5 habit tracker apps to maximise productivity

Building good habits and breaking bad ones is hard - both are very difficult because they require you to reshape your behaviour and resist your natural patterns. Whether it's hitting the gym regularly, reading more often, lowering your screen time or just remembering to drink plenty of water and get enough sleep - one can always use some extra help. Though your mind and determination are the ultimate weapons, habit-tracking apps can go a long way by being your confidante in the journey. There are plenty of options for you to choose your perfect habit-tracker app - here are some of our recommendations.

Streaks

With a minimal interface, Streaks supports up to a dozen custom habits, totalling a helpful arrangement of adorable icons to make each new habit your own style. This iOS app also provides multiple options to check off a habit, reducing the friction that generally occurs while tracking anything. You can tap a habit to keep your streak going on any iOS device. Streaks also integrate with Apple Health, automatically updating your progress when you log on to either Streaks or any other health app you're plugged into. Streaks also make helpful suggestions to get you back on track if you are an irregular user. 

Habitica

Habitica is a great task management app for people who are interested in games. This completely free-to-use app features a gamified interface which makes managing tasks fun, crafted with virtual rewards for completing the tasks and penalties for not completing them. The onboarding process on Habitica is straightforward, as it gives you suggestions about what type of tasks you'll focus on, e.g., work and school. People who love playing games may find the app perfect to keep them motivated to complete tasks. 

Habitify

Habitify is a handy app that will help you develop habits that will stick. The user can easily set up automated reminders, track progress and share updates with friends and family with this app. You can break your tasks into smaller steps and track specific goals for each task. The app reminds the user when it's time to complete their daily tasks and rewards them with streaks for following through. It has a detailed progress tracker with trends, completion rates, a calendar etc. In addition to the basic habit tracking features, Habitify also has a Dark Mode to relieve strain on users' eyes and plenty of cool graphs and charts that let them nerd out over their habit progress. The premium version of Habitify features many different reminders, habits, check-ins, timers, skips, reflection notes and privacy controls.

Strides

You can track just about anything with Stride, whether it is the amount of sleep that you get every day or even your budget. It features a clean, professional UI that's smooth to use, with the basic habit tracking functionality being very similar to Habitify. However, Stride lets you set up and track habits. To start, you can set streak goals. Users can also set habit goals as 'Yes or No,' which are useful for habits that are not daily affairs. If you want to do something a certain number of times, Strides lets you set quantity goals. For instance, you can set a goal to do 10 sit-ups each morning or drink 3 litres of water per day. The app comes packed with many features that can keep you going from time to time. It is a free app, but there is an optional monthly or annual subscription. The purchased plan comes with additional features like unlimited trackers, sync, backup, tags, filters and the option to export data.

Productive

Productive is designed to give the users the tools they need to build healthy habits in the first place. After signing up, the app asks some questions to set up the course suitable for you. Depending on the answers, you'll receive different guidance. There's the Explore tab filled with content about productivity and sticking to healthy habits, as well as a handful of 15-day programs on things like how to be healthy. If you're ever struggling with a habit, you may find help there. The app also has a built-in timer which you can use to record how long you stretch or even use the Pomodoro technique to get work done. Productive also has built-in challenges with preset activities. It offers a free plan with up to four habits but unfortunately comes with frequent ads.