How to Make a Fitness App: A Product Owner Guide

If your company is in the business of providing health-related products or services, you may have considered developing a fitness app. After all, these mobile tools can be a great way to interact with your customers. At the same time, your fitness trainer app offers mobile tools to help improve diet or exercise, get timely health information, monitor chronic health conditions, and even provide educational content.

The fitness app market revenue in 2024 is $6.86 billion, expected to grow to $10.04 billion by 2028. So, the market is quite fruitful.

ProCoders will walk you through every step of developing a fitness app, from choosing a monetization model and app features to design and development. Welcome to our ultimate guide, based on our own experience in fitness application development!

Fitness Apps Market Overview

The global health and fitness mobile app market has witnessed significant growth in recent years, driven by the increasing adoption of smartphones and wearable devices, rising health awareness, and a growing focus on fitness and wellness among the general population. This market encompasses a diverse range of applications designed to help users monitor their physical activity, maintain healthy lifestyles, and achieve their fitness goals.

According to a report by Allied Market Research, the global fitness and health app market was valued at approximately $3.15 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $13.05 billion by 2027, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 21.6% from 2021 to 2027. 

The number of fitness-tracking app users has also been on the rise. According to Statista, the number of users in the eServices Fitness segment is projected to reach 353.2 million users by the end of 2023, up from 306.9 million users in 2021.

It’s no mystery then, why so many companies have been moving forward to fitness app development. 

Market Players:

Some of the key players in the global fitness apps market include Fitbit, Inc., MyFitnessPal, Inc., Nike, Inc., Under Armour, Inc., Runtastic GmbH, Adidas AG, Asics Corporation, Azumio, Inc., Garmin Ltd., and Google fit LLC. These companies are constantly investing in product development, partnerships, and acquisitions to expand their target audience and enhance user experience.

Key Market Trends:

At ProCoders, we know that it is really important to stay current in a fast-evolving industry. Let’s have a closer look at the main trends in fitness mobile app development:

• The rise of wearable devices: The increasing adoption of smartwatches and fitness bands has boosted the demand for wearable integration for fitness apps. Even the Apple watch can measure your heart rate, so you can build a monitoring app based on this info. As a result, many mobile app developers for hire are focusing on the creation of applications that can seamlessly integrate with various wearable devices to provide real-time feedback and data tracking.
• Gamification and social engagement: Fitness app developers are incorporating game-like elements and social media features into their applications to encourage user engagement, make training fun, and foster a sense of community among users. 
• Personalized user experience: AI and machine learning technologies are being utilized to deliver personalized workout plans, nutrition advice, and progress tracking based on individual user preferences and goals. It’s like having your trainer in your pocket all the time! 
• Virtual fitness classes: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of virtual fitness classes, with many gyms and fitness studios offering online sessions to their members. And we at ProCoders were part of the trend when we developed Dryft, an innovative health and wellness platform, that sought to offer a unique experience by providing fitness classes in scenic locations across major cities.

All in all, the fitness apps market is expected to continue its upward trajectory in the coming years, driven by technological advancements, the growing health consciousness among consumers, and the increasing popularity of wearable devices. But, to make your fitness app, you have to think about who is your target audience, what type of app you want to create, and in which part of this huge market you want to compete.

Types of Fitness and Workout Apps

When you create a fitness application, you can do far more than just gym workout app development. This can range from simple activity tracking, to actually delivering health advice or workouts through the mobile interface. Here ProCoders highlights just some of the most popular options that you may want to consider:

Activity Tracking Apps

These apps empower users to monitor their daily exercise and wellness routines. By leveraging smartphone sensors or wearable devices, these apps collect data on activities like walking, running, and cycling. They offer valuable insights such as distance covered, calories burned, and progress charts, fostering motivation and healthy habits. Ideal for fitness enthusiasts and beginners, activity-tracking apps promote a healthier lifestyle and help users achieve their personal fitness goals.

If you want to build a fitness tracker app, but don’t know where to start – contact ProCoders! We can start a Discovery Phase, during which we’ll consider all your requirements for the project and create a full development roadmap, that you can follow to stay within the budget and time.

Diet and Nutrition Apps

They help users manage their dietary intake and make healthier food choices. They offer features like meal planning, calorie counting, and nutrient tracking, providing insights into users’ eating habits. These apps often include extensive food databases, recipe suggestions, and personalized diet plans to accommodate individual needs and goals. By fostering awareness and encouraging better eating habits, diet, and nutrition apps play a vital role in supporting users on their journey toward improved health and well-being.

Companies that make a fitness app of this type should be prepared to offer a robust user community, as user support groups and the novelty of constantly changing options and recipes will help with user motivation. Gamification elements, scoreboards, or weight loss competitions should also be the key focus of diet planner app development.

Workout App

The workout plan app primarily delivers workouts, offering diverse exercise options beyond standard cardio or dance routines. You can enhance user engagement with gamification features like progress tracking, rewards, and social interaction. Create a workout app with unique experiences, such as VR-based exercises, outdoor adventures, or story-driven workouts, to motivate users and help your gym application stand out in the competitive fitness market. A dynamic, captivating workout app appeals to a wide audience and promotes fitness success.

Tip from ProCoders. To make a workout app with online classes and personal trainers you should be aware of one significant pitfall that not everyone knows – you will need not 1, but 2, or even 3 apps! Why? One for customers, one for trainers, and maybe you will also need one for administration purposes. So, keep this in mind!

Yoga and Meditation Apps

Yoga and meditation apps support mental and physical well-being through mindfulness, relaxation, and flexibility exercises. Featuring guided yoga sessions, meditation exercises, and breathing techniques, these apps cater to users of all levels. With various yoga styles, meditation-focused features, and detailed instructions, users can customize their practice. Progress tracking, personalized recommendations, and reminders help maintain consistency. Popular examples include Yoga Studio, Headspace, and Calm.

Features of a Fitness App

We already talked about the main features of different fitness app types above, but which features are common for all types of apps? Here is a table created by ProCoders:

Feature	Description
User Profiles	Personalized profiles storing age, gender, height, weight, fitness level, and workout preferences for tailored workout and nutrition plans.
Goal Setting	Users can set specific fitness goals and track their progress for motivation.
Progress Tracking & Analytics	Monitoring of workout and nutrition data over time, providing visual representations of progress, such as graphs and charts.
Social Features	Connection with friends, sharing achievements, participation in challenges, and joining communities for added motivation and support.
Gamification Elements	Incorporation of rewards, badges, and leaderboards to make the fitness journey more engaging and enjoyable.
Reminders & Notifications	Push notifications or reminders to encourage users to stay consistent with workouts, nutrition, and other healthy habits.
In-app Purchases & Subscription Plans	Offering premium features, content, and services through in-app purchases or subscription plans for additional revenue streams and enhanced user experiences.

10 Steps to Create a Fitness App

By following the steps ProCoders provide in this section, you can create a successful fitness app that meets the needs of your target audience, stands out in the market, and achieves your desired business objectives.

Step 1. Define Your App’s Purpose and Target Audience through Market Research

Identify the primary goals of your app, whether it’s targeting weight loss, muscle gain, or general fitness. Understand your target audience’s needs, preferences, and motivations to build a fitness app that caters to them effectively.

Analyze the competition, identify market gaps, and gather insights on the most popular and successful features in existing fitness apps. This will help you create a unique value proposition and differentiate your app from competitors.

Step 2. Plan the App’s Features

Based on your research and target audience, decide on the essential features to include in your app, such as workout libraries, personalized plans, activity tracking, nutrition tracking, progress analytics, social features, and gamification elements.

Step 3. Choose the Right Technology Stack

Select the appropriate technologies, frameworks, and tools for app development, considering factors such as cross-platform compatibility, scalability, and maintainability.

• The framework—do you want to use JavaScript-driven React Native, Dart-driven Flutter, or some other cross-platform framework? Determine this upfront.
• Integrations—does your app need to integrate third party API or be compiled with social media platforms like Facebook? What services and software you choose will have a significant impact on those integrations, so do your research.
• Payment systems—How will users pay for the services they get in-app? If you have vendors, like fitness instructors, who get paid per click or download, how will they be compensated? How will you accept payment for sponsored ads? The software solutions you choose will have a significant impact on this.

Step 4. Create a User-Friendly Fitness App UI/UX Design

Design an intuitive, visually appealing, and easy-to-navigate user interface that enhances the user experience. Ensure that the app is accessible and inclusive for users of various fitness levels and abilities.

Step 5. Assembling a Team

When choosing the right team, you have several options to consider:

• In-house team: Hiring an in-house development team allows for direct communication, control over the development process, and a deep understanding of your project. However, it can be time-consuming and costly to recruit, train, and maintain a team of skilled developers.
• Offshore dedicated development team: Partnering with an outstaffing company to hire a dedicated development team can save time and reduce costs while providing access to a diverse pool of skilled professionals. This option offers flexibility, as you can scale the team according to your project’s needs. It also ensures that the offshore team is committed to your project, understands your goals, and adheres to your timelines.
• Freelancers: While freelancers can offer specialized skills at a lower cost, they may lack the commitment and availability for long-term projects. Communication and project management can also be challenging, leading to potential delays and inconsistencies in the final product.
• Hiring agencies: Traditional hiring agencies can help find skilled developers, but the process can be time-consuming and expensive. Additionally, agencies may not fully understand your project’s needs, leading to a mismatch in talent and project requirements.

Step 6. Develop an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

Create a simplified version of your fitness app, focusing on core features and functionality. An MVP allows you to test your app’s concept with real users, gather feedback, and validate its market potential before investing further time and resources into development.

Step 7. Develop an App

Based on the user’s feedback from the previous step, you can now create a more complex app with all the features you initially planned.

Step 8. Test the App

Conduct thorough testing during the process of building a fitness application to check its functionality, usability, and performance to identify and fix any issues or bugs. Use a combination of manual and automated testing, and consider beta testing with real users to gather valuable feedback.

Step 9. Launch, Market, and Promote the App

Release your app on the appropriate app stores (Google Play Store, Apple App Store), ensuring that you follow their guidelines and requirements. Optimize your app store listing with relevant keywords, compelling descriptions, and attractive visuals to improve visibility and downloads.

Develop and execute a marketing strategy to create awareness and drive user acquisition. Utilize social media, influencer partnerships, content marketing, and app store optimization (ASO) techniques to reach your target audience and encourage downloads.

Step 10. Monitor Performance and User Feedback

Continuously track app usage, user feedback, and app store ratings to identify areas for improvement and opportunities for growth. Update and enhance your app based on user feedback and market trends to maintain user engagement and satisfaction.

If you have a feeling you may not handle any of these steps, you can always reach ProCoders for help. We can pick up your project at any stage and continue the work for you! We only hire app developers who are high professionals, and some of them already have experience with fitness app development for weight loss, you can expect a thorough and custom approach to your project. Contact us today, and we’ll see what we can do for you!

Breakdown of Fitness App Development Cost

When you consider how to create a fitness app, how to create a yoga app, or how to create a meditation app, the first order of business is figuring out the costs. If you’ve had a chance to think through your needs, then you have a solid base upon which to build a budget with your development team.

The easiest path is to hire an outside development team that can handle the entirety of the project, from beginning to end. 

Developers from the US and Australia charge an average of $110/hour. In Western Europe, costs can run from $80/hour. And in Central Europe, developers can be hired for $50/hour. So, hiring developers from a Central European country like Croatia or Albania can cut your costs in half.

Keep in mind that, also, that some tasks will not need the highest-paid developers and programmers, junior developers can handle them as well.

The number of hours needed to develop your app will vary widely. However, we’ve generally found that these industry averages hold true.

Phases	Estimation in hours
Technical documentation	80+ hours
Design	160+ hours
Development	800+ hours
Project Management	240+ hours
Quality Assurance	280+ hours

So you can use this table to rudely calculate the cost of developing a fitness app, just multiply the hours by the developer’s salary in the region you want to hire from. But these estimations will be inaccurate.

If you want to have a more precise budget and even a development plan, you can contact ProCoders to do just that. Our Discovery Phase is the service we created to help startups achieve a clear vision of their development strategy. We also know where and how to cut corners and still achieve the results you desire. Contact us and have a free consultation about your project today!

How is a Fitness App Monetized?

Understanding how to monetize a fitness app effectively is crucial for its long-term success and profitability. In this section, we’ll explore the most popular strategies to generate revenue from your fitness app:

Monetization Strategy	Description
In-app advertisements	Display ads within your app, either as banner ads or interstitial ads, generating revenue based on impressions or clicks.
In-app purchases for fitness apps	Offer additional features, premium content, or virtual goods that users can buy directly within the app.
Subscription-based model	Provide users access to exclusive content, ad-free experiences, or advanced features through a recurring subscription fee.
Sponsored content	Collaborate with fitness brands, equipment manufacturers, or health companies to promote their products or services within your app in exchange for a sponsorship fee.
Freemium model	Offer a free version of your app with basic features and a paid version with advanced features, encouraging users to upgrade for an enhanced experience.
One-time purchase	Charge users a one-time fee to download and access your fitness app and all its features.

Outsource Fitness App Development: ProCoders Experience

At ProCoders, we have experience developing an innovative fitness app project called Dryft, which allows users to book diverse fitness classes at unique and dynamic locations that change daily. The ambitious idea, presented by a non-technical founder, required a dedicated development team that could efficiently create a cross-platform app for both mobile devices and desktops.

Dryft’s app needed to offer extensive capabilities for both individual fitness instructors and their students, providing a seamless platform for promotional content, class booking, royalty payments, and more. ProCoders took on the challenge, beginning with a comprehensive Discovery Phase to refine the scope of work, evaluate the best tools and platforms, and plan the project’s execution.

After a four-week Discovery Phase, Dryft was so impressed with ProCoders’ approach that they hired us to code and assemble the app. ProCoders collaborated closely with Dryft’s UX/UI designers to create a user-friendly experience, with daily progress updates ensuring transparent communication throughout the project. After thoroughly analyzing the project parameters during the research phase, we went with Angular 8 and the Ionic framework. 

The result was a groundbreaking app that combined booking, search, and payment functions, while also integrating with ride-sharing services like Lyft and Scoop for effortless transportation to classes. Users could even follow other users and share their fitness journey with friends, encouraging engagement and motivation.

ProCoders’ unique approach and cross-platform development strategy led to a 40% reduction in costs and the fact that Angular 8 and Ionic both use the same code base allowed us to reduce development time by 35 percent, from five to three months. And because of this alignment, changes that need to be made in the future can be done faster, and more inexpensively, too. By assembling a qualified, vetted team quickly and using offshore software engineers, Dryft saved about 50% in comparison to hiring a California-based team.

“ProCoders has been the best development firm I’ve worked with. Despite there being a time zone difference, they’re able to deal with urgent issues. If we notice there’s a bug, someone on their team is always available to provide a solution. They’re excellent”

Nathaniel Jewell

CEO at Dryft

Product Owner Checklist to Lead the Fitness App Development: Tips for Remote and Hybrid Workflow

• Define your fitness app vision and objectives:
  • Clearly articulate the main purpose and goals of the app
  • Identify target audience and user personas
  • Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success
• Conduct market research:
  • Analyze competitors and identify their strengths and weaknesses
  • Determine market gaps and opportunities
  • Understand user needs and preferences
• Develop a comprehensive project plan:
  • Outline project scope, timeline, and milestones
  • Allocate resources and budget
  • Create a risk management strategy
• Assemble the development team:
  • Choose between in-house, outstaffing, or freelance developers
  • Define roles and responsibilities for each team member
  • Establish communication channels and protocols
• Prioritize features and functionality:
  • Create a list of must-have and nice-to-have features
  • Use user feedback and market research to guide decisions
  • Implement a minimum viable product (MVP) approach to prioritize development efforts
• Develop a user-centered design strategy:
  • Incorporate UX/UI best practices
  • Create wireframes and mockups
  • Conduct usability testing and iterate based on feedback
• Establish an efficient remote or hybrid workflow:
  • Implement project management tools (e.g., Trello, Asana)
  • Schedule regular team meetings and status updates
  • Encourage clear, concise, and timely communication
• Manage development sprints and iterations:
  • Define sprint goals and timelines
  • Monitor progress and address any roadblocks
  • Conduct regular sprint reviews and retrospectives
• Test, optimize, and launch the fitness app:
  • Perform thorough quality assurance (QA) testing
  • Optimize app performance and user experience
  • Develop a launch strategy, including marketing efforts
• Gather user feedback and continuously improve the app:
  • Monitor user reviews and feedback
  • Analyze app usage data and KPIs
  • Plan and implement regular app updates and feature enhancements

Conclusion

The key to good fitness app development for mental health or another goal is proper research and planning. If you understand your market, carefully think through your needs, hire the right team, and make sure they’re fully resourced, your chances of developing a great fitness app will go up significantly.Here at ProCoders, we have all the development and design resources you need to create a fitness app, from beginning to end. Or, our developers can work together with your in-house team to provide only the extra support you need. No matter how you’d prefer to work, or which kind of health and wellness app you want to create (maybe, you want to know how to develop a women’s health tracking application or develop a healthcare app) we’d love to talk to you about your next project. Contact us today for a free consultation!