Taking care of your health, doing yoga, joining marathon groups are the new normal nowadays. Online fitness classes took place due to Covid19 and people found it more impressive and more lucrative.

No need for extra setup, no recurring expense, no extravaganzas of maintenance and local competitive marketing; everything goes digital. Fitness enthusiasts are enjoying the new trends and social media also supported the trends. Zoom and Google Duo got a high increase in their sales due to the high numbers of downloads and higher plan purchases.

Alongside amateur fitness trainers with fitness trainer app too found it suitable to start with. But the biggest problem with beginners is to reach the starting point. It is hard to understand, where to start with.

Fitness and workout apps are amazing platforms for promoting your classes, specific fitness regimes, and workout styles. Fitness trainers make short videos for promotion and woo new customers with several feedbacks and impressive results. Weight loss apps are also there which give a combined plan for nutrition management and workout.

A huge craze in millennials gives a strong reason for entrepreneurs to develop a perfect platform for fitness and workout. These platforms work in multi-direction and that makes it a perfect choice in the current scenario.

How Bigger Impact do Fitness and Workout Apps Have on the Market?

In the current scenario, the market for health and fitness has nurtured so much. Since the COVID pandemic, the situation went worse, and it simultaneously pushes the need for a healthy life. Here, the opportunity knocked on the door of the developers. Every panic keeps a solution for the people. The competitive development of fitness or workout apps has made it possible. From nutrition need to work out everything is offered through the fitness or workout app development.

Now let’s dive into the trends in a fitness app. Since COVID-19, the usage of fitness or workout apps has seen unprecedented growth. There has been a promising interest grew in between people for the fitness or workout apps. Not just due to the health concerns, but also it is an impact of the shift in the lifestyle.

According to one survey, 71% of people use mobile devices for tracking their workouts, minutes, steps, miles, etc. The fitness or workout apps grew by nearly 46% worldwide. The role of smart wearables also augmented the current size of the fitness or workout apps market I 2021.

Here, the extent of fitness is so broad that everything related to fitness might come in. With the multi-dimensional growth in web app development and compatibility, it has got a different niche in fitness.

The following fitness or workout apps niche has been competitively performing well. 

• Planned Diet and Nutrition
• Workout centric
• Sports Activities
• Yoga
• Personal Trainer App
• Fitness Studio App

Guide To Fitness App Development 2021

How to Develop the Best Fitness or Workout App?

Though healthcare app developers have augmented the fitness app trend incredibly, you need to be competitive while developing it. For developing the best and high-performing apps, the blend of technology, competency, and market analysis. There is no probability to negate even a single one. Every factor that decides the accessibility, extensibility, and compatibility of the app, are independent of each other.

Let’s talk about the all-important factors that play a promising role in the success of your fitness apps in the market.

Fitness or Workout Apps Features

Every fitness or workout apps must be leveraged with advanced features helping the users. The core objective behind the entire development process is to cater to the needs of the user. So the integration of several updated features with some fundamental development phases, you come up with a perfect fitness app.

 1. Selection of  Platform

Here, it is important to take the decision that which platform you want to use for your app. A choice between Android /iOS/ Windows platforms depends on the extent, quality, and the number of users. While the android application has major applicability, today, it is quite a rational strategy to choose cross-platform apps.

Gone are the days when you needed to cut your budgets or plan your platform with a cost cut. Here, the cross-platform app will make you able to extend your plans and reach to every platform user.

React Native, Kotlin Multiplatform, Flutter, etc are cross-platform app frameworks to develop a fitness or workout app for Android or iOS at the same time. It all happened by reusing much of the code. The cross-platform fitness or workout apps run on any platform that makes it more accessible.

The primary objective of the app has to be intact:

• What is the fitness or workout app USP?
• What mobile platforms do you need to cover?
• What is the relevant core user interest?

 2. User Registration

Here, the user registers to get their relevant searches or subscription. The user can register or sign in by using their social media accounts, mobile number, or email ID. Apart from the initial information for registering to the app, now the user can personalize their profile. By putting their age, weight, height, body nature, activity level, and relevant parameters. The given user info helps them to achieve their goals like a planned diet, workout plan or weight loss, etc.

Some important factors that need to be requested from the fitness app users:

• Tracking fitness goal progress achievements
• User wall
• Dietary Preferences
• Medical History
• Relevant Workouts

Not just a workout schedule, it is a planned and specific user-oriented workout plan. Once the user puts all their personal information then the app sorts every single relevant workout that keeps the user’s goal achievable. Now the question steps in, how the workout sessions plan?

The most usual way to provide a workout is the video stream but you can also use image-based instruction, still, relevancy works here to retain the users. The image-based workout plans come with voice instructions. By adding a highly user-oriented workout schedule and calendar, helps them to fulfill their fitness goals.

Don’t forget to add the following:

• Workout history
• Easy navigation
• Text to Speech API
• Workout calendar and Planner

Features that Could Make Your Fitness App

 3. Routes and Maps

Though workouts are directed after getting all relevant user details, other fitness activities are user regulated. Here, you need to provide the user a route and maps tracker. It helps them in tracking cycling, running, and other activity. The accuracy and compatibility of the app are also important.

The fitness or workout apps need to provide data actively to the users while doing or finishing the activity. The user finds it quite interesting and supporting with their fitness journey.

These are some functions you better add to your fitness app development:

• Map markers
• Track Pinned locations
• Key statistics about Distance, speed, calories, etc.

 4. Push Notifications

The timely notifications for the users make it much possible for them to achieve fitness goals.

Once the users select their workout schedule or session or follow any diet, it is quite helpful for them if get notified about it. It helps them to stay on track with their fitness progress.

Furthermore, you can notify the users about the new offers, memberships, tips, etc through push notifications. Here, it is also important to know that notification must not be irrelevant, untimely, and excessive. It makes the users irritate and eventually, they turned it off.

So notifications should not be excessively targeted, it must be relevant and timely. While developing fitness or workout apps you can consider the following tips:

• Responsive
• Customized notifications
• Notification log
• Integration with music streaming apps

The blend of music and workout has a deep impact on the fitness results. There is a deep connection between the mind and muscles while working out. The user always wants to have a simultaneous push or motivating music so that they can enjoy the workout.

Integration of fitness or workout apps with audio streaming apps would be a best favorite option. It makes it easy for the user to play their music through these apps and they need not switch between their workouts. You can integrate your app with Spotify, apple music, or other third-party music streaming services.

Here, how the integration of music streaming apps to your fitness or workouts app works:

• Customized workout music playlist
• Songs customized with tempo and heart pace
• Tracks performance
• Suggested Playlist or Songs

5. Diet Plan and Calories Count 

 It is also an important feature of your fitness app. To track meal planning and calories makes it the perfect way to follow their ultimate fitness goal. So, While developing a fitness or workout app or even in fitness trainer apps, you can’t negate the information about the calorie count, daily diet plan, diet plan customization, diet history, etc. Add everything that prefers the users’ goals, progress tracking, and timely and goal-oriented customization.

Every aspect of the diet plan is relevant and depends on the body of the users. With multiple details, it becomes easy for them to offer customized and user-specific plans and data.

6. Relevant Content

Consistent informative content to the users will help them in knowing the fitness journey. The information about how the diet works workout effects, the relationship between diet and exercise, medical issues a lot more. The irrelevancy of the facts, figures, or information lowers the probability of user retention and engagement. So before, putting the content on your fitness app, go through with every single detail you think is ready to be shared with your user base.

7. Live Streaming

A class streaming function for the fitness or workout apps would be a much relevant need. While developing the app you better know that people register to the app for their expected fitness results. So, you need to add a live-streaming function to it. It gives a perfect option for the trainers and users to follow fitness goals and prevent aimless workouts.

8. Technological Stack

Choosing the effective, potential, and trusted tech stack confirms the dedicated fitness app development. Here, it will affect different aspects of the fitness or workout app project. The Planned budget has already been there for the web app development project.

So the choice of technology decides numerous factors that may lead to the successful or irresponsive market for the app. So the choice among different technologies by on-demand app development would be affected by the pre-determined budget.

Tools For Development

• Signup: Amazon SNS, Amazon SES,
• Payment: Stripe, Braintree, etc
• Storage: Amazon S3
• Push Notification: FCM

9. Maintenance: 

Once your fitness or workout app is developed, it does not imply that the entire development phase has been completed. Your app needs proper maintenance consistently. Every new modification, change, glitch, etc would be possible through proper maintenance.

You will need to 

• Analysis of application usage
• Monitoring the in-app feedback and the user’s review
• Updating the app with an additional or rich user experience.

Cost of Developing a Fitness or Workout App in 2021

The cost of developing an MVP may cost you nearly $30000-$35000 for fitness app development. But still, it depends on the complexity and additional features of the app. For a fully-featured process to develop a fitness app, the entire development cost may cost you between $65000-$160000.

Here are some additional and highly competitive features that add extra money to your budget.

• AI/ML technology
• Video Streaming and Voice integration
• How about testing the application from the usability perspective?

Predicting the cost without considering the quality features of the fitness or workout app or fitness trainer app as well. It is one of the most complicated tasks several factors are deciding the fitness app development cost.

Takeaway

Though Covid-19 has accentuated the health concern among the people, it is not a transient shift. Since the increasing penetration of mobile in millennials, the trend for fitness or workout apps are kept increasing. It has also increased the heavy competition in the immature healthcare app developers market. There are larger opportunities for on-demand app development and commitment still there in the market.

A better mobile app development needed advanced features. So, no probability to have a compromise with competent technologies and cost. In the need to develop the best fitness or workout app, you are required to hire an android or iOS developer, being experienced, and having expertise. In the coming years, the extent of mobile app developmentwill be nurturing.