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33+ Awesome Biohacking Apps, Software & Tech to Upgrade Your Health

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byNick

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8 Minutes

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Best Biohacking Apps, Software, Tech
Best Biohacking Apps, Software, Tech
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Thousands of biohacking apps, software, and technology simplify the process of decoding your inner workings for health optimization.

Code improving quality of life at scale.

In this roundup post, I’ve compiled crowd-favorite biohacking iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, and web browser apps into one (frequently-updated) list. The apps below are wearable agnostic. All are free unless noted otherwise.

Nominations come from my own personal use and that of the biohacking community (I don’t own an Android device).

Biohacking Recovery Apps

Performance scientists have only recently brought the necessity of sleep and recovery to public awareness. Some well-respected researchers even posit that human consciousness evolved out of sleep (and not the other way around). Put simply, sustained maximum performance requires an abundance of sleep and recovery.

Below are useful recovery and sleep biohacking apps:

  • Sleep Cycle (iOS, Android): one of the first apps to use the sensors in your smartphone and microphone to accurately quantify sleep quality and stages. Sleep Cycle would wake me up while I was in the lightest phase of sleep. Never wake up groggy again.
  • Bioloop (iOS): personalized sleep improvement recommendations based on the data from your other wearables (or Apple Health). Provides deeper insights than most wearable platforms. Lets you run experiments to observe how different lifestyle factors affect you.
  • EliteHRV (iOS, Android): an original and accurate HRV monitoring device compatible with most devices. Before getting my Garmin Fenix, I used EliteHRV for live biofeedback, to take daily measurements, and clearly quantify my wellness.

Biohacking Diet & Nutrition Apps

What you consume (or avoid) can change the way you feel within minutes. Take alcohol, exogenous ketones, and nicotine for example. Most of the time, however, effects feel subtle or non-existent. By taking a break from staple foods you’ll notice ones making you tired.

Below are great biohacking diet, nutrition, and fasting apps:

  • TrackMyStack (Browser, iOS, Android): a resource that explains the ideal supplement stacks for different health goals. Everything needed to log what you’re taking, to track conditions & symptoms, discover what’s working for other users, set goals, and see your data visually.
  • Cronometer (Browser, iOS, Android): the #1 nutrition, fitness, and food tracking app. Customize based on specific diets, macro-or micro-nutrients, vitamins, or specific food brands. Simple, and far more accurate than MyFitnessPal. For most purposes, their free plan is fine.
  • Zero (iOS, Android): log and track your fasts on a beautiful dashboard. Options for every type of fasting program imaginable. I personally use it for some added accountability and gamification of my extended fasts.

Biohacking Lifestyle Apps

Ruthless lifestyle optimization takes attention to detail. Sometimes tiny tweaks to daily living yield the greatest results. Find and eliminate the minutia between you and peak mental and physical performance.

Below are the top apps to biohack the ultimate wellness lifestyle:

  • Think Dirty (iOS, Android): scan a barcode or search for a specific health or beauty item, and instantly learn everything inside it. Discover toxic chemicals hidden in your everyday products. Choosing clean products helps keep your hormones optimized. I give every first-time wellness product a quick scan.
  • Apple Health (iOS): a stock iPhone app that aggregates all your health data from other apps (if allowed). Integrated with your phone’s notification center, Apple Watch, and iCloud. Apple Health generates customizable summaries of your health status.
  • Samsung Health (Android): another popular health data aggregator, this time available on Android. Probably the best all-in-one wellness platform I’ve come across. As a bonus, your data can sync to smart TVs.
  • Meetup (Browser, iOS, Android): the best place to find biohacking events and local communities of like-minded health hackers. Other platforms like Facebook Local and Eventbrite don’t compare. A must-have.
  • HabitShare (iOS, Android): habit tracking paired with social gamification. Sharing your desired habits (and progress) with friends keeps you motivated long-term after the novelty wears off. While I love the idea, features, and interface, few of my friends use the app.
  • IFTTT (Browser, iOS, Android): if you care about efficiency, IFTTT takes the pain out of automation. Connect different services, and the app will do the busywork for you. For example, when I save a new contact my phone automatically adds a calendar event with the person’s name, the date & time, and my phone’s location. Endless possibilities for biohackers and self-quantification.
  • Goodreads (Browser, iOS, Android): I love podcasts and YouTube videos. But books give you the most thorough, complete concepts from world-class experts pioneering their respective fields (check out my top biohacking books for a thorough list of great reads). I use Goodreads to find cutting-edge health and performance-related books as they’re released.

Biohacking Stress Reduction Apps

Stress is good. In the right doses, stress is completely healthy. Humans only grow through stress followed by ample recovery. Low-grade chronic stress, however, is the silent killer implicated in virtually all diseases.

Below are apps that reduce overwhelm and increase your resiliency against stress:

  • Insight Timer (Browser, iOS, Android): self-proclaimed #1 meditation app for all kinds of purposes. I’ve enjoyed the app for around six years. You’ll find gems in their library of 70,000+ FREE guided meditations.
  • HeadSpace (iOS, Android) [Paid]: the meditation brainchild of a former monk. It’s regularly rated the best meditation app. One of my biggest annoyances with Insight Timer is also its perk: the huge library. I can easily waste 5 minutes scrolling through all the options. With HeadSpace, you’re paying for their highly curated collection.
  • Wim Hof Method (iOS, Android): if you’ve tried the famous Wim Hof breathing technique, you’ve felt its power. You can find free guided sessions on YouTube. However, Wim created his own app and it allows granular control over your sessions. Almost like having Wim’s personally coaching you. Additionally, the app tracks your sessions so you can gauge your progress.
  • SelfControl (macOS): when you need to get work done, notifications and TODOs seem to come from everywhere. SelfControl is the minimalist, open-source, (and 100 percent free) solution to distractions. Block websites or mail servers for any period of time, and click “Start”. Or use the whitelist modes to only allow access to specific websites.

Biohacking Self-Quantification & Personal Dashboard Apps

Every proper biohacking experiment starts with establishing a baseline. Only then can you quantify the effect of a habit, routine, product, supplement, or diet change. Certain software facilitates the process, including one product I can’t live without.

Below are the best self-quantification apps and tools to build your own personal dashboard:

  • SelfDecode (Browser) [Paid]. The ultimate wellness portal for everything regarding personalized health optimization. From a database of 80+ million genetic variations, to an actionable and customized gameplan based on your blood panels. They have one of the internet’s only health and wellness blogs that automatically highlights which articles to read based upon your unique biometrics. The team behind SelfDecode (and also SelfHacked) continues to innovate faster than any other. See my Ultimate SelfDecode Review to learn why I recently invested in the company.
  • Notion (iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Browser) [Paid]: I found it in 2018 and Notion immediately became my “second brain”. I use to save articles, plan my desired outcomes, log biohacking experiments, aggregate my quantification data, plan content (articles like this one), and much more. It’s the best $40 per year I’ll continue to spend.
  • HeadsUp Health (iOS, Android, Browser) [Paid]: Intuitive, easy-to-use dashboard to track the metrics that actually matter. Connect a dozen different integrations like Keto-Mojo, Cronometer, Oura, MyFitnessPal, Apple Health, FitBit, Elite HRV, MyMacros+, LEVL, Ketonix and other services and devices. Track, visualize, and hack your performance with insightful visualizations. The preferred dashboard of clinicians, professional athletes, and serious self-quantifiers.
  • Mindly (iOS, Android, macOS): the digital equivalent of those brainstorming sessions with bubbles and lines connecting them. Used to see the hierarchy and relation between different ideas. Useful to easily map out ideas. It’s not perfect, but works for the purpose.
  • Exist.io (iOS) [Paid]: a centralized dashboard used to track anything, understand habits, activity, and lifestyle change. Connects with 21+ sources of your personal data. Has a public API.
  • Gyroscope (iOS, Android) [Paid]: the most advanced and highly polished personal health dashboard. They consider themselves “a new operating system for the human body”. Gyroscope is as close to a virtual health coach as possible. I tested it out for a while and found the sheer number of features impressive. The app generates useful recommendations too. I’ve followed this company for years, and consider them a breakout biohacking app.

Biohacking Productivity & Business Apps

If you love efficiency and effectiveness as much as I do, you’ll want to use the right tools. Freeing up precious time to spend on your passions.

Below are the best apps to get more, higher-quality work done in less time:

  • CopyAI (Browser): the algorithm that’s replacing personal assistants. Writing takes time. Email, social media, blogging, birthday cards, YouTube descriptions, schoolwork, all eat into your day. I spend a lot of time staring at a blinking cursor. CopyAI is a tool harnessing the latest advancements in AI to solve this issue by writing human-quality content for any need. Just choose one of their many presets, write instructions like you’d speak them to a kid, click the “generate” button, and a few seconds later it spits out different options. I know people that’ve built their entire businesses using CopyAI-generated text.
  • MailerLite (iOS, Android, Browser): if you need to reach large audiences, Gmail won’t cut it. Emails will bounce and your they’ll eventually ban your account. For anything related to community building and email marketing, look no further than MailerLite. It contains all the premium features, boasts impressive stats, and is free (or costs little if you upgrade). I switched from MailChimp in 2021 and haven’t looked back.
  • TubeBuddy (Browser, iOS, Android): video has emerged as the fastest-growing medium over the last few years. No platform compares to YouTube. Whether you’re looking to start a channel (as I am), or are a seasoned vet, TubeBuddy is the all-in-one suite of tools that YouTube should include. Gives you a leg up on the competition so that your videos stand out.
  • SquadCast (Browser, iOS): The number one podcast recording platform, designed to maximize both audio and video quality no matter the connection. All in 4K video quality. I used to use Zoom, but it now limits all meetings on the free tier to 40 minutes, records in low quality 720p, and has considerably worse sound quality. Zoom Pro is relatively expensive and still not all that suitable for podcasting in 2022 and beyond. I sought out alternatives and kept coming across a few. SquadCast is the best, and it now comes with a free membership to Descript (one of the most powerful yet simple video editors). You can host multiple podcasts, add additional team members, and do even more. They offer a decent free tier too.

Biohacking Your Environment Apps

Environments act like leverage multipliers. A high-quality environment supports your wellness around the clock. A pillar of effective biohacking and the core of bioharmonization. Working in the background every hour of every day to either improve or degrade your health and performance.

Below are the best environment biohacking apps:

  • NIOSH Sound Level Meter (iOS): noise pollution can directly impact your health (I lived above an NYC highway and my Oura Ring sleep scores improved the night I moved). This handy meter quantifies the decibel level of your current environment. Use your new sound baseline to evaluate noise dampening efforts.
  • OpenSignal (iOS, Android): an internet speed testing with cool bonus features. Use OpenSignal to find the nearest cell tower (great when backpacking or needing cell service in the middle of nowhere). On the opposite side, you can also find a map of ALL the cell towers around specific locations. My clients use this feature to hunt down pernicious sources of EMF.
  • DMinder (iOS, Android): no capsule can replace humans’ need for real, natural light. This app tells you the optimal time to get outside to maximize vitamin D production and prevent burns. They’ve built seamless integrations into the iPhone’s “Today” notification center, a version for the Apple Watch, and are a Samsung Health Partner.
  • IrisTech (macOS, Windows, Linux): the screens on tech devices damage your body by flickering at a rate that your eyes don’t perceive (but the nervous system does). See my IrisTech review to learn how this special software offsets the junk light your computer emits and improves sleep. IrisTech offers free and paid versions.
  • Twilight (Android): an original blue-light blocking app for mobile that still beats Android’s stock settings. Twilight changes the hue of your screen in accordance with natural light rhythms. It works similar to the now-ancient f.lux app.
  • Timeshifter (iOS, Android): designed to help you beat jet lag. It’s a must-have for frequent travelers. Used by astronauts, elite athletes, and top CEOs. The app itself gives you easy recommendations before, during, and after your flight to keep you operating at max capacity. Their resources comprehensively cover all things regarding travel hacking and jet lag.
  • MyLux (iOS): a lesser-known iPhone-only app that quantifies the intensity of light. In the morning, to stop the production of the sleep hormone melatonin, I walk outdoors in natural light. I make sure that the light is at least 2,000 LUX. Read my post to see an example of MyLux and for more information about truly healthy lighting.

Tips to Biohack Your Technology

I’d suggest against immediately downloading each of the above app. Instead of inundating (and overwhelming) yourself, start small. Find the most important category you need to optimize. Download a few apps from that section.

I have a few tips to avoid getting consumed by technology:

  1. Enable screen time (or its equivalent) on all your devices. Native tracking available on iOS, macOS, and Android helps you understand where your tech time goes.
  2. Enable greyscale mode when not engaged in color-sensitive work. Grey is less stimulating, so you’ll spend less time on your device.
  3. Shield yourself from EMF. The precautionary principle states that “your better safe than sorry” and it applies to tech use. Use my three-step basic EMF protection process. Remove wireless signals whenever possible. The next best is to put distance between you and the signal. Finally, use protective fabric when exposure is unavoidable.
  4. Move around apps on your home screen to prevent mindlessly opening them due to habit. I rearrange my apps and folders once per quarter and have greatly reduced my habitual clicking.

The Best Biohacking Apps For All Devices

Thanks to technology, a single person has more personal data on their biology than ever before.

New apps and software come out daily. Now, there’s an app for virtually everything. Giving biohackers unprecedented health optimization tools:

  • Environment
  • Diet & nutrition
  • Recovery
  • Self-quantification
  • Stress reduction techniques
  • Healthy living

The list above is in no particular order. I’ll update this post as I encounter new ones.

I can’t come across them all on my own. I’m surely missing amazing apps. What are your favorites that I’ve forgotten? Comment below or contact me.

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Post Tags: Biohacking, Lifestyle, Software

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