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Fabulous Self Care app

An app to help you build healthy behaviours and habits.

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Fabulous Self Care app	By Fabulous
	Features Reminders. Personalised letters.
Clinical review	Free version: Paid version: Read a clinical review below.
Security and privacy	Does the app: Collect medical information? No Require a login? Yes Have password protection? Yes Have a privacy policy? Yes Require internet access to use? Yes Read more about safety and security when using apps. Brochures: Tips to improve your privacy and security [PDF, 65 KB] Healthify He Puna Waiora, NZ Staying safe online(external link) Netsafe, NZ
Cost	Free trial (basic); paid upgrade
How to get the app	(external link) (external link) (external link)

The Fabulous Self Care app motivates users to change their habits or behaviour by developing routines. For example, if you want to get into the habit of drinking more water, this habit may be in your morning ritual. In order to develop these new habits, you will receive challenges. These challenges will tell you to complete a habit a certain amount of times in a certain time frame to complete the challenge.

The app has 4 choices: Feel more energised, lose weight, sleep better, and focus and concentrate. Once you've completed a habit, mark it as complete. Each time you mark the “drink water” habit as completed, it will count towards your challenge.

Note: this app has a free trial, but there is a paid subscription to an upgrade that offers more features.

For the complete app description, go to the app website(external link), Google Play(external link) or App Store(external link) or, for a more detailed review, see reviews below.

This is a review of the premium version, assessed during the free trial. It reverts to the free version after the trial which contains 5 journeys, 37 challenges, and various guided trainings. It was not possible to review all the content.

PROS	CONS
✔ Uses behavioural psychology principles with the aim of building a daily routine filled with healthy behaviours and habits. ✔ Has guided in-app “journeys” covering a variety of goals – sleep, focus, healthy eating, exercise, self-esteem, mental fitness, self-discipline, addiction, purpose, stoic living, circle of support. The app starts small with drinking a glass of water in the morning every day and builds things up gradually. ✔ Customisable morning, afternoon and evening routines. ✔ Weekly “live challenges” including exercise, deep work, love yourself, meditation, stretching, journaling, managing addiction, decluttering, social media detox, no sugar and no sugar weekend, intermittent fasting, better sleep, letting go, relieving anxiety, practicing gratitude, act of kindness, low carb, exercise, short walk, one big thing, healthy eating, breathe and log your time. ✔ As an example, for the exercise challenge the app guides the user through multiple behavioural strategies such as reminders, commitment, visualisation, optimising the environment etc. ✔ Uses some gamification principles with tracking of daily habit completion. ✔ “Daily coaching” which includes self-help audio wellness guides, as well as guided audio exercises on a variety of topics. ✔ Information is presented in a range of ways including written, infographic, audio, and engaging video clips. ✔ The reminders are highly customisable. ✔ Community discussion section. ✔ Visually highly polished, using behavioural design principles. See https://design.google/library/fabulous-motivating-app-engagement/(external link) ✔ Actively maintained, and the developers seem to be responsive to feedback. ✔ The app had close input from the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University which are a team of behavioural researchers, and a professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics.	✘ The frequent notifications can get a bit overwhelming and feel like nagging. ✘ The design and audio may be a bit “cheerful” and overstimulating for some people and may not appeal to fans of minimalist design. ✘ Fairly pricey. Payment options are $70 for one year or $23 (sometimes offered for $19) a month. The monthly option is not prominent. ✘ It seems to be “science based” but I couldn’t find any published peer reviewed research. There is a trial underway looking at heart failure due to be published at the end of 2020. https://www.mobihealthnews.com/content/duke-study-two-mobile-apps-8000-patient-quality-improvement-trial(external link) ✘ You can’t remove a challenge, but this seems to be intentional, as it asks you to commit to checking off a habit. ✘ I feel like the app could be a bit more streamlined, it takes a bit of getting used to. ✘ The introductory journey is ‘one size fits all’ and may not suit everyone. ✘ The subsequent journeys can be inflexible in some areas. ✘ The user cannot go straight to the free version, they have to use the trial version first, and then unsubscribe manually to avoid being charged. Some users have unintentionally been charged and there are many reports of declined refund requests.

PROS

CONS

✔ Uses behavioural psychology principles with the aim of building a daily routine filled with healthy behaviours and habits.

✔ Has guided in-app “journeys” covering a variety of goals – sleep, focus, healthy eating, exercise, self-esteem, mental fitness, self-discipline, addiction, purpose, stoic living, circle of support. The app starts small with drinking a glass of water in the morning every day and builds things up gradually.

✔ Customisable morning, afternoon and evening routines.

✔ Weekly “live challenges” including exercise, deep work, love yourself, meditation, stretching, journaling, managing addiction, decluttering, social media detox, no sugar and no sugar weekend, intermittent fasting, better sleep, letting go, relieving anxiety, practicing gratitude, act of kindness, low carb, exercise, short walk, one big thing, healthy eating, breathe and log your time.

✔ As an example, for the exercise challenge the app guides the user through multiple behavioural strategies such as reminders, commitment, visualisation, optimising the environment etc.

✔ Uses some gamification principles with tracking of daily habit completion.

✔ “Daily coaching” which includes self-help audio wellness guides, as well as guided audio exercises on a variety of topics.

✔ Information is presented in a range of ways including written, infographic, audio, and engaging video clips.

✔ The reminders are highly customisable.

✔ Community discussion section.

✔ Visually highly polished, using behavioural design principles. See https://design.google/library/fabulous-motivating-app-engagement/(external link)

✔ Actively maintained, and the developers seem to be responsive to feedback.

✔ The app had close input from the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University which are a team of behavioural researchers, and a professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics.

✘ The frequent notifications can get a bit overwhelming and feel like nagging.

✘ The design and audio may be a bit “cheerful” and overstimulating for some people and may not appeal to fans of minimalist design.

✘ Fairly pricey. Payment options are $70 for one year or $23 (sometimes offered for $19) a month. The monthly option is not prominent.

✘ It seems to be “science based” but I couldn’t find any published peer reviewed research. There is a trial underway looking at heart failure due to be published at the end of 2020. https://www.mobihealthnews.com/content/duke-study-two-mobile-apps-8000-patient-quality-improvement-trial(external link)

✘ You can’t remove a challenge, but this seems to be intentional, as it asks you to commit to checking off a habit.

✘ I feel like the app could be a bit more streamlined, it takes a bit of getting used to.

✘ The introductory journey is ‘one size fits all’ and may not suit everyone.

✘ The subsequent journeys can be inflexible in some areas.

✘ The user cannot go straight to the free version, they have to use the trial version first, and then unsubscribe manually to avoid being charged. Some users have unintentionally been charged and there are many reports of declined refund requests.

Clinical review

Free version:

Paid version:

Reviewer:

Jeremy Steinberg, GP, FRNZCGP
Date of review: August 2020
Platform: Android
Version: 3.63
Comments: Fabulous uses behavioural psychology principles to help the user build positive behaviours and habits. It is more of a “wellness” or “self-help” type app rather than something that is targeted at people psychological illness. It is like a habit tracker and planner on steroids with beautiful design and is probably one of the best, if not the best, app in this category.
One downside is the cost, but there is a large amount of highly polished content that you get in return. I also couldn’t find any published research, but it was developed with input from behavioural psychologists. It would also be nice to be able to remove challenges if you find they aren’t working for you.
The free trial gives you access to all premium content and starts you on an introductory journey, which may not be suitable for all people, but then opens up to full customisation of the daily routine. After the free trial it reverts to the free version with limited content. Please make sure you unsubscribe if you do not want to pay after the free trial, as the company does not appear to give refunds.
Safety concerns: None.
New Zealand relevance: Yes, relevant to an New Zealand audience.

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Clinicians guide – how to choose a health app
Self-management apps
New Zealand-based apps
NZ Health App Library

Disclaimer: The NZ Health App Library is a free consumer service to help you decide whether a health app would be suitable for you. Our review process is independent. We have no relationship with the app developers or companies and no responsibility for the service they provide. This means that if you have an issue with one of the apps we have reviewed, you will need to contact the app developer or company directly.