The app has great user experience and I love the way it builds up and vibrates when you complete a goal. This is very rewarding and provides a great feedback loop, genius idea. The worst part about the app is that you get a free trial and THEN IT restricts your use.
Most other apps will start you off with limited features and allow you to upgrade to more features, not give you features and then limit you to just one unless you upgrade.
I don’t mind paying a one time fee, I don’t mind there being ads, but I bought the book and move it, I don’t think the app does enough to warrant $60/year! Seems like a bad habit to get into to pay $60 or more a year for a phone app. Especially if one of your habits you want to form is to spend less time on your phone or be better at budgeting.
After reading the book and finding it extremely helpful, I suppose my expectations for the app were too high. But yes… it’s objectively limited, expensive and doesn’t even truly matches the objective of the book. At some level if feels like the author is monetizing on his fame… good old capitalism, I guess.
So it’s expensive. VERY expensive. My mobile plan in Europe is cheaper than this app. Even Netflix is. And I don’t mind paying for something that’s worth it, but this app sure isn’t.
Take for example the habits you can track. Six! Yes… S.I.X. You want to cultivate a different habit each weekday? Nope…. You’ll be missing one day. The habit tracker template on JC website has almost 20 habits. And it’s free!
Moreover, the way habits are formulated are limited and incongruous with the book. They have to follow a format of “I’ll do X at Y, to become Z”. No Habit Stacking, no breaking a habit, no other cue managing, no nothing. You get that format and that’s all.
Besides that, the other functionalities, like the quotes and the community, feel so lacking and underdeveloped that I might be better off by asking a chatbot to motivate me.
Yes, it’s pretty and it welcomes you with shiny animations but how this app has a 4.8 stars review just baffles me. Go to Reddit and read the reviews, they’re as critical as mine, if not worse.
Updated review: App is working well for me, now that I’ve learnt how to log my habit after the day has passed and can see the calendar to further track my habit. I personally find it quite motivating to see my progress. I use the free version which suits my needs at this time.
I don’t always get to log in my habit right after I finish the habit because life gets busy. However, once a day has passed, there is no way to log that you actually completed the habit. This makes the tracker look inaccurate. Also, I wish I could see my habit in calendar style like Streaks does. The “calendar” shows up only when I log my habit and it only shows a week at a time. As such, it won’t help me review the past month for example to see if there is pattern (i.e. days I am more likely to miss my habit) which might indicate more about a failure of my process on that day compared to other days.
Developer Response
Hello, all these features are available in the app. Please visit the FAQs under the app’s profile page for more information about the app’s features. Hi my friend set this app up for me as I support many people in life changes as coach. He added two habits I do frequently and am incorporating into my life. I just opened it for the first time since he set it up and because I missed the intro it isn’t actually clear to me how this “logs” my action. Is it because I opened it? Do I touch something? I also can’t go back and add the last 10 days of the habit now that I am actually ready to engage with the app. I can go back one day - I am guessing this is intentional and makes sense- create the habit of using the app!
There could be more clarity or basic instruction which would capture people who may be tentative users at the go and need a reminder of how to do basic things to get them
Involved and going. I looked here on the App Store to see if there were instructions for this very basic part of using the app and I can’t find it. Hopefully I’ll take the time to come back tomorrow to see if I can figure it out - but that is a quick way to loose the very short attention span of most people. Thanks!!
Developer Response
Hello,
You can access the app's FAQs anytime by going to your profile page and tapping on FAQs. I am a huge fan of the Atomic Habits book. I have been hoping that James Clear would create his own app for years. His development team have made a good looking, intuitive and potentially helpful app. However, limiting users to only three habits is frankly a non-starter. I understand the thought behind setting fewer habits to increase your chance of success but many users have been employing James systems for years and want to be able to track more habits. And, quite frankly, the price for a subscription is way too high. This app is being priced at a similar price tag as things like Apple Music, and or video streaming platforms that will be used hours a day. those apps manage to make a profit, even though the cost that they must pay to content providers is immense and maintaining those platforms is incredibly complex and expensive. I understand the value to investing in yourself but, quite frankly, I can do more with a pencil and paper than this app allow me to do, and that would cost me nothing. I love the potential of this app, and will check back in the future to see if the price and feature set improve. I am hopeful that James will make this tool more accessible to average people by either lowering the subscription price or at least making it a one time purchase.
This is one of the simplest apps I have ever seen. You make a habit based of the book atomic habits and press a button every time you do it. Occasionally it will prompt you for your thoughts on progress. There’s a mindset section with quotes from the book too.
Fine. Then, if you want to have more than one button, you have to pay $10 a month. What? And even at that you’re limited to 6? If you’re argument is that you also basically get the book atomic habits with this app, then my counter argument is how much is the actual book? Oh - it’s a one time fee of $10, the one month subscription price of this app.
This app is a clear and blatant cash grab. It’s as simple as that. If the app costs $5 or even $10 for a lifetime license or download that’s different. The app is very nearly a single button, with some quotes from a book that was already written. All respect is gone for the author of the book who is clearly just in this for money.
I have been using Atoms for 36 days now. I really love it! Beautiful, and a pleasure to use, with parameters that make it easy to implement specifically James Clear’s methods.
My one problem is that I went on vacation and the app did not log some of my habits correctly because of the time change. Really disappointing that my count is off on my tracker now forever and I cannot change it, even though I contacted them and everything to see if they could change it for me. Hopefully in the future they will fix this issue…but for now I guess I will just have to settle for a blip in my track record.
This app is amazing and will not disappoint! This is by far better than any other habit tracker on the App Store and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to take control of their life, however, I did encounter a few major issues that prevented me from logging my habits.
First, when I log the habits, it should take me to a screen that shows me my streak and how many reps I have been putting in the past 7 days. But it just stands there and spins indefinitely. I close the app and try again, and to no avail.
Second, after finishing the trial period, you can only log one habit at a time, however, I get the “upgrade to pro” banner that appears after the first habit I log. I could click any unlogged habit and still get that banner. To solve this, I tried deleting all but one habit, however, the banner appears preventing me from deleting habits as well.
Developer Response
Hello,
Can you please go to the app's profile page and reach out to us by tapping on Help and support? We haven't noticed these issues and would like to help you. I gave the app two stars not because I had any problems using it, but because the Pro version is far too expensive for what you get. I had the app for two weeks and had access to the free Pro version trial for the two weeks I used the app.
A) If I want a reminder to practice a habit, I can just set a repeating calendar reminder on my phone (completely free). The app would need to have significant functionality beyond tracking a habit to be worth paying for the Pro version. Maybe I didn't use the app long enough to discover more functions, but it seems as though the only other useful functions the app provides are the ability to select an accountability partner, access to daily tips (see next comment), and a self-evaluation function.
B) All or most of the articles and tips included with the app can be found on Clear's website or in the Atomic Habits book. Yes, the app makes it easier and faster to access the information; however, having the information slightly more accessible is not saving me $120 a year.
I personally think that this app would only be worth paying around $25/year, based on how much my time is worth. Currently, the app seems to be catering to an elitist crowd.
Update: They went from 3 to 6 habits for pro at $100+/yr?! That’s your fix? Absolutely not. Deleted.
STOP THE PRESSES… this app was going to change my life, but I can only have a max of three habits?! At the $100/yr pro level!?! I’m HEARTBROKEN! We gotta figure this out friends because your ADHD girl needs help with basic habits—not just something I wanna “add to my routine” for funsies—I’m trying to start a healthy routine of many, many habits!! 😭💔 Original Review: PROS: I’ve only been using this app for two days (it just launched), but I can already tell it’s going to be a game changer in my life! Unlike other “productivity apps”, I can feel the science and teachings of Atomic Habits behind this. I can already feel it working. As a person with ADHD, the accountability partner area is genius! It gives a continuous “body doubling” aspect to the app to keep me motivated and connected with friends who also struggle with habits/getting things done! CONS/THOUGHTS: I know the app just launched, and it’s early days… but I’d love to see the widget enhanced. I wish we could give our habits a “shortcut name” to maybe fit better in the widget area? Right now I only have two habits, but I know I’ll be adding others. I’m hoping all of my habits will fit/display.
Developer Response
We are launching an update soon with more habits!
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