8 things to consider if you decide to build your own fitness app

Updated on July 13, 2022 by Editorial Team

8 things to consider if you decide to build your own fitness app

The fitness sector will hit market volumes of 20.5 million by 2023, and it will keep growing. There has never been a better time to create a fitness app, as millions of people are eager to live healthier and become more active. But before you can build your own fitness app, you need to look at the bigger picture. 

Things to consider before you create a fitness app

It may seem easy to create a personal trainer fitness app or workout app, but it’s not. You have to take a lot of different factors into consideration. Let’s look at how to create a workout app, or health app, by taking these important factors into account. 

1. Your monetization model

Before creating a gym app or other fitness app, you have to be clear on how you’ll make your money back. You can either sell the app itself, use in-app purchases, sponsored content, or a freemium model (where you offer a basic version or trial for free, with the option to upgrade). You can also use a combination of the different methods, but it’s important that your app isn’t constantly asking for more money in order to unlock additional functionality. 

2. Your features

Every fitness app needs basic features, including user profiles, notifications, social sharing, and more. Then you have nice-to-have features like gamification or videos. And, of course, you can get even more high-tech and integrate with smartwatches or other devices. Bear in mind that the more features you have, the more expensive your app will become. 

3. Your development team

You will need to hire an expert team specializing in ​​health and fitness app development. You can either hire an in-house team or an external team, but each has its own pros and cons. For example, an in-house worker will work the same hours as you, you can hand-pick your team, and you can retain them for a very long time. However, this is the most expensive route you can take, and you’ll spend months just interviewing and recruiting them. Most companies hire offshore teams that are ready to start work right away and leave when the contract is done. You don’t need to purchase equipment or hire an office for this route, and the agency will handle all of the admin and hiring for you, so it frees you up to focus on the business. 

4. Your platform

Are you launching your app for Android or iOS… or both? You’ll need Android or iOS developers and a backend developer specialized in whichever platform/operating system you choose. Most people choose cross-platform frameworks to speed up development and launch on both, but these developers are hard to find. 

5. Type of fitness app 

What type of fitness app do you want to build? You can choose between activity trackers, diet and nutrition apps, workouts and exercise, or specialist apps for yoga or sport, or walking. The type of app you choose will impact your features, which will impact your cost. It will also attract a different audience. You should also bear in mind that activity tracking apps will require user data and tracking, which means you need additional security and privacy measures to keep their data secure.

6. Development and budget

You’ll need to create a scope of work and project roadmap to properly plan your resources and build the MVP (minimum viable product) version of your app. This will also inform your budget. Don’t forget that you’ll need to keep developers onboard for maintenance and bug fixes and plan for marketing and promotion as well. 

7. UX and UI

If your app isn’t fun and user-friendly, it will fail. Plan to spend at least 160 hours on UX and UI development, and ensure you hire a skilled developer who understands mobile app design principles. 

8. Testing 

Don’t neglect to test! Testing your MVP with your target audience will give you an idea of the features that your customers love (or hate), so you can fix these issues before you spend money on marketing to a wider audience. 

Now you know everything you need to consider before you create a fitness app – all that’s left is to come up with your award-winning idea and get started! 

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    Editorial Team

    The Editorial Team at GoOnlineTools.com specializes in delivering cutting-edge information on technology.

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