This iPhone app tracks how much alcohol you actually drink
Next time you're at the pub you can put the infamous phrase “just a quick one” to the test with a new app that monitors alcohol intake.
Designed to help drinkers track their alcohol intake and its effect on health, it calculates the number of units and calories in each drink.
Whether you're just curious about calories (yes alcohol does count) or feel like you should perhaps reduce the number of boozy evenings out, the app has some useful tools that are likely to reveal some interesting insight into anyone’s drinking habits.
It draws upon a database containing health information for the biggest drinks brands, which sets it apart from other drink monitoring apps, and users can keep track of this over days, weeks and in the longer term.
Personal data can be tracked against data from other app users- all collected anonymously- so users can see how they compare to the rest of the community.
The app can also tell you which food item each drink is the equivalent of, as well as how much exercise you need to burn off the calories from last night’s session.
For those who do decide they want to moderate their drinking, goals can be set, such as making it a no-drink day, with the app giving feedback on how to reach them and rewards for hitting them. Help is also at hand from a feature that can provide extra support when particular locations are identified as “weak spots”.
DrinkAware head of digital Ben Butler says the app is designed to “help people change their drinking, by providing support and encouragement in a non-judgemental way at the times and locations people need it the most".
“Our app helps people to make positive changes in their relationship with alcohol, so they can start to enjoy the health benefits of cutting down or giving up,” he added.
From Nike Fuelband and Fitbit to Apple’s HealthKit, the app taps into the growing trend for tracking health and monitoring personal wellbeing through mobile devices.
The DrinkAware app is available initially on the iPhone with an Android version due to launch next year.