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The International Debate on Fitness App | Recent Innovation Trends and Opportunities

Global Outlook of Fitness App

 According to a news article published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016, 39% of adults aged 18 and above were overweight. The worldwide prevalence of obesity has tripled in last four decades. Availability of disposable income, lack of regular physical exercise and a calorie imbalance in diet are the fundamental inducers of poor health and obesity among adults globally. Improving manufacturing efficiencies in mobile device market has led to a decline in prices. Penetration of wearable devices among growing economies is also flourishing which is in-turn pushing the market for fitness apps. Moreover, plummeting cost of mobile internet prices in Asia-Pacific displays a huge consumer base availability for such apps to grow in this region. Globally the fitness app market is expected to reach USD 17.2 Billion by 2026. Currently activity tracking and calorie intake control apps dominate the fitness app market. North America and Europe houses some of the major players in this market. The Best Fitness Apps of 2020 Presently fitness tracking apps are focusing on tracking distance, relative pace, calories burnt and heart rate. Apps such as adidas Running caters motivational audio feedback during a run along with competitive leader boards. Strava, an American fitness app gamifies the entire cardio workout and provides running routes of users. C25K, another mobile fitness app that provides training plans which gradually develop a five-kilometer run. MapMyFitness an app acquired by Under Armour, Inc. in 2013 provides personalized feedback for every run performed by their user. The consumer base looking for accurate and extensive monitoring of the data obtained tend to use Garmin, another major player in fitness app market which removes the guesswork from an athletes training program and provides accurate data on sleep, appetite and energy levels of their user. This app also keeps a record of menstrual cycle for female athletes, thereby providing accurate data for workouts. However, the demand for wearable devices is increasing and it is estimated that the app developers would focus specifically to design apps for these wearable devices. There has been a significant increase in the apps which can be used on mobile devices and wearables simultaneously. For example, Nike Running app can be used on the smart watch as well as on the phone. What Next in Fitness App Industry? Android OS having the largest global market share followed by iOS cater the major deployment for fitness apps in this market. Some of the major apps operating in fitness apps market include Strava, Adidas Running, Fitbit, MapMyFitness, ASICS and MyfitnessPal 8Fit Workout & Meal Planner, Garmin Connect, Seven – 7 Minute Workout, Freeletics, Daily Yoga among others. The apps involved in this market are persistently improving their ergonomics and Introducing new features into their apps to cope up with the increasing competition and demand of the consumer.