Gentler Streak Workout Tracker

I’ve been using this app for a couple of years, and it is by far the best fitness tracker I’ve found. I’ve been able use Gentler Streak to find fitness that’s sustainable while managing chronic illness, rather than being pushed to burnout with arbitrary goals. I love that the developers have continued to integrate more health data as it’s become available, and I’m excited to see how the app keeps evolving. The only reason I can’t give this app 5 stars is that for non-cardio strength exercise (specifically yoga, for me) the perceived exertion that the app applies is way, way off. Every yoga class I take, the app registers as “extremely light,” even if I’m sweating bullets, can’t regulate my breathing, and my muscles are burning. If I don’t go in and update that to how hard the session really feels, I would be headed in the wrong direction in a serious way, pushing too hard and going straight into PEM. I can definitely understand why it’s hard to quantify effort with exercise where the difficulty doesn’t have an immediate link to heart rate, and honestly I’m not sure if this is something that really has a fix, but that’s been my only frustration with this app. Bottom line, if you are looking for a way to sustainably build fitness (especially if you’re managing fatigue and chronic illness), this app is a life changer; just make sure you’re digging into the details and making sure that the assumptions the app is making are correct.

I am Jiang Linhan, a university student in China. I actually didn't like exercising before, but after a semester of sitting for long periods, I gained 10 kg. So I need to lose some weight. I discovered that dancing in Apple Fitness+ is suitable for me, and I dance every day. However, sometimes I don't know how long I should dance or if I should do another 30 minutes. The gentler option gives me a suitable reference indicator, like the progress bar on the homepage, which helps me understand whether I’ve met my daily exercise goals or if I haven’t done enough. It allows me to arrange my life easily and prevents me from overexerting myself and causing muscle strains. Also, the Apple Watch is compatible, but I prefer to stay consistent with Fitness+ and use Apple's official fitness app. I don’t have any other reason for this preference. However, I have to say that it offers many features, and most of them are free. As a student, I don't have much pocket money and can't afford the premium version. But the app developers have been kind enough to leave the essential homepage progress bar and widgets available for free users. I really appreciate that! 👍 Thank you for your development!

UPDATE: We still aren’t getting anything to show our steps as activity in this app. That’s a critical issue here. We shouldn’t have to log our daily steps as workouts to record the activity. I’ve tried doing this to have a more accurate picture of wellbeing and actually have the app saying I’m overreaching when it’s not that hard to walk throughout the day, taking breaks in between. Developers need to find a way to work this into the algorithm for the app. As it stands it seems that while other apps ignore the need for customization based on individual abilities/needs this app ignores the need to have basic data at its core. We need to meet somewhere in the middle here ASAP. ———— I like the app but there are area it needs work; 1) The new Wellbeing tab and syncing with Health is good, but why doesn’t it show our steps? and why aren’t our streaks reflecting our walking throughout the day? This needs attention ‼️ 2) I’ve had to edit sleep in other apps as it over estimated my time sleeping. But then this app shows “Insufficient data” under the Wellbeing tab.🤨 The day is there? I just corrected it so that the record is accurate. This shouldn’t be a problem. 3) One of the reasons I’ve liked this app is the ability to do things at our own pace. I don’t like the “reminders” about exercising or losing a streak. A streak shouldn’t rely solely on workouts but also steps. See point 1.