Type of app: Fitness
Platform/where to buy: iOS App Store
Developer: Lyonel Douge
Description: Desk job? Sit too long and often? Did you know sitting can be deadly in the long run? Standapp helps combat “Sitting Disease”.
Price: Free
Major features: Standapp aims to help you not sit so much. Sitting is bad for our bodies for a number of health reasons, but it’s not always practical to have a standing desk. I know in my office I sit in a cube farm, and it would look awfully weird if I was standing and looming over the top of all the walls. So Standapp reminds you at set intervals to get up, and then provides a video or some light exercises you can do while standing. The idea is that the app handily reminds you to get moving and makes it easy to do something healthier than getting up and walking over to a vending machine.
Ease of use/Overall performance: The app has a lot of potential, but so far it has one huge flaw. It is ad-supported, which is totally fine, but the ads are beyond intrusive. There’s a Capital One video ad that plays when you first open the app, and it wastes 15 seconds every time. It also does not remember that the volume was turned down, and it overrides a silenced iPhone. So every single time you start the app, it booms out Jerry Stiller screaming about Capital One. Honestly, the ad is so intrusive it makes the app nearly unusable, unless you really enjoy encountering an angry Jerry Stiller at random intervals throughout your day.
In addition, the feature set is a bit weak. It’s effectively a timer with a few easy to do exercises mixed in. If you have the discipline to actually stand and do the exercises, a simple timer might do the trick just as easily. However, if you like guidance and suggestions on how to exercise, it fits the bill well.
Would use again/recommend?: In its current iteration, no. However, I am keeping it on my phone because I love the idea, and hopefully future updates will improve the feature set and usability. For now, a standing alarm at set intervals offers the same functionality with less ads.
Suggested changes/wish list for updates: I would happily pay $0.99 to never have Jerry Stiller yell at me again. Also, I would like to see user-changeable intervals over the preset ones, and it would be neat if the app offered an office mode, travel mode, and home mode…that way different exercises could be presented and it would give the app more dimension than just a glorified timer with basic exercise.