We all want to build habits, but we also know how difficult it is to stick to them. So we resort to tools and strategies to help us run a consistent streak towards the goals we have set for ourselves.
Two of the most common—and most effective—tactics many people use are asking for their friends’ support and using habit tracking apps to help them track and maintain their progress.
The good thing is that social habit tracking apps do both; they allow your friends to support you while you track and maintain your habits.
How Friends Help You Stick to a Habit
Habits don’t just grow out of nowhere. It all begins with a cue that prompts the behavior. For example, the cue of flushing the toilet or blowing your nose cues you to wash your hand, while being in a stressed state might cue a self-soothing behavior to eat ice cream.
So what does it have to do with friends? People are one of the primary cues that trigger habits. Your brain picks up information from your environment, including your social environment, to inform your behavior.
This means that having a friend to work with towards a common goal cues your brain to kickstart the habit loop and motivates you to keep going.
Here are some social habit-tracking apps you can try with your friends.
1. Habit Tracker
Habit Tracker has a highly customizable interface that makes it easy to log and track your habits. The app has a list of preset habits you can select and modify, or you can create your own.
Compared to regular habit-tracking apps that only allow you to tick a habit based on the set frequency, Habit Tracker allows you to customize habit tracking by allowing you to select a unit, like calories (Cal), steps, meters (m), and more.
It also integrates with Apple Health, allowing you to sync the information gathered by your iPhone or Apple Watch directly to the app.
Download: Habit Tracker on iOS (Free, in-app purchase available)
2. Snap Habit
Snap Habit allows you to get a bird’s eye view of your progress by displaying all your habits in grid view. The app lets you set your habits daily, weekly, or only on specific days.
It also gives you a similar view for shared habits with your friends, allowing you to see your own and your friends’ progress side by side.
Like most habit-tracking apps, you can also chat within the app and send and receive invites for habit challenges from your friends.
What makes this app different is that it allows you to add photos with descriptions that can be seen by others or just you.
Aside from the habit tracker, the app provides you with guided content to help empower you on your journey or to begin a new one. The best part? It’s 100% free.
Download: Snap Habit on iOS | Android (Free)
3. HabitShare
HabitShare is another 100% free social habit tracking app that allows you to chat with your friends and send and receive invites to track each other’s progress. Like Snap Habit, it provides flexibility in creating your habit schedule by giving you the freedom to set it daily, weekly, or only on specific days.
A good feature of HabitShare is its privacy. HabitShare doesn’t notify your friends when you create a new habit, while Snap Habit informs all of your friends about the new habit you made and automatically invites them.
The downside with this app is that while you’ll be able to see your friend’s habit tracker, you won’t see it side by side with yours even if you have the same habit.
Download: HabitShare for iOS | Android (Free)
4. myRule
Unlike the apps listed here, myRule allows you to interact with users you do not personally know. It functions pretty much like social media apps, except that you can only post your habits.
Should you decide to make your habit public, other users—even strangers—can see your habit progress. They can like, follow, and subscribe to you through the app. You also have the option to share your day’s achievements on Twitter or through email.
The huge downside of this app is that it doesn’t allow customization. You cannot choose the days and specific times for your habit. It only gives you the option to track and record your habits by checking each day or inputting a numerical value per day.
Download: myRule for iOS | Android (Free)
5. Kin
Like myRule, Kin allows you to share your habits with a community of Kin users or keep them to yourself. If you want to look for like-minded people with the same goals, the app suggests users who do the same habit and sorts your feed based on your shared habits.
This means that you can see other people’s streaks, which can help you become more motivated. Unlike myRule, Kin allows you to chat with anyone as long as you’re following them.
Download: Kin for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchase and subscription available)
6. Keystone
Keystone is a funky social habit tracker that allows you to increase your level as you stick with your habits. You also get to earn a random emoji every time you accomplish a daily habit and use this emoji when commenting on your friends’ posts.
One cool feature that sets this app apart is the ability to create a challenge that you can send to your friends or anyone using the app. There’s also a dedicated section called Community Challenges to find challenges created by other users.
You can use this place to discover other people who have the same habits as you. You can send them a friend request so that you can view their progress and comment on their updates.
Download: Keystone for iOS (Free)
Let Your Friends Boost Your Streaks
With these habit trackers, you can have friends and strangers help you stick with your habits and boost your streaks.
You can even use some of these apps to network and build friendships with people on the same journey as you.