As the new year approaches, many of us are reminded of all the things we accomplished this year—getting a promotion, being more productive, or even showing up to places on time—as well as the things we didn’t. (There may or may not be a barely used folding WalkingPad gathering dust in my closet.) The month of January is just as great an excuse to start the year off right and improve your overall wellness.
According to a new poll of 1,000 US adult respondents, conducted by YouGov, the most common resolutions for 2024 are to save more money, improve physical health, and just be happier. Regardless of your decisions, there are hundreds of apps that can be great tools to help you achieve your goals.
We’ve put together a list of our top picks for you to try, from workout trackers and budgeting tools to book management apps and more.
Image Credits: Gola
It’s only right that you start this list with an app that can actually help you create and track your 2024 resolutions.
Aptly named, Gola is a custom goal tracking app where you can enter goals in a customizable template, see your progress on a graph, get reminders via notifications, and more. There’s also an AI mode that provides tips on how to complete your goals faster, as well as more than 20 templates if you can’t think of any goals, such as “read 12 books” and “try three new sports.” The app recently launched interactive widgets that let you update from the home screen and lock a fixed target so you can always see it.
Gola is free to download on iOS devices. It also offers an annual subscription for $2.99 to get unlimited goals and motivational tips, among other advanced settings.
Image Credits: PocketGuard
It can be difficult to keep track of your spending habits across multiple credit cards and bank accounts. For overspenders who struggle to save money, PocketGuard is a budgeting app that has an automated savings tool so you can regularly transfer money to linked bank accounts and offers a bill payment tracker, spreadsheets to see your transaction history and the ability to create a budget strategy. An “In My Pocket” feature tells you how much money you have.
PocketGuard is free to use. However, there’s also a $4.99 monthly premium version that lets you set as many savings goals and budget categories as you want, set up auto-recurring accounts, and more.
Image Credits: SmartGym
SmartGym is an AI-powered personal trainer that creates custom workout routines based on whether you have a gym membership or work out at home, what equipment is readily available, what areas you want to target, and how much time you want to spend each week. to achieve your fitness goals. The app also lets you see your weekly workout history, average heart rate, and how many calories you’ve burned.
The free version of SmartGym provides two routines, while the subscription ($59.99/year) gives you unlimited routines. The app has more than 130 pre-prepared workouts and more than 690 exercises.
Image Credits: AppBlock
It may seem ironic that you have to download an app to reduce screen time, but app blockers are actually a great way to limit the time you spend on social media or other apps that take over your life. Users aged 16 to 64 spent more than six hours per day on their phones in 2023, per Data Report.
AppBlock helps you reduce screen time by blocking apps you find distracting. You can set custom schedules for when apps are blocked to ensure you’re productive throughout the day. During these times, apps cannot open or interrupt you with notifications. You can also block specific websites or phrases in Safari. In addition, AppBlock offers parental control settings, “Strict Mode” and usage statistics.
Image Credits: Sunny side
If you’re looking to cut down on alcohol this year, Sunnyside is a helpful tool for learning new healthy drinking habits. The mindful drinking app offers a judgment-free zone to track the number of alcoholic drinks consumed per week, as well as send SMS reminders, get one-on-one coaching, chat with the Sunnyside community and more.
Sunnyside charges a pretty penny if you want to use the app — $99 a year — which means you have to be extremely dedicated to make it worth your money. There is also a 15-day trial.
Image Credits: Book
Let’s take a wild guess here and say that you probably read fewer books in 2023 than you expected. With Bookly, you can now set a yearly goal and stick to it thanks to a countdown feature, streaks, an in-app timer for daily reading sessions, and reading stats to see your total reading time, number of of pages read, reading speed and more. Bookly can also play background sounds while you read. Additionally, there is a notes section to jot down your thoughts on the book or jot down your favorite quotes.
Bookly offers a free version that lets you keep up to 10 titles in your collection. If you want to expand your collection (without deleting books), Bookly offers a $4.99 subscription.
