App Choice
Methodically choosing the best app for the purpose.
Once, writing a period tracking calendar into Numbers on my Mac, I thought that this should be a good topic to an iPhone app. Why: the only way to get such data is user entries, there should be some statistics and graphs and a possibility to plan the next period.
If this is a good topic, then there should be a bunch of such apps in appstore allready.
What do I need? I need a nice way to track period. Enter data easily, graphs of length of cycles, graph of length and strength of periods, some notes or place where I can write down medication taken, oh, and I need to sync all that with my MacBook - I should be able to enter data on iPhone and on MacBook and it should sync automatically. Id prefer not keeping such private data on a cloud, but just sync between devices I own.
What do I not need? Pregnancy calculators, "safe" sex calculators (calendar method? let me laugh on that).
Now Im going out to appstore to look for an app for these purposes. Id prefer to find just one - the one I need. Searching word "period" I found 136 apps… Too much to review even some are obvoiusly for another purposes, but half of it is too much, too.
Searching word "menstrual", there were 53 apps and almost all of them for the right purpose.
How to find the one I need not trying out (or not at least downloading and reading descriptions of) 50 apps?
They all must have a calendar. How about using "menstrual sync" for synchronization feature I need? 0 apps. Im getting pissed! "menstrual synchronization" - 0 apps. That search works just on 1 word. Very poor search I say!
I have no choice than go with the word "menstrual" and >50 apps. Oh, thanks, Apple :@
Ill try to download from the beginning of the list (most popular, that in no way means that better than those in the bottom of the list - of course they are more popular, because they are on top, and they gonna get more popular for the same reason). Ill read descriptions of those which by icons seem right and check for any synchronization option. These with no sync, I wont even try to download.
-iPeriod looks not very good, but best in appstore
-Free Menstrual Calendar lacks some features and just online sync, but its free
-My cycles is free, bud discarded because demanding OS version 3.1.3., I have a jailbroken 3.1.2. and not going to upgrade until iOS 4
- Period tracker Deluxe seems worth trying - rated with 4 stars, that is much for this kind of app
- Woman Calendar is 9,99, Im interested to see it, is it really sooo good;
-...
-Woman calendar. 9,99 for what? NONE usable chart!!! This is not the calendar to monitor my weight and height! I need period length and cycle length, you idiots. Im glad I didn't pay for the ap.
-Period tracker seems offering some good graphs, but I cannt get the idea on how to enter any data. And it crushed before i entered a piece. It offers to add notes and symptoms, not a menstrual calendar. I found the way of entering the first day of the cycle and it automatically without any notice or bleeding strength made the count of the days 4.
-Free Menstrual Calendar made me to register (not with my own name of course) and I got the temperature and weight charts again… And no way to export to my computer (csv, numbers e.t.c), even not from web.
Looked at all 50 descriptions and screenshots. NONE had graphs I'd like. NONE! The best I can get out of cycles are days of them and of period in a small table.
You can laugh now - that all makes Woman Calendar best (of available) for the purpose. There were couple equally good, but I was too lazy to download, if I can not get anything better than I already have.
It has no good graph, but it is fast and data can be exported.
