Get on track

Fed up of second-guessing when your next period will start, when to try for a baby, or when to be doubly careful with contraception? Own your body with the latest period tracking apps. BY JO UPCRAFT

Portrait of Tammy Strobel

Fed up of second-guessing when your next period will start, when to try for a baby, or when to be doubly careful with contraception? Own your body with the latest period tracking apps. BY JO UPCRAFT

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WHAT IT DOES
If you were like me, you spent your childhood ignoring any information given about menstruation, preferring instead to believe that you will be the miraculous exception to the female race and not suffer periods at all. Ever.

And then signs of your menses set it and, suddenly, you’re battling PMT, pain and the need for unfeasibly large amounts of chocolate. Worse than this is the stress of wondering when your period is actually going to arrive.

It may be called the monthly cycle, but your body doesn’t always stick to the rules of regularity.

Period tracking apps can help predict your next menses, how far apart cycles may be, and warn you when your period is late.

They can also help you monitor your emotions and energy levels in order to help you feel more in control of your body.

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GLOW Free, from Apple App Store and Google Play
Glow gets straight to the point, asking whether you want to avoid pregnancy, conceive or need assistance with managing your fertility meds or IVF treatment. It’s not shy with its questions either, probing for details on your contraceptive method, how long you’ve been trying to conceive, whether you have children, and so on.

Plus, it wants all the details of your sex life: What position were you in when your husband last ejaculated? Did you have an orgasm? Did you check your cervical mucus (CM) by sticking a finger inside of you?

Glow reveals your chances of conception in percentage form every day, gives tips on when to eat well, and pamper and indulge yourself. It feels more like a health app than a period tracker, with its daily well-being and sex tips, a public forum, and a section for men so the hubs can join the journey with you.

VERDICT Good for those trying to get pregnant – it’s simple, easy to navigate, and I loved how detailed it is.

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MY DAYS Free, from Apple App Store and Google Play
There is too much emphasis on the design interface, with you being able to choose colours and gradients. Once you pass the shading and toning, you can get down to filling in your information, which is easy.

Along with the usual questioning, My Days will ask you to gauge your percentage of happiness, plus everything else you may be feeling, from heartburn to the hiccups and nausea to headaches.

The chat room is very informative. Being able to back up data and send updates to Dropbox is helpful, too. Yet the tracker only instantly reveals how long until your next period, when you're ovulating and where you are in your cycle. I had to dig harder to discover more, which I didn’t always have time to do.

VERDICT Reasonably helpful as a period tracker.

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CLUE: PERIOD & PMS TRACKER Free, from Apple App Store and Google Play
This is a good-looking app. For starters, there are no stereotypical sugary pink colours in sight. The design is clean and simple, which makes it straightforward to get to grips with.

After keying in details regarding my previous period, fluid and pain levels, I could choose various formats to store the information, like on a calendar, in a circle or by timeline. I chose the circle design. You can see your monthly pattern clearly, with the key part being the exact days you’re most fertile.

The more input, the smarter the app becomes, so if you remember to fill in details about your mood, sex drive, energy levels and bedroom action, the more information it gives back, complete with medical and scientific references. After one cycle, it reminds you when your period is due.

VERDICT Perfect for predicting your periods and knowing your body better without a science overload.

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KINDARA FERTILITY TRACKER Free, from Apple App Store and Google Play
This menstrual monitor gives you the option of four calendar designs and questions that are easily plotted on the screen after answering. You can even convert your cycle to a colour-coded graph afterwards. Once completed, you can get down to the nitty-gritty, including discovering that your basal temperature is everything.

The Kindara online community is a fantastic support group if you’re trying to conceive, as you can share your chart with fellow users. However, I didn’t really care about other users’ cervical mucus, although some participants definitely did, offering comments such as ‘Wow! You have a great shift on CD16. And a nice luteal phase, too!’

This app sends notifications to check your breasts, and cervix positioning, fluid and temperature on a daily basis. Kindara founder Katy Bicknell also uploads self-help videos, making it a super interactive platform. It’s excellently executed, but the downside is that it could also become unnecessarily complicated.

VERDICT Want to conceive? This is the perfect app, but be prepared to put in the hard work – and we don’t mean having sex!

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PERIOD TRACKER LITE Free, from Apple App Store and Google Play
Initially, I was uneasy with the uber-feminine interface – illustrated trees, butterflies and flowers are too twee for me. The other apps have clear signposting on how to set yourself up, but this can be confusing and leave you unsure of where to begin.

The calendar looks simple, but keying in basic information about intentions, height, weight, BMI, energy levels, moods, symptoms, and intimacy can be a hassle. Half of the screen is also left blank to write notes as you move through the month.

In my case, I didn’t know what to write, and didn’t have the time. Also, it would have been better for the app to tell me when I could be legitimately grumpy and why my skin was so blotchy, instead of me telling myself stuff.

VERDICT Great if you have the dedication to explore the technology in order to get the best out of it.