iWatchr

Among the many iPhone applications available to assist users with health and fitness, there is a specific subset designed for the purpose of tracking the foods and calories we consume. iWatchr is one of these applications, specifically intended for users of the Weight Watchers® method. While this weight loss program has evolved over time, its mainstay has always been the calculating of food ‘points’ based on caloric, fat and fiber values and journaling these items daily.

iWatchr includes four primary functions:
1. A food point calculator, in US and European measurements
2. A food journal for logging daily input, with history
3. A ‘favorites’ section for easy recording of oft-repeated items into the food journal
4. An activity or bonus point calculator

For its intended audience, iWatchr works quite well. It allows for accurate food point calculations and recording in an easy to use, if somewhat utilitarian and inelegant manner. For example, there is currently no way to log points from the food calculator page directly into the food log, the way you can from the bonus calculator page.

iWatchr also has an optional icon badge which shows the number of points consumed; alternatively the choice to show the number of points remaining for the day would be a nice addition. It also has the ability to calculate and record point fractions or whole numbers. Each of these customizations can be added under iPhone settings on the springboard.

Other suggested and (hopefully) forthcoming improvements would be the ability to record other aspects of the Weight Watchers® program such as daily water, fruit and vegetable servings and an area to record the user’s weight and BMI. iWatchr is actively updated by its developer and I would expect improvements in the future.

Overall, iWatchr is a useful application for recording basic aspects of the points program. With a more elegant UI and a few more features it could be a home run. As it stands, it is one of the more complete point tracking and food journaling apps available for the iPhone.