I do not know if it qualifies as my favorite app of the year, but it is definitely the most app I have used this year. Cardiio measures your heart rate, and I’m worried about announcing that I’ve been using it every day for the past few months – usually more than once a day. You feel, like me, that it was the kind of year that made anxious hearts wave and even start a panic attack or three. If my heart feels like it’s bursting from my chest, I find it helpful to get a reality test (okay, 78 is higher than my normal but not ‘high’ in ‘let’s go to the ER’) while I take a break from all that stresses me out.
It’s sad that reviewing my wrist has become my relaxation technique, but let’s be honest – many of these years have been sad. You can upgrade to find out details like ‘potential life expectancy’ based on your average heart rate, but at this point it looks like a mere hubris. —Alice Bradley, Editor-in-Chief
iOS