Mini App Review: 1 Gallon a Day.
One of the things I’ve always chided myself about over the years is the fact that I don’t drink enough water. Worse still, when I do drink anything, it’s typically coffee and the occasional cocktail - both of which dehydrate you further. I’ve tried several different methods to drink more water - carrying around water bottles, setting repeatable timers, using counter apps to count the glasses I’ve drunk in a day - but none of these strategies stuck.
I always figured there was an app out there that could remind me periodically to drink a glass, all the while keeping track of just how much I’ve drunk during the day. To date though, I’ve never found one that I felt was worth my money or, more importantly, ongoing attention.
That all changed though when I stumbled upon 1 Gallon a Day, a clever iOS app by Mathias Nilles. 1 Gallon a Day does one thing and one thing only: it prompts you to drink periodically throughout your day, whilst keeping track of the volume of water you’ve ingested. In short, it was everything I needed!
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But the remarkable thing is, and it’s the reason I am writing this review, is that Nilles has created an app that makes the monotonous task of drinking glass after glass fun. With a colorful UI that is card based, you go into the app after being notified, swipe up on a card that fits the volume of water you just drank - small glass (8oz), large glass (16oz), or one bottle (32oz) - and tap the check mark. You are instantly greeted with a puff of colorful confetti and a progress ring that adds a bit more to the circle as you get closer to drinking your daily gallon of water.
It’s this delightful gamification that keeps you coming back too. You feel compelled to see that confetti fall and getting that ring to 100%! I’ve been using it for a week now and I feel great! The pace of the notifications won’t have you running to the bathroom all of the time and the tap targets in the UI are perfectly large enough that you can easily use the app one-handed while holding a glass or bottle of water with the other.
I’ve really enjoyed using it and it’s got me living a healthier lifestyle. Hopefully it’ll get you doing the same.
Here’s the link to it: 1 Gallon a Day
The free version will get you started in the right direction while an in app purchase gives you the following extra goodies:
