Do you want to create a fitness app? It’s a great idea! Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a global shift toward improving one’s health and well-being. It seems everyone is looking for a way to improve their performance, build healthier habits and work out at home.
Let’s dig into gym workout app development and what you need to consider to create a gym app of your own (based on Topflight Apps’ intensive experience).
What to Consider Before You Create a Fitness App
Health and fitness app development has taken off in recent years. According to recent reports, there are more than 350,000 health apps on the market. Not all of these apps will be successful, however.
The same report shows that more than 80% of these apps are only downloaded 5,000 times. Considering how expensive app development can be, as well as your revenue model, this probably won’t be enough to cover your developer costs, let alone marketing and other expenses.
It’s essential to do your research carefully so that you stay within a reasonable budget and deliver an app that appeals to the broader market.
How to create your own workout app (that really sells)
If you want to create a personal trainer fitness app, gym app, or home workout app, you have to do a lot of legwork and research. This will include the following:
1. Deciding on the type of app you want to launch
Exercise is highly personal. Some people love running and need an app that helps shave extra minutes off their marathon time. Others like working out in the gym and tracking their performance. Some people prefer working out at home to lose weight. Decide who you are targeting first. Stay-at-home moms? Professional athletes? The answer will determine your marketing efforts and the features your app should have.
2. Build the bare minimum features you need first
Now that you’ve decided who you’d like to target, you can start researching the features you will need so you can build your minimum viable product or MVP. It’s always a good idea to build an MVP with your core features before adding the “nice to haves.” For a fitness app, these features may include:
- Login and registration information
- Personal information, e.g., weight, height, age, goals, and gender
- Wearable device integration (if relevant)
- Activity summaries
- Tracking metrics
- Push notifications
- Exercises and instruction videos or yoga poses
The nice-to-haves may include social share buttons, water intake trackers, calorie counters, and more, depending on who you are targeting. You should also decide whether you want to develop an app for iPhone or Android users or both. This will influence the tools you use, as well as the length of time it takes to develop the app.
3. MVP testing
Now that you’ve built an MVP, you definitely need to spend some time testing the app with a few people in your target market. You can invite people to try it for free or host a focus group. During this session, your potential users can explain what they like or dislike about the app and which features you should add or take away. That way, you know what works and what appeals to your customers before you spend more money investing in the app. Once the MVP stage is done, you can go to Prototyping and flesh out the final designs and functions of the app. You may want to go into another round of testing after the prototype has been completed, depending on your budget.
4. Launch
Now you can launch your app across the various app stores and promote it to interested audiences. There will probably be a few teething issues and bugs, so keep an eye on these issues and respond to irate users to keep your positive star rating up. You may want to launch the app to a small percentage of users first and gradually scale up.
5. Maintenance
Your work isn’t done when the app has gone live! There will always be bug fixes, maintenance issues, and of course, new features to roll out.
Now you know how to create a fitness app! We hope to see your fitness app online soon.
Not enough information in this article? Learn more about workout app building here.
