Each year countless new apps that are designed to help you track your diet are introduced to the App Store. But which ones are best? Today we are going to give you our top pick for best free tracking app and best paid tracking app in 2022. 

 

Let's get into it!

 

Best Free App for 2022: Foodnoms

Our favorite pick for free tracking app at the beginning of 2022 is a relatively new app called Foodnoms. This new app is advertised as a "Simple and privacy-focused MyFitnessPal alternative" and it is just that! Very much like MyFitnessPal, this tracking app is considered a "freemium" type app. That means you will get the basic functions for free, but you have to pay a monthly subscription for additional add-ons. But, we think you can use the app without a subscription and still be highly effective!

Here's what we loved about this app:

1. When setting up your goals, there are three "types": budget, target or range. For a budget, your goals are set up just like a money budget. It sets goals that you cannot go over. But the other two types were very interesting. The target option allows you to set a minimum goal. This is super useful if you want to track just your calories and make sure you get enough protein and we haven't seen this feature in another app! The range option is great too if you want to lose between a certain amount of weight per week or you want to set a range for maintenance calories!
2. Ability to quick add macros. We love this feature because it's as quick as looking up an ingredient in a food database. Plus, when you manually enter these three numbers, it will be more accurate than relying on someone else who may have entered in information incorrectly. You do have the ability to use the community database should you choose. 
3. Very intuitive and easy to read home screen. We've seen them all from overly simple to overly complex - but this app is a beautiful balance between the two. 
4. Connect your Health App to adjust calorie goal based on active energy burned. This is a cool feature that could help keep your progress more consistent. 
5. Meal time reminders. This is super useful if you are constantly forgetting to eat your meals and end up cramming all your food at the end of the day.

But with any app, there are some things we didn't like:

1. When you quick add macros it will not auto-calculate your calories for you. This is frustrating because if you enter the calories on the package, the company may have been using "net carbs" - which is a practice of subtracting calories from fiber (we don't like that). 
2. Simple add-ons like water tracking can only be done with the $4.99 subscription. 
3. This app is created by an independent developer. We worry that support long term may fade for the app - although it appears great at the moment of this article. 

 

Best Paid App for 2022: MyMacros+

We've talked about this app in the past and it is still holding the #1 spot for us for best paid app at the beginning of 2022. While this is a PAID app, it is a one-time $2.99 fee instead of a "freemium" type app. There are some additional features within the app that you can pay for including Macro Coach and MM+ Pro - each of which have their own benefits.

What we love about this app: 

1. Very easy to use "quick add" for macronutrients and it automatically calculates calories (not net calories).
2. A breeze to change goals. This is super useful if you regularly want to take diet breaks at maintenance calories or do high-low days. Once you have the goal set up, you can switch goals at any time with two clicks.
3. Free water tracking. This is super nice to ensure you are getting enough water throughout the day. 
4. My Circle - you can connect with an accountability buddy to make sure you are being honest with your diet. Or, you can use this to show your coach how you've been eating.
5. Bodyweight tracking is also available in the $2.99 fee for those who choose to use this metric for progress.
6. Good database - we've found that this database tends to be slightly more accurate than apps like MyFitnessPal. 

Things we didn't love about MyMacros+:

1. The recent foods section doesn't populate with "quick add" entries. In order to add a meal or recipe to track regularly, you have to manually enter it into your foods. Then it will appear in the recent foods section. 
2. Copying meals from previous days without the MM+ pro is a bit cumbersome.