Should I Build It Should I Build It
19 Apr 2025
Android Fitness Health & Fitness

An app for tracking workouts and making meal plans on android

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

You're entering a crowded market with your workout and meal plan tracking app for Android. We found 23 similar products, indicating high competition. The general engagement for these apps is low, with an average of 3 comments. While there isn't explicit negative feedback in terms of 'buy' or 'use' signals, the lack of positive signals also suggests that these apps often fail to capture significant user enthusiasm. Many existing solutions already offer similar functionalities, suggesting a lack of differentiation in the market. Users often express frustration with data entry and a lack of integration with other apps. Given this context, creating a successful app will be challenging without a unique selling point.

Recommendations

  1. Start by researching why existing workout and meal planning apps haven't fully satisfied users. Delve into user reviews and forums to identify common pain points and unmet needs. This will help you understand the current landscape and identify potential areas for differentiation.
  2. Instead of targeting everyone, focus on a specific niche within the fitness community, e.g., busy parents, vegan athletes, or individuals with specific dietary restrictions. Tailor your app's features and content to address their unique challenges and goals. For example, users of similar apps have requested home workout program integration and AI-driven workout suggestions based on past performance. Consider these when choosing a niche.
  3. Rather than building a standalone app, explore the possibility of creating tools or integrations for existing fitness platforms. This could involve developing workout routines, meal plans, or tracking features that enhance the functionality of popular apps. This way, you can leverage an existing user base.
  4. Since users are not fully satisfied with existing solutions, make sure to include a unique element into the app. Gamification, strong AI integration, a tight-knit community, or an advanced tracking mechanism may be enough to set the app apart.
  5. Before committing fully, validate your concept with a minimum viable product (MVP). Focus on the core features that address your target audience's most pressing needs. Gather user feedback and iterate based on their input. Consider that users have reported problems with inaccurate calorie estimations or difficulties locating specific ingredients when creating your MVP.
  6. Given the criticism around slow data entry in similar apps, prioritize a user-friendly interface and streamlined data input methods. Explore options like voice logging or integration with wearable devices to simplify the tracking process.
  7. Consider how you'll acquire users in a crowded market. Organic growth will be tough, so you may have to explore paid advertising, partnerships with fitness influencers, content marketing, or social media campaigns. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on marketing and promotion.

Questions

  1. What unique problem are you solving for users that isn't adequately addressed by existing workout and meal planning apps, and how will you validate that this problem resonates with your target audience?
  2. How will you differentiate your app from competitors in a way that creates a sustainable competitive advantage, considering the common criticisms around data entry, integration, and accuracy?
  3. What's your go-to-market strategy for acquiring users in a crowded market, and how will you measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts to ensure a positive return on investment?

Your are here

You're entering a crowded market with your workout and meal plan tracking app for Android. We found 23 similar products, indicating high competition. The general engagement for these apps is low, with an average of 3 comments. While there isn't explicit negative feedback in terms of 'buy' or 'use' signals, the lack of positive signals also suggests that these apps often fail to capture significant user enthusiasm. Many existing solutions already offer similar functionalities, suggesting a lack of differentiation in the market. Users often express frustration with data entry and a lack of integration with other apps. Given this context, creating a successful app will be challenging without a unique selling point.

Recommendations

  1. Start by researching why existing workout and meal planning apps haven't fully satisfied users. Delve into user reviews and forums to identify common pain points and unmet needs. This will help you understand the current landscape and identify potential areas for differentiation.
  2. Instead of targeting everyone, focus on a specific niche within the fitness community, e.g., busy parents, vegan athletes, or individuals with specific dietary restrictions. Tailor your app's features and content to address their unique challenges and goals. For example, users of similar apps have requested home workout program integration and AI-driven workout suggestions based on past performance. Consider these when choosing a niche.
  3. Rather than building a standalone app, explore the possibility of creating tools or integrations for existing fitness platforms. This could involve developing workout routines, meal plans, or tracking features that enhance the functionality of popular apps. This way, you can leverage an existing user base.
  4. Since users are not fully satisfied with existing solutions, make sure to include a unique element into the app. Gamification, strong AI integration, a tight-knit community, or an advanced tracking mechanism may be enough to set the app apart.
  5. Before committing fully, validate your concept with a minimum viable product (MVP). Focus on the core features that address your target audience's most pressing needs. Gather user feedback and iterate based on their input. Consider that users have reported problems with inaccurate calorie estimations or difficulties locating specific ingredients when creating your MVP.
  6. Given the criticism around slow data entry in similar apps, prioritize a user-friendly interface and streamlined data input methods. Explore options like voice logging or integration with wearable devices to simplify the tracking process.
  7. Consider how you'll acquire users in a crowded market. Organic growth will be tough, so you may have to explore paid advertising, partnerships with fitness influencers, content marketing, or social media campaigns. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on marketing and promotion.

Questions

  1. What unique problem are you solving for users that isn't adequately addressed by existing workout and meal planning apps, and how will you validate that this problem resonates with your target audience?
  2. How will you differentiate your app from competitors in a way that creates a sustainable competitive advantage, considering the common criticisms around data entry, integration, and accuracy?
  3. What's your go-to-market strategy for acquiring users in a crowded market, and how will you measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts to ensure a positive return on investment?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 23
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 3
  • Net use signal: 24.8%
    • Positive use signal: 26.7%
    • Negative use signal: 1.9%
  • Net buy signal: -1.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 1.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

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