I think that when we want to have an app for something, the best app is no app. Or, at least the standard app that’s already downloaded to your phone anyway. Our devices usually have too many things installed. And thus, if you are an iPhone owner who is exploring mood trackers, Apple Health seems like a good option to start with.
Daily Usage
Mood tracking feature is available right in the standard Health app. In order to start using it, just go to Browse and find Mental Wellbeing category. Tap the State of Mind section and you will see the screen where you can log your emotions or moods.
It’s important to notice that Apple deliberately separates these. So every time you tap Log, you are offered to choose if you want to log an emotion you’re feeling right now, or a mood which highlights your whole day. Then, in the next few screens, the app offers you to describe your emotion more precisely and mark the associated factors or activities. You can also write a text comment if you wish. Unfortunately, there are no customization options for related activities.
In my opinion, this is the biggest downside of the app for people who want to have a full understanding of how the world around affects their mental state. The number of impact factors is so small that it seems you either won’t use them at all, or will consider another app.
The app provides a way to set up a reminder to enter your mood periodically during the day or once in the evening, whichever suits you best.
Statistics
However, there is also a strong side in the application. And it’s integration with the Health app and various statistics from it. So you can easily see how different parameters that your phone tracks relate to your emotions and moods. Maybe you feel better when you spend an hour or so in a gym, or maybe you will notice that a little more sunlight makes you happy:). As these things are tracked by your phone or Apple Watch, the data is reliable and you don’t need to think about logging it at all!
In my opinion, it’s a huge advantage over any other app where you need to separately track particular activities. You probably won’t do manual activity logging every time.
Additional Features
In addition to the features described above, the app also contains useful articles and questionnaires about mental health. It also explains in details how emotions differ from moods and how finding associated factors helps us to care about ourselves.
You can read more about using the app on the Apple website: https://support.apple.com/en-us/105000
Conclusion
Overall, Apple Health is a good basic option for tracking emotions and moods in case you don’t need impact factors customization. The app is available right away on any iPhone, there is no need to download anything else. It also automatically links your emotions and moods with fitness data. I’m also very confident in Apple’s stance on user privacy. And even if they change it in the future, the public outcry will definitely reach you and you’ll be able to delete your data if you feel like it.
On the downside, the app doesn’t have different charts to analyze the data and doesn’t provide actionable insights. It also locks you into the Apple ecosystem, i.e. if you want to buy an Android phone next, you will need to use some other app instead. However, I definitely recommend to check it out and at least read the articles provided.
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