If you’re looking for the best fitness app to download onto your Android phone, you’re probably sick of having people recommend to you Strava. The social run app is ubiquitous, but if you’re not keen to overshare your workouts or don’t base your personality around your weekly 5k jog, you’ll want something different.
Different is what you’ll find in this app. I’ve listed seven apps for runners, gym goers and general health buffs that will help you transform your workout or your fitness. Not all of these are by definition fitness apps, but I wanted to look outside the box to find you more interesting options.
None of these options have been plucked from the ether; they’re either ones I’ve used myself or ones originally recommended to me by other fitness users. So they’re tried and tested.
So let’s find you the next fitness app you’ll want to download onto your Android phone.
1. Google Fit / Health Connect
The most obvious entry for this list is Google Fit, or Google Health Connect as it’ll be called from July 2025.
This is a simple app for Android users that can do things like count your steps and calories burned, chart the exercises you’ve done and monitor your vitals. It’s best used alongside a fitness tracker but you don’t actually need one for it to work.
Lots of Google Fit’s workouts are done automatically, so it’ll track walks or runs you’ve done based solely on the bounce of your phone (though you can manually track a workout if you like).
Health Connect also lets you decide which of your apps can see parts of your fitness data so you can keep track of your health privacy if you’d like.
Google Fit is an app that’s more designed for casual step-counters than hardcore gym buffs, but it’s nice to have either way since it works in the background.
2. AllTrails
I’ve heard more people talk about AllTrails in a holiday context than a fitness one, but the app is useful for people who like the outdoors instead of dingy basement gyms and repetitive treadmill runs.
AllTrails is an outdoors app for hiking, running and cycling, with a large repository of routes.
Using a map, you can browse trails near you by distance, intensity, intended exercise (walk, run etc) and type of track, in order to find something for you. It even tells you conditions on the track based on weather.
And the app has plenty of options, largely because its annals are full of user-suggested routes. I’ve used it in some pretty remote places and never struggled to find somewhere to go, and if you’ll be away from internet you can download trails onto your phone.
AllTrails is really useful as a way to encourage you to get out into nature, and inspire you to go on a run or hike somewhere appealing.
3. Strong
The Google Play store is rife with running apps, but there are options for gym fans too. One of these is the Strong app.
Strong bills itself as being a digital version of a workout notebook, somewhere that you can log everything you did at the gym (or at home). Then, you can see stat overviews and breakdowns over time to see increases in reps, weights and iteration.
You can create workout templates if you want to try a new workout, or follow one you’ve made before to stick to formula.
Unlike some other gym apps, Strong doesn’t try and plan your workout for you, bombarding you with suggestions for weights your gym doesn’t have or has a long queue for. Instead it’s nice and simple as a way to stick to basics.
There is a monthly subscription to use Strong, but it’s a lot cheaper than the aforementioned planning apps. Its $4.99 per month or equivalent.
4. Map My Run
A really handy app for runners who get bored of doing the same route over and over again is Map My Run, owned by Under Armour.
Some readers may have used the Map My Run website, and the key function of this is it lets you plot new running routes. You can drop pins on a map to create a track, work out the distance, adjust legs and so on; it’s really useful for long-distance running and creating new running routes.
The app lets you access these routes on the fly, and also track your runs along them to see how well you did. Like most good running apps it can break down your journey into splits and measure time, elevation, cadence and more in each.
There’s also a social function which lets you browse routes nearby you, so if you don’t want to plan your own 10k you can use someone else’s. The app also has certain running drills, improvement programs and goal tracking functions.
5. Yuka
If you really care about your fitness, it’s not just about how you train your body but what you put into it, and that’s where Yuka comes in.
Yuka is a free health app that you might have already seen people use at grocery stores. You use it to scan barcodes of food and health products to see a breakdown of what’s actually in it.
This doesn’t just echo the health warnings on a box, though, but gives you a rigorous breakdown of what nasty additives are in a product. It also tells you of health benefits of the ingredients if you scan something healthy and can recommend you alternatives if it thinks something better is nearby.
The app has overall ratings of the health benefits of various products, and rankings for the best-rated ones per category.
Using this app you can do a grocery shop and make sure you’re buying the healthiest, or at least not the most unhealthy, version of a product — great for fitness-minded people who don’t want to pollute their body.
6. Runna
There have been a few running apps already on this list, and the final and most hardcore one is Runna. While it’s free to try, you’ll then have to pay a subscription at $19.99 / £15.99 after the initial week-long trial runs out.
Runna is an app that creates running plans for you — you simply tell it what kind of race or distance you’re aiming for (or another kind of fitness goal, like injury recovery or simple maintenance) and it’ll do the rest.
Then, every day, Runna will draft you a schedule of what kind of workout you need to do. Maybe it’ll schedule you in for a short speedy run, or a longer slower run, or a rest day, depending on what your schedule requires.
Like any good running app it’ll also measure your workouts to record them in one place. It also works alongside certain brands of smartwatch with built-in integration.
The pricing may put some people off but Runna is second-to-none for people who seriously want to improve their running.
7. Meetup
While it’s not by definition a fitness app, and may seem an unexpected pick for this list, Meetup is arguably one of best downloads for a specific sector of fitness fans.
If you haven’t heard of it, Meetup is a free social app that lets people host events for hobbies or tasks; think local book clubs, beer tasting groups or social hikers.
This list naturally includes lots of fitness-based activities like run clubs, badminton teams and yoga groups.
So if you’re interested in social fitness or want to find a community to work out, run or cycle with, it’s a great option and well worth a download.
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tom.bedford@futurenet.com (Tom Bedford)
