Fitness apps are a big hit right now. Fitness apps are a must-have for almost all smartphones, as more and more people pay attention to their health and fitness. COVID-19 only intensified this trend. Virtual classes are becoming more popular as gyms and personal training become less accessible. MyFitnessPal is a good example. The product is already on track to be the most popular fitness app in history. It has generated more than $1.4 million by 2020. No wonder so many people start to think about “How to make a fitness app development” or “How to make a successful workout app”.
The Key Takeaways
- Your app shouldn’t be created solely because the global fitness market is expected to reach $14 billion by 2026.
- If you use the best practices to create your workout app, you can expect a 28% conversion rate and a retention rate of over 50%. You may also get rated 4- or 5-stars.
- Third-party libraries that have ready-made features are the answer to “How can I develop a fitness application in record time?”
You’re in the right place if you want to learn how to make a fitness personal trainer app that will stand out. You’ll learn everything you need about mobile fitness app development.
Fitness App Market Wrap-Up
We’ll quickly look at the landscape of the fitness and wellness app market, which will be your reality when you launch your app.
What are the biggest trends in fitness app development?
COVID-19 is a virus that has affected almost every industry, including sports and fitness. The virus has caused an unprecedented increase in the use of mobile fitness apps.
Mobile fitness apps are a great way to keep fit when you’re alone. Solutions that include social media features in addition to fitness training seem to be attracting more users.
- Health and fitness downloads worldwide grew 46% between Q1 2020 and Q22020
- Video connectivity is enhanced by 5G for live training sessions
- As the wearable market expands, we will see smartwatches with more applications.
- 60% of Americans plan to cancel their gym membership if they haven’t already.
WHAT’S THE ESTIMATED MARKET SIZE?
Global fitness app sales are booming due to the COVID-19 epidemic:
- Around $3.5 billion by 2020
- By 2026, the expected amount is to be around $14 billion
- There are 87,4 million active users in the US
What’s the benchmark for key KPIs in fitness apps?
If you follow our best design and development practices, your fitness app development should deliver the following KPIs:
- The conversion rate is 28% (the number of people who will download your app once they discover it).
- Only 5% of the top 100 apps for fitness (Apple) have ratings lower than four stars
- Daily active users (DAUs) should be at around 9.41%
- With an average retention rate of 7% (how many users remain with the application after one month), you should expect anything more than that given the growth in the industry (Peloton boasts 95% retention).
- Top-grossing apps in the fitness industry earn $2 to $6 million per year worldwide
Who are the leading players?
Fitness app players include Adidas, Fitbit FitnessKeeper MyFitnessPal Nike Noom Under Armour Aaptiv, and Azumio.
What fitness apps earn big bucks?
When we look at the 50 most popular fitness products on App Store in 2020, we can see:
- 26% of lifestyle applications are related to sleep tracking or meditation.
Apple and Google have placed sleep tracking and meditation in the Health & Fitness category. Our fitness app will be competing with theirs.
- Diet and Nutrition: 20%
- 40% — workout-centric
- Tracking sports like running and other activities.
With all these statistics in mind, it’s no surprise that the development of health and fitness apps for mobile devices is increasing.
What are the top 5 most successful apps?
Check out the top fitness apps in Apple Store and Google Play for the past three months. We can easily compile this list using SensorTower’s charts.
- Calm
- MyFitnessPal
- Fitbit
- Peloton
- SWEAT
CALM
Calm is currently the most popular meditation and mindfulness application. This is also the solution that has the least fitness component, as it only includes stretching exercises. It’s a popular method for helping people meditate and fall asleep.
MYFITNESSPAL
MyFitnessPal shows that content is more important than form in the fitness world. The 180 million users of this nutrition and workout app are still struggling with the interface. It has so much food data, exercise exercises, blogs, and other information.
This is the updated version. The older version was less intuitive and inspiring for users.
Fitbit
Fitbit’s wearable devices are popular, and this is why the company continues to rank high. It’s not what you would expect from an activity tracker, but this program offers much more than just tracking sleep and steps. The program offers users a community, meal planning, an exercise planner, and even meditation sessions.
PELOTON
Peloton allows people to work out at home while also enjoying a competitive atmosphere in the gym. This fitness app development solution broadcasts all types of workouts and exercise, helping to push sales of cycling and jogging hardware.
SWEAT
Many entrepreneurs today are trying to replicate the success of Kayla Itsines’ SWEAT training app, an Australian fitness star. This mobile app is making millions each month by providing super niche workouts to women.
What is the cost of fitness app development?
The cost of developing an MVP (minimal viable product) for a basic healthcare app is between $25,000 and $30,000. App development costs for a fitness app with full features may range from $60,000 to $160,000, depending on the following:
AI/ML (e.g. to recognize the user’s movements during exercise)
Support BLE and other hardware connectivity
Include voice integration, video streaming, and more.
If you wish to provide online training on desktops and Apple TVs, Apple Watch, and iPads, then separate apps will be required.
Best Practices for Fitness App Development
We have extensive experience developing fitness apps for mobile devices. Here are a few tips to help your app stand out.
- What about testing it from the perspective of usability?
They can train users in the target group while it is being developed. They can spot things that your QA engineers might not be aware of. For example, they may notice you need longer pauses between sets.
- Create a community by allowing the users to share their food, etc. Follow each other
- Voice control is possible when you integrate Siri or Google Assistant.
- Add gaming elements (get inspired by Zombies Run!)
- Use CDN tools to enhance interactions with video and imagery
- Consider the UI aesthetics. Would an obese person like to use an app that has sports models on each screen?
Contact us for a different perspective on your fitness application idea.
Our experience in fitness app development
Topflight has had the opportunity to work on a variety of fitness projects. In one of our most recent projects, we had to create a fitness app using a progressive web application.
This solution is compatible with smartphones, tablets, and laptops, as it is a web application in essence.
We continue to work on WalkerTracker, an app for tracking steps that are compatible with Apple Watch, Apple Health, and most activity trackers. Swift enabled some advanced features like mapping that would have been difficult to implement using a PWA.
Contact us today to learn more about the custom fitness app development services we offer.
