Staying hydrated is a crucial daily program. It helps regulate body temperature, prevents infections, delivers nutrients to cells, keeps joints lubricated, and organs functioning properly. It also keeps your mood stable, your memory sharp and improve your sleep quality, as well as keeping your skin nice and supple.
Unfortunately, three-quarters of the US population does not consume enough water on a daily basis.
That's where one of my recommended apps comes into play, WaterMinder. It's an easy to use app with a simple, elegant interface for quick hydration tracking.
WaterMinder App status screen (left). Quick input screen (right).
The emphasis is on quick.
Any manual data tracking can be a challenge to maintain. So when you can have multiple, easy ways to enter your data, the more likely you will be to track it and improve what you’re tracking.
WaterMinder has the full app screen with a two click data entry, customized to your hydration needs. It also has a widget and Siri shortcuts for quick entry and an Apple Watch app that allows for a super quick entry without pulling out your phone to distract you or interfere with your social interaction.
The developer behind WaterMinder is Kriss Smolka, CEO of Funn Media. He also developed HabitMinder. It's the habit tracking app I recommend during my habit workshops and coaching. One of the nice parts of HabitMinder is it tracks hydration using some of the simple user interface features from WaterMinder. It's WaterMinder lite and carries over that crucial benefit into the habit space.
I reached out to Smolka to ask him a few questions about the development of WaterMinder, which was named the best app in the fitness category at the 2015 Silicon Beach App Awards, HabitMinder and the other health and wellbeing apps he has available and in the works.
We also talked about data privacy and, as an entrepreneur, how he maintains his own wellbeing. Here’s the full interview:
I really liked reading the origin story of WaterMinder you posted on Medium. You've launched several apps since WaterMinder, including HabitMinder. I have lots of habit minded folks read my work, why should someone use HabitMinder over other habit apps?
Hi Glen! Thank you for inviting me to the interview. Happy to hear you liked my story.
As for our habit tracker, HabitMinder’s core is simplicity. Like all of our apps, we put simplicity first in mind, that everybody will figure out the app in couple minutes and start using it, all without unnecessary clutter.
HabitMinder iOS app and Apple Watch app.
In HabitMinder, you can quickly start tracking your habits. We do have around 50 pre-defined habits for ideas, and also the ability to create custom habits to track. The main view shows all the progress per habit, where you can “tick” off what was completed. It also has gentle reminders tied to each habit to nudge in case you forget to log it.
Positive emotions are an important part of building new habits, as you know from attending my workshop. Celebration is a great way to create that positive emotion so important to building new neural pathways for habits. I see you've also launched a celebration type app called 3 Wins. How do you think about using dopamine generating celebration features in your apps in a way that makes a positive impact? Why did you decide to make 3 Wins?
Applying positive emotions when you complete something really gives us a boost. I have learned about this exercise during your workshop in Michigan that we need to celebrate our wins out loud. The purpose for the 3 Wins app is to teach you a habit of writing down at least 3 successes/wins that happened during the day. You can do it on the fly while it happened or, how I prefer, at the end of the day before going to bed. This shifts your thoughts to be more positive and also helps you raise the accomplishment rate for tomorrow’s wins.
Health information is sensitive data. How do you think about privacy for your apps?
Privacy was a priority for our apps from the beginning. All of the apps in our portfolio do not have any back-end servers or signing up for an account, meaning all of the data logged stays on your device.
What surprised you when you originally started getting feedback on WaterMinder?
The positive feedback received that our tool helps people in so many different cases, chronic headaches, post kidney surgeries or kidney stone procedures, or just simply staying hydrated. These types of stories fuel our work and give us confirmation that we are doing something good.
You write in the WaterMinder origin story that the genesis of the app was your wife's migraine headaches. My sister suffered from migraines; they can be a tough problem to solve for many because they can have many different origins. Has WaterMinder solved your wife's migraines?
Staying hydrated for her helps with the headaches. Hydration is not a cure in any way for migraines, she still has sporadic events which might be tied to something else. Overall it is way better for her now when compared to the de-hydrated lifestyle prior to using WaterMinder.
I know all too well, being an entrepreneur can be a stressful job. How do you keep yourself healthy and running in top condition? What are some of your habits that support your performance and wellbeing?
Keeping my body healthy is 80% diet (what you eat/drink is how you feel) and 20% move/exercise (since most of the day I sit in front of the computer, I got into a habit that before dinner I walk or exercise to close my Activity Rings on the Apple Watch).
Running in top condition, personally for me it is all about having a positive mindset and being thankful for your accomplishments. Positive mindset helps me stay focused and gives energy to tackle day to day obstacles.
You can see it is a mixture of multiple habits combined. Overall my priority is to have a positive mindset, balanced diet, exercise/move each day, sleep well, love my family and enjoy every day like it is your vacation!
What's next for you and Funn Media?
Our plans for Funn Media are to grow our portfolio of apps/tools and keep on helping people. Currently working on refreshing and rejuvenating the Relaxtopia app to help you stay clam and relaxed with sounds. Also working on bringing back our note taking app, current code name NoteFolio - planning for end of summer release. And of course constantly working on new features for our current apps.
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We did this interview right before the beginning of Coronavirus quarantine. Since then, Apple held its annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). Like all conferences, it was held online this year and the company announced updated operating systems for all its devices. So I reached about out to Smolka to follow-up on how that has impacted his efforts.
Apple continues to showcase the health features of iOS and WatchOS, particularly now with sleep. What do the updates from Apple mean for HabitMinder, WaterMinder and the rest of your efforts?
Every time Apple adds new capabilities, they are great opportunities for us where we could implement and expand our feature list. Each year after WWDC our whole team is super focused on implementing all the new things before fall comes. This year will be exciting with the new Widgets feature on iOS!
Thank you for your questions, remember, stay hydrated and think positive!
WaterMinder and HabitMinder are available on iOS, MacOS and Android. You can learn more about the apps mentioned here on the Funn Media website and follow Smolka on Twitter @ksmolka.