Cover Several apps include yoga exercises and podcasts that emphasise body positivity for female audiences (Photo: Getty Images)

Period tracking apps are great and very necessary for some, but there are other apps that bring women’s mental, social and physical wellbeing to their fingertips

Throughout history, there have been discrimination, injustices and stigmas that specifically targeted women; many of which persist today. However, with advances in technology there have also been noticeable advancements in the field of women’s health and wellness in recent  years—and many can literally be in the palm of your hand. 

Countless apps have been created to make the challenging parts of womanhood easier to manage, and these apps fall under what’s known as “femtech”: the use of technology and data analysis in designing products and services geared towards improving female health and wellbeing. “Femtech” was coined by Ida Tin, the founder of period tracking app Clue, in 2016 and today it covers apps that collectively prioritise the wellbeing of women. From tracking fertility and menstrual cycles to helping women explore their sexuality, femtech apps have proven their worth in how they can help improve women’s everyday lives.

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For reproductive health

Using apps to track menstrual and ovulation cycles have become relatively common, but apps such as Clue take things further by providing additional features such as Irregular Cycles tracker, which allows those with periods take note of aberrations in their monthly cycle, one of the symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). By helping women keep track of what’s normal and abnormal with their cycles, this allows them to seek help as soon as possible if there are any concerning irregularities. What is that saying? Knowledge is power. And power is agency.

For mothers-to-be

Each pregnancy can be different, so both first-time and experienced mothers can benefit from using pregnancy apps such as Ovia Pregnancy & Baby Tracker and What to Expect which suggest healthy diet plans, track foetal movement and body changes, and have built-in notification function for reminders of doctors’ appointments, medication times, and so on.

For new mothers

New parents know how hard it is sometimes to get their babies to fall asleep. With Sleepy Sounds, new mums—and dads—can use their mobiles to play lullabies, nature sounds, white noise or even your own recorded voice on a loop to help your little one relax and drift off to sleep. With luck, this will give you the breather you need to get a power nap.

For wellness and mental health

From skin consultations and sleeping aids to productivity enhancement and mindfulness, there is quite literally an app for every need. While most of these can cater to all genders, they also have categories that are specifically female-focused. For example, the My Possible Self app has yoga exercises and podcasts that emphasise self-love and body positivity for female audiences. 

There are also holistic health apps that are specifically targeted towards women, such as Exhale - BIWOC Well-Being, which is an emotional wellness app designed by black, indigenous and women of colour (BIWOC) for those in that same community. It offers BIWOC individuals “soul medicine”: practices that help them “let go of all that isn't serving you and breathe in life, energy, healing, and love”.

For community and connection

In the real world, female wellbeing and empowerment are an ongoing battle. Women’s needs are often neglected or stigmatised, and those who speak up often find themselves silenced, ignored or attacked. Luckily, there are apps that help circumnavigate the culture of dismissing women and offer them a safe space in which to connect, communicate and be heard.

Take, for example, Peanut App: Find Mum Friend, which isn’t just for mothers, despite its name. It is a social networking app that connects “women throughout all stages of womanhood: fertility, pregnancy, motherhood or menopause”. Peanut connects you to like-minded women in your vicinity, even if you aren’t in any of the above-mentioned life stages, and nurtures a feeling of community through discussion forums and live audio discussions hosted by experts.

For a treat

Okay, so luxury travel isn’t and shouldn’t be just for women, but for all the gender-specific prejudices and challenges women face, we definitely deserve to treat ourselves to the best occasionally and have that process be made as convenient as possible. Membership-based hotel reservation app HoteLux—which launched in Hong Kong last month—offers a well-curated and unmatched selection of the world’s most desirable luxury hotels, as well as instant access to the best available offers. While it’s not exclusively for women, some of its features, such as hotel credits for spa treatments, will certainly be loved by many women.

For sexual health

No conversation around empowerment can be complete without acknowledging the importance of sexual needs, desires and fulfilment. And while there’s still considerable taboo associated with women’s sexuality, certain apps allow them to explore female pleasure sans the shame. For instance, the Lioness: Sexual Health Tracker app, paired with the Lioness massager, lets users track the intensity and duration of their orgasms, so that this data can improve practice—and of course, practice makes perfect.

Meanwhile, dating app HER connects more than ten million people in the LGBTQ+ community. According to the description on Apple App store, it’s an app “built by queers for queers”, and it provides a safe dating and chatting platform for queer women, lesbian, bi, nonbinary, trans, and gender nonconforming people from all over the world.

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