5 of the best period-tracking apps for women

The past couple of years have seen a rapid emergence of period-tracking apps designed to make women’s oft-dreaded time of the month more tolerable. Beyond just predicting when the user’s next period is due based on personal data analysis, many of these apps provide expert insight on the menstrual cycle and associated symptoms which allows women to better understand their bodies. In fact, some apps have built taboo-free online community spaces for women to share menstruation-related concerns and advice. Here's our round-up and review of 5 of the most popular period-tracking apps in 2018.

1. Flo

With a no-frills yet elegant design, Flo presents a calendar comprising predictions on fertility and period due dates. When adding symptoms, the user is taken to ‘Insight’ pages providing expert explanations and advice on particular issues (however, some of these require a Premium account to be unlocked). It is the first period-tracking app to use machine learning meaning its user-specific predictions improve with the more data that is inputted.

2. Eve

With loggable symptoms represented by vibrantly coloured emojis and comedic descriptions, the Eve app could be described as Flo-on-steroids. Much like competing apps, the Eve calendar presents a circular design which marks different phases of the user's cycle over a month.

The stand-out element is the ‘Community’ section, boasting an abundance of engaged users discussing topics including love, health, beauty and sex. The app also features a personalised ‘Cyclescope’ based on which point the user is through her cycle – this page presents symptoms the user may be experiencing on a specific day and tips to help ease any discomfort. Once again, the community aspect is emphasised with an invitation for users to comment on the daily advice given.

3. Period Diary

In contrast to the savvy, engaging features of Flo and Eve, Period Diary presents a basic design which verges on outdated. Opening the app, the user is greeted with a huge flower bearing sickly-pink clickable petals with links to add symptoms or notes to enhance tracking.

Although the app is undoubtedly friendly it seems to be targeted at younger users just starting their periods, holding little appeal to women who are over the idea that their reproductive system should be exclusively represented by a flower and the colour pink.

4. Period Tracker Lite

 

As the name suggests this tracker certainly is ‘lite’, stripping period-tracking back to its basics with a simple calendar denoting high fertility, ovulation and period phases of the cycle. If the user isn’t fussed with sleek layout or the community aspect of other apps, this calendar is the ideal no-frills option.

5. Clue

Shunning the verging-on-gimmicky nature of rival apps, the stand-out aspect of Clue is its gender-neutrality: its key colours are red, blue and green. The app offers a user-friendly calendar predicting the dates of the various cycle phases for individuals – one plus is that the user can customise the symptoms they input daily so that they only record the ones that affect them regularly.