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Since the start of my health, wellness and fitness journey, MyFitnessPal has been an absolute staple. Of course just using the basic function of calculating my daily macros and using it as a food and workout dairy, but there is so much more!
Did you know there is a whole community aspect to the app? When I first started out, being able to connect with friends on the app as well as strangers with the same goals as me was crucial. It was also great that users who already knew about macros and exercise could chime in and help the newbies. But a las, the app we once knew is now crumbing.
In late 2020, a private equity firm purchased MyFitnessPal and with that came the typical spoils affiliated with equity firms. MFP now had popup ads after every time you logged something or changed a page on the mobile app. And now the private equity firm has really gone and done it – they are putting the barcode scanner behind a paywall. A paywall of $80 per year to be exact.
The barcode scanner was an incredible addition to the app when it first a=launched years ago and made everything that much easier when tracking your calories and macros.
If you still want MyFitnessPal to be free, you’ll still have access to many useful features to help you track and reach your goals including:
- Nutrition, weight, hydration, and exercise logging
- A database of over 14M foods and 500+ recipes
- More than 35 connected fitness partners
MFP has also mentioned that with the new premium subscription, there will be more features added to the app but only time will tell on that.
The fallout seems to be a lot of users claiming that they will pivot to a new app when the scanner goes behind a paywall, which is set to happen on October 1st, 2022.
What do you think? Will you switch or just pay up to MyFitnessPal?