Most women don’t pay particularly close attention to their cycles until they want to get pregnant. If you used the contraceptive pill for years, you won’t have ovulated so getting to grasps with key phrases in your menstrual cycle again requires a bit of a re-education.
Thinking back to your sex ed days at school, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that unprotected sex will lead to an instant pregnancy but the truth is, it’s actually more complicated than that. Women only have a fertile window of around 4-6 days per cycle, which means timing is everything when you’re trying to conceive and understanding exactly when those dates are is key to success.
So, how can you keep track of everything that’s going on down there? Luckily, there’s an app for that – well, rather a few. By inputting the dates of your period each month, these clever fertility apps help you understand how long your cycles are, when you might ovulate and when you’re likely to be most fertile, using algorithm predictions. They’re easy to use and mean you have everything at your fingertips when you need it.
So, what are the best fertility and ovulation apps to download? Here’s our pick of the best.
Clue makes understanding your cycles a breeze. You can log as much info as you want – from your period dates to how you’re feeling and the type of discharge you’re experiencing and it will bring up cycle patterns, fertile windows to be aware of and notifications about PMS symptoms. The app is free to download for the basic level but you can upgrade to Clue Plus for extras such as a monthly personalised fertility summary email.
Price: Some elements of this app are free but for a year subscription, it’s £23.99.
Developed by Harvard scientists, this data-driven fertility predictor app is 100% free to download (no upgrades required). Similarly to the other apps listed here, when you input your data such as your period dates, it creates fertile window predictions plus this app also generates a daily fertility score, so you easily see how likely you are to conceive on that particular day. For anyone who falls pregnant, there’s follow-up apps – Ovia Pregnancy Tracker and Ovia Parenting & Baby Tracker.
Price: 100% free.
One of the more sophisticated fertility tracking apps, Kindara helps you better understand your body with a free ovulation calculator and period tracker, and importantly, comes paired with a wireless basal body temperature thermometer called Wink which has been proved to identify when ovulation is about to occur. The app gives users the chance to input as much detail as they want, including a daily journal entry if you want to leave notes.
Price: Free for the first 45 days but then £4.49 per month or £44.99 for a year subscription with with an oral basal thermometer included.
This widely popular fertility and ovulation tracking app is the only FDA-approved (The United States Food and Drug Administration) birth control app. It was founded by a couple who were looking for a natural method of contraception but is now also used by women as a tool for helping them plan pregnancy. The app lets you switch between ‘Prevent’ mode to ‘Plan’ mode when you’re ready to get baby-making.
Price: £5.99 a month or £39.99 a year with an oral basal thermometer included.
This easy-to-use app has a huge fan base thanks to its simplicity and depth of information for users. This is a great app for anyone wanting to start charting their periods after coming off the pill, once you start inputting, Flo will quickly be able to give you an idea on how long your cycles are and your most fertile week, with the predicted ovulation date circled every month. You can also input results from ovulation tests if you’re using them to get the most accurate data, plus there are daily health insights and articles on offer too. There are three modes; Track Cycle, Get Pregnant and Track Pregnancy to switch between.
Price: There’s a free basic version or pay £44.99 for a yearly subscription.
If you want a guiding hand through pregnancy, Sprout is an excellent pregnancy app. It lets you leave a journal entry so you can note down how you’re feeling and watch your baby develop in 3D as your pregnancy progresses. There’s also lots of helpful articles for mums-to-be including information on what to expect with your scans and what to pack in your hospital bag.
Price: £4.99.