Fertility Apps: Get it off my phone!

Disclaimer: I am not being paid by any of the below apps or their competitors

As I previously mentioned, I ended up with 9 apps on my phone:

1. Fertility Friend
2. Glow
3. Kindara
4. Clue
5. Ovia
6. OvaCue
7. Natural Cycles
8. Cycles
9. Lady Timer

And I used every single one every day for three months. This was exhausting. Not only because some of the apps were terrible (which I'm going to tell you all about), but because entering my BBT/personal data eleven times every day took over an hour (5-10 minutes each).

But there were some that were completely terrible to use, and that's what this post is all about.

There are certain apps that have no function other than tracking your period. And if you're down for analyzing your chart, that's just fine. However, some of these were heinous, and that's worth explaining.

Lady Timer

If there was a prize for poorly named apps, this one would win it. That's not a compliment. Lady timer is a glorified calendar, but it has some hilarious abilities that I just couldn't get over

• Cost -  There's a free app and one that's $3.99 CAD. I think the $3.99 removes ads.
• Interface - Simple enough - Tap a calendar day. Enter information
• Entry Fields - So these are kind of unique, and I'll put them below. Not only are there typical BBT, Menstrual flow, CM entry points, there is a rating system for your intimacy. I haven't figured out if 3 stars means "awesome sex" or if it means you had sex 3 times that day. 
• Ease of Entry - Not that hard. Just tap and go
• Editing - About the same
• Ease to Read - Finding the BBT chart was hard. I went all three months without finding it. I just found it looking at the app to remind myself.
• Best Thing - Actually, the funny parts of this app are the best part. Did you know that the Chinese believe that the age of the mother and the month of conception determines the sex of your baby? Well, I didn't! They have a whole section that will predict your baby's sex. And a FAQ to explain what basic sex education concepts are.
• Most Annoying thing - Really there's not a lot that makes me grit my teeth about this app - aside from the name, and the weird woman in the trench coat on the loading screen, and the poorly translated English.
• Privacy/HIPAA - Nothing's mentioned. Don't hold your breath
• Overall - Delete it. I know it's not terrible, but it's just not going to help you on your journey.

 Cycles

• Cost - Free app. Upgrade to "Pro" for $3.99 CAD.
• Perks for paying - No ads. You can connect your cycle to your partner's phone so they know when you're fertile too.
• Interface - The basic interface kind of looks like a birth control packet. It's circular and colour coded. According to this, I have a TWELVE DAY fertile period. No one has that.
• Entry Fields - Pretty basic. They ask you right off the bat if your body has sent you any signals. Apparently, the only signal possible is spotting. No other options. Others are BBT, sex, if you took your pill, etc.
• Ease of Entry - Click the centre button. Pretty simple from there.
• Editing - This is a little complicated. To edit a previous day, you have to swipe around the cirle to rotate it. When you get to the right cycle day, you can edit the day.
• Ease to Read - Not going to lie, the colour-coded circle is really easy to read. If it were in any way reliable, it'd be better.
• Best Thing - Um...probably the circle. If it was reliable.
• Most Annoying thing - Going to be honest, this app inspired the "Most Annoying thing" heading. IT CLICKS. LOUDLY. Imagine sitting in a meeting and suddenly remembering "Oh, I forgot to enter the BBT this morning." You open this app, and everything you do CLICKS. In the app's defense you can turn this off. On the other hand, it took me 3 months to find that.
• Privacy/HIPAA - You can passcode this app, and unlike LadyTimer, you're not required to give them your email address. Therefore, it's only linked to the phone that's connected to your whole life. And it syncs to your "Health" app, if you allow it. So, not so much privacy
• Overall - Delete it. For the life of me, I can't understand why anyone would ever put a click into a period tracking app. I just can't. This sucker woke my husband up. Just no.

 So, there aren't a lot of "terrible" apps out there, but there are two. Have you run into other apps that you needed to get off your phone as quickly as possible?