6 things to check when choosing a health app

Search "health" in the App Store and dozens of apps come up. The screenshots look alike, and so do the promises. Yet once you start entering your medications, your cycle or your mood into an app, you've chosen a place that will carry this information for years. It's worth spending a few minutes on these six questions before you decide.

1. Where is your data stored?

The first question is the most important: does what you write stay only on your phone, or is it sent to a company's servers? Either approach can make sense in its own way. What matters is choosing knowingly.

• Look in the app's privacy policy for where your data is kept.
• Check the privacy section on the app's App Store page; it summarizes what data is collected and whether it's linked to you.
• Notice whether the app can be used without creating an account. If an account is required, try to understand why.

If your data stays only on the device, there's one more thing you need to know: how will you move your records when you change or lose your phone? The answer to that is in point four.

2. Is there ad or analytics tracking?

An app that looks free may be covering its costs another way. An app that shows ads or tracks your usage habits with third-party tools means your data is touched by more places, however careful it otherwise is. For personal information like health records, an option with no ads and no analytics tracking sits easier with you.

The way to find this out is again the privacy policy and the App Store's privacy summary. If there's a section describing whether your data is used to track you, read it carefully.

3. Can you turn off the areas you don't want?

Not everyone wants to track everything. If you only want to track your medications, you shouldn't have to deal with cycle screens; if you only track your cycle, you shouldn't have to deal with other sections that don't fit you.

• Can tracking areas be turned on and off individually?
• Is the history of an area you turn off kept rather than deleted?
• Can you arrange the home screen according to your own priorities?

We walk through how this works step by step in our guide to turning tracking areas on and off in Oveluni.

4. Can you take your records out?

Someday you'll change your phone, maybe you'll stop using the app. It's good to know now what will happen to your records that day. Check two things: can you export your records as a readable document, such as a PDF? Can you create a backup you can keep yourself?

A readable report is useful when you want to share your records with your doctor. A backup is the way to move your records to a new device.

It also matters whether you can choose what goes into the report. For one check-up you might want to share only your medication records; having your personal notes added to every report automatically may not be something you want.

5. Pay attention to what it promises

A tracking app keeps records. It's worth being cautious of an app that claims to diagnose, predict illness, or score your health. That kind of assessment is a health professional's job.

An honest app also clearly states what it doesn't do. Saying it doesn't predict your cycle, doesn't count an empty day as a "bad day," or doesn't interpret your records sets a realistic expectation for you.

We explain the difference between apps that predict and apps that don't in what a period tracker without predictions means.

6. Is the pricing model clear?

How long is the trial, what will you pay afterward, how do you cancel? These should be clearly stated before you download the app. If the subscription is managed through the App Store, you can cancel it from your phone's settings.

Also ask this: what happens to my records if the subscription ends? Being able to keep viewing, exporting and deleting your records is a sign that they genuinely belong to you.

How does Oveluni answer these questions?

We applied the same list to ourselves. In short:

• Data: Your records are stored on this iPhone. There's no automatic cloud backup or analytics tracking. An account isn't required; you can sign in with Apple if you want, and your records aren't deleted when you sign out.
• Ads: There are no ads in the app.
• Areas: Medications, cycle, daily check-in, doctor visits and women's health can each be turned on and off individually. The history of an area you turn off is kept; you can also drag to reorder or hide home screen cards.
• Export: You can save the date range you choose as a PDF report, and create an encrypted backup with your own password. Both are available without a subscription.
• Promises: Oveluni doesn't diagnose; it doesn't predict your cycle, fertility or pregnancy. Summaries only reflect your own records.
• Price: Free to download. Premium starts with a free trial and is managed through the App Store. If the subscription ends, your records remain viewable, exportable and deletable.

Still, the decision is yours. Whichever app you choose, asking these questions keeps control of your records in your hands.