Minimalist iOS calorie counter

June 9, 2015 8:34 AM

There are one million calorie counters in the App Store, and I've tried all of them, and none of them rise above "arguably adequate." Assuming that I've already tested all the big players—I've literally downloaded every app on the first page of search results—is there a hidden gem out there with an uncluttered interface and a singular focus on just recording calories consumed?

This app space is the worst. Every calorie counter I've tested either tries to do way too many things, or they're linked to spammy services I'm not interested in, or they're trying to become a weight-loss social media site, or the UX is just inelegant, ugly, and cumbersome.

Things I'm interested in:

• The least possible friction between opening the app and recording a snack
• A design that doesn't look like early-00s shareware
• An interface I don't dread interacting with

A thing that would be great but isn't a dealbreaker:

• A web interface.

Things I don't need (but won't rule out an app for having):

• A massive database of pre-entered foods; Google exists and is just as easy to search
• A barcode scanner; these are great if you're tracking more than just calories, but for just one number it's just as easy to type it in

Basically: is there an iOS calorie tracker that Jony Ive would use? Is there one that would be worthy of placement on (MeFi's own) One Thing Well?

posted by Ian A.T. to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

LoseIt. I've been using it for years now-- the interface is almost always _pretty good_, there is some awkwardness that you need to adapt to, but once you have, it's great. (They make the distinction between a full search of the entire food database vs. searching just foods that you've eaten before).

It also has the concept of adding a previous meal, so if you frequently have the same thing for breakfast, it's SUPER easy.

Has a web app (www.loseit.com) that is quite good as well.

There ARE some things you need to upgrade to premium for-- it won't talk to a Withings scale unless you pay, for instance. It also won't do some non-calorie tracking unless you pay.

If you've "tested all the big players", I'd be surprised if you haven't tried this one, but I would recommend giving it another shot if you had tried it and dismissed it.
posted by gregvr at 9:06 AM on June 9, 2015 [3 favorites]

Maybe try Lightweight? It's an app I literally built for myself about two years ago – like you, every other thing I could find was wayyyy too complicated/ugly/etc, when all I wanted was to know how much I'd eaten today. Lightweight was meant for tracking both weight AND calories, but if all you're looking for is a dead-simple calorie counter, it still might fit well.
posted by rofreg at 9:20 AM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

I have found MyFitnessPal to have a more comprehensive food library than LoseIt. But as you say, you've probably tried it.
posted by Fleebnork at 12:05 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'd been using LoseIt! for several months, but it seemed like everybody else was on MyFitnessPal, so I gave it a shot. I found the interface to be cluttered and pointlessly complex (at least for the calorie counting I was doing), so I went back to LoseIt! after about a day, armed with a fresh appreciation for its simple layout.
posted by redsparkler at 1:37 PM on June 9, 2015

A few years ago I was in the exact same situation and the solution I found was the brilliantly flexible and configurable Lumen Trails (used to be called Daily Tracker). It lets you track any sort of data, with complete flexibility down to specifying the type of data, number of decimal places, etc. -- so you can use it solely for this or you can expand to other kinds of tracking too.
posted by kalapierson at 10:02 PM on June 9, 2015

I am EXACTLY like you, the app you are looking for is "Simple Calorie Counter" from Foamy Media Ltd.
It looks beautiful, it has a singular focus (calories), and you can record calories in 2 seconds.
posted by SkinsOfCoconut at 3:04 AM on August 16, 2015