What better way to keep tab of your weight, exercise progress, or health than with your phone, an Android, that is? We’re rounding up ten useful health and fitness apps (paid) based on their respective uses, each one has a specific role that the others cannot fully meet. Sports and fitness app developers have been providing innovative solutions for users to track their weight, progress, and health. So, at no particular order, here are the apps that aim to keep your health up and running.

10. Runtastic Pro – $4.99

Pros: It also supports activities, such as, biking and cardio workouts, but this app is designed for running. It tracks your critical metrics in your workout, including duration, distance, elevation change, and calories burned. Moreover, it helps you create routes, a useful tool if you segment your runs in light, medium, and difficult routines.

Cons: The robotic voice seems outdated in this Siri age. Plus, you’re pitched with expensive in-app purchases like marathon and weight loss training programs.

Face-off: For a serious runner this tool is it.  Compared to other apps that are targeted more at general users, Runtastic Pro understands the running dynamics.

9. Noom Weight Loss Coach – $9.99 per month

Pros: It’s got a comprehensive content on weight loss suggestions, such as: eating healthy foods; a robust database featuring popular restaurants with healthy menu; and meal suggestions that keep your weight down. The app integrates a pedometer to count your steps daily, and a log that tracks your meals versus workout, which is helpful to identify in which area you’re falling short. Think of it as a motivation coach in your pocket to help you lose weight.

Cons: Plenty of ads in the free version and the large food list database should be optimized to minimize disk space. Pedometer tends to crash, too, in older generation Android phones.

Face-off: A good complement to your bag of health and fitness apps. Among other health apps, this is your tool to keep a tight watch on your diet.

8. Zombies, Run! – $3.99

Pros: If you need motivation to run, this app gamifies the routine with a zombie apocalypse scenario. You hear the zombies in your headphones and you have to run to keep a safe distance. Your running also collects essentials like medicines and food that you can use to supply bases and characters in the screen game. The more you run the more essentials you collect and the safer you keep a distance from those vile creatures. The app sends out the zombies at random intervals, helping you keep an intense interval running regimen.

Cons: Using a themed exercise game can indicate you’re not serious about exercising. Are you going to run after the game’s story ends?

Face-off: The best motivating health and fitness app by far, but don’t rely on it too much. The app is best to get your running program started, thereafter, move on to more serious apps like Runtastic Pro.

7. Pocket First Aid & CPR – $1.99

Pros: It gives you an easy-to-use guide for emergencies to conduct First Aid Basics, CPR, automated external defibrillators (AED), and other medical emergency procedures. Rest assured the guide is credible, backed by the American Heart Association. At best it’s a good companion to your other health and fitness apps in case an emergency arises.

Cons: It’s known to have crashed on Galaxy Note 3. Other Android devices may also experience some glitches.

Face-off: Always keep a first-aid app in your cocktail of health and fitness apps, and keep this one as top choice.

6. Endomondo Sports Tracker PRO – $5

Pros: Whatever sports you’re in–kayaking, running, kitesurfing, etc.–it tracks your distance, speed, and time using your phone’s built-in GPS. Your calorie burn is also tracked, making it convenient to record your personal bests and maintain your form. The large buttons are particularly helpful when you’re doing hard activity outdoors. Likewise, you can share personal stats on Facebook and have fun competing against your friends who use the app to keep you motivated.

Cons: GPS tracking is not accurate compared to motion sensor-based tracking apps; plus, some of your statistics are only available on premium plan.

Face-off: It’s a better app than Runtastic Pro if you’re not focused on running alone. It has general settings that can easily be adjusted to meet different activities’ criteria.

5. SworkIt Pro – $0.99

Pros: It helps you target specific body parts that you wish to work on without the need to buy gym equipment. By entering that part and the time you have, SworkIt Pro gives you a custom circuit training workout using only your bodyweight. You can practically work out anywhere. Get verbal exercise cues, save multiple custom workouts, or set daily and weekly goals.

Cons: Doesn’t calculate your fitness level, so it ups to you to set the best number of reps and sets to effect a result. No music integration also that could have made exercise more motivating and exciting.

Face-off: The best exercise aid app for people who are not into serious outdoor sports and fitness activities.

4. 30 Day Fitness Challenges – $2.99

Pros: It is included in the top 10 paid apps on iTunes and now it’s among the ranking health and fitness apps in Google Play. The app gives you 40 exercise videos showing correct form. It integrates with Facebook, Twitter or Google+ to help you track your progress, all in 30 days. It uses a timer to finish your daily exercise activities, such as, planks and wall sits, plus a daily alert to remind you that you only got 30 days and counting…

Cons: You can’t see the whole 30-day exercise routine to prepare mentally or plan your next sets of exercise activities.

Face-off: If gamifying your exercise routine may be too fancy for you, this app is your best bet for motivation without the fanfare.

3. Sleep Cycle alarm clock – $0.99

Pros: When it comes to health, it’s not just about exercise and eating right. Sleep counts, too. The app helps you track your sleeping patterns, but more importantly, it tracks the best time to wake you up: the lightest sleep phase, which is the natural way to wake up to feel rested. You put it in your bed and it monitors your movement to determine your sleep phases. The app graphs your daily sleeping patterns, giving you a better understanding when you’re most rested and when you need more rest.

Cons: It only works if you sleep alone because the motion sensor can track the movement of other people or your dog if they sleep beside or near you. Because your phone is turned on at night, it drains the battery or it might alert you with non-urgent texts or calls.

Face-off: Easily the smartest alarm clock today, keep this app to support your exercise and diet apps.

2. iMuscle 2 – $1.99

Pros: You can actually see which muscle groups you’re targeting with which exercise activity. This app lets you check 3D images of body muscles and how they move and contract in different exercise movements. As such, you can focus on specific muscles that you want to target, making the app useful for precision muscle sculpting or rehabilitative therapy. It’s got a professional-grade fitness program with user-friendly interface.

Cons: You can’t edit or adjust your workout on the fly; you’ll be hard pressed to use it in a busy gym and deciding your next workout based on available equipment at the moment.

Face-off: It’s our app choice when it comes to muscle building or toning. This app complements cardio workout apps, so keep it handy.

1. QuitNow! Pro – $5.19

Pros: It’s one thing to hear you doctor tell you that quitting cigarettes will improve your health and it’s another thing to see your progress and improvement in the progress. This app shows you real-time stats on the percentages of CO and 02, taste and smell senses you’ve regained since you stopped smoking. Likewise, it tracks how many cigarettes you didn’t smoke so far and how much money and time you saved. All these records aim to let you see your achievements one day at a time until you can do away with smoking permanently.

Cons: It could use more gamification concepts or more health milestones to sustain the motivation

Face-off: For smokers, quitting is essential to their health and fitness regimen; hence, the best app in keeping you motivated to stay away from nicotine.

CONCLUSION

The health and fitness apps in your phone should complement each other, not overlap their functions. Keep a collection of these ten apps to have a more holistic set of tools to help you achieve that healthy lifestyle.