Android App Reviews: Mood Trackers

 So, since I have bipolar disorder it seems only appropriate that I review some mood tracker apps and see how they compare. I have an obsession with finding the best apps for things, so this ought to be fun.

First, we will start with the obvious one.

Daylio: This is probably the most popular mood app. But not only does it track your mood, it tracks your habits, activities, goals, let's you add text and a picture, and has a lot of stats and interesting insights into your moods. It can help determine patterns based on your mood + activities. This app pretty much has everything you need in the free version, but the paid version (subscription) gives you extra features you might like, such as No ads, auto-backup, unlimited goals, export your entries, etc. I have used this app for years as my main tracker. 

 

Bearable: This one has so many things to track it actually became overwhelming, however it is fortunate you can change your home screen to only show you certain things that you want to track. It lets you rate your mood many times throughout the day, mark your symptoms, rate energy levels, productivity, social live, and even, yes, your bowel movements. This is the most comprehensive app you can get for mood tracking. The user interface is very pleasing to use and look at. I have used this app for a while in the past but then I found I didn't have time to track all the things that I wanted to, and didn't want any inconsistencies in my reporting. But overall a "beary" good app. See what I did there?

 

Pixels: This app shows your stats in colored pixels. You can explore the pixels using score, tags, text. You can therefore find patterns in your moods. You can change the colors of your pixels. The opening screen is a plea for a cup of coffee (a donation) but don't let that confuse you, you can still access the app by the icons on the bottom. 

 

Moodflow: This app has a beautiful interface as well. You can track your mood and activities, and it has a calendar view that will show you your patterns. You can find personal insights such as relationships, and "correlations" with social interactions. This app gives you a lot of information but I didn't find it difficult to find time to track. You can lock it with a PIN too, in case you need privacy. I like this app, I feel it is very well done. 

 

eMoods: This one says it is for Bipolar, but I bet you could use it for any mental health purposes. You can choose your amount of sleep, your moods and extremes, anxiety, map your psychosis, and register if you had talk therapy in that day. There is a helpful calendar view, and a whole shit ton of graphs and charts to show you your patterns. This one would be most helpful for you to share with your doctor, I would think. In terms of UI, it is ok nothing special. Not a complicated app by any means, but helpful.

 

 The winner is a tie! Daylio and Moodflow were the best ones out of these 5 that were sampled. Give them a try and see how they work for you!

I also use one on my Android phone called EvenMind which is a simple graph/scale that you drag to indicate your mood and energy. It however, don't seem to exist on the Playstore anymore, and I haven't had any updates to it in about a year so I guess it doesn't exist.