirable. On top of that, the widget used to display a +1 indicator to help me see that I had more sets to do on a certain task. It also kept track of my progress from the widget. That has now been removed and replaced by a dialog box that asks you how many times you’ve done the activity. The problem is that it doesn’t show the progress unless you look at the app. Defeats the purpose of a widget to me. If you do two sets and then forget that you did two, you go back to the widget which no longer shows your progress on it for the day. When you press on the widget it shows you the same “how many did you do” question. If you don’t remember it’s like starting over. It’s annoying. I thought the widgets and whole app were perfect and incredibly helpful but this last update really made me start looking for other habit-tracking apps.

I like that I can complete habits from my watch. I won’t stick to it otherwise. But the watch interface could be better. The little widget bar that looks like it should show progress doesn’t. It always looks like 2/3 of my habits are done. Clicking on notifications lets you “check in” but I don’t think that’s the same as marking it “done” and I’m not convinced it does anything at all. I’d like to be able to mark the habit as completed at that point. Marking it as complete involves a deep dive into the interface—and I get it, not much screen real estate to work with, but it’s harder to use than it needs to be. I’d rather see the completed:skip options show up right away, before is it done or not instead of after. The only other complaint is no possibility for longer habit cycles. The habits are tied to specific days. That’s not great for the neurodivergent brain. I’d love the ability to track habit over a week. There are loads of things I need to do at least once a week but trying to force them weekly (eg must be Tuesday rather than at least once but could be any day) makes me less likely to do them. It means I need to keep some other list outside of the app and make the in-app habit really generic (like “exercise” with some external weekly specific exercise list) and then I have no way of tracking things like do I habitually ignore particular exercises.