Can apps and gamification increase physical activity?

There are many health benefits of physical activity, including the prevention of chronic diseases and improving longevity. However, the opposite is also true: physical inactivity can result in many health problems. According to the World Health Organisation, one-third of adults worldwide do not meet minimum exercise recommendations. This is not because we don’t have enough guidelines… There are plenty of guidelines to get people more active, but in a world with cars, electronics, tools and infrastructures that remove the need for physical activity (and sometimes make it even impossible), activity levels are lower than ever. Technological advances may be part of the problem, maybe they can also be part of the solution.

Available apps and gamification for physical activity

Mobile health technologies, often referred to as mHealth, such as smartphone applications and wearables have become incredibly popular and do have the potential to encourage healthy behaviours, including increased physical activity and improved nutrition intake. The last few years I have been involved in a few projects in this space. Examples in the nutrition space are applications like Foodcoach and technologies like continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). In the physical activity and exercise space we discussed ZWIFT previously (see blog) and I will discuss an application called RIDO in an upcoming blog.

Apps can work in a few different ways. They can provide feedback, help with goal setting, track progress and provide forms of motivation. Some apps use gamification and help to make healthy behaviours more engaging. By turning workouts into games or challenges, these tools will tap into an individuals innate drive for competition and achievement. The idea is that this will then reinforce exercise habits. It sounds simple… but does it work?

Can apps make people more active?

The idea that apps can help and support healthy behaviours is of course attractive and there is clear evidence that this can work. In a recent study authors concluded that “mobile fitness apps that record and display historical performance data can play a crucial role in reinforcing regular physical activity, as users are motivated to surpass their previous achievements. Self-monitoring– particularly through tracking personal progress– appears an effective strategy for maintaining engagement with these apps and this is turn can result in long-term exercise habits and health benefits” (1). Seeing one’s own progress can be motivating and there will be a desire to surpass previous achievements. This reinforces a cycle of regular activity. As we will see below studies support the idea that apps can simulate physical activity. The main question is, is it a long term and meaningful change?

Can apps improve people's nutrition?

Smartphone applications generally allow users to set goals, record their activities, monitor their nutrition intake, receive feedback on performance or intake goals, and allow sharing progress with peers. Seeing one’s own progress can motivate individuals to surpass their previous achievements, reinforcing a cycle of regular activity. In fact, tracking personal achievements and reaching milestones are amongst the most effective app strategies for maintaining long-term exercise engagement (1). Research suggests that well-designed fitness apps can indeed result in behaviour change. For example, integrating self-monitoring features (such as tracking steps or logged workouts over time) helps foster habit formation and self-regulation in users (1).

Gamification of health-related apps

Gamification means adding game elements to something that is not originally intended as a game. We find gamification in learning apps (think Duolingo), but also in apps with the potential to support healthy behaviours. Adding gamification to an application will improve the engagement and will maintain interest in the app for longer. In the context of physical activity, gamified apps or programs turn exercise into a form of play – for instance, awarding points for every mile run, every kilometer cycled or creating virtual “competitions” where users aim to climb up a leaderboard. These game-inspired features are intended to make exercise more enjoyable and rewarding, thereby increasing users’ motivation and participation.

The evidence-base for gamification in physical activity is growing. A systematic review of 50 studies found that gamified physical activity interventions have been applied across diverse populations (from healthy young adults to patients managing chronic diseases) and can successfully increase participation in exercise (2).

App producers use many different forms of gamification which can be divided into 8 different categories (4).

1. competition and collaboration

2. pursuing self-set goals without rewards

3. episodical compliance tracking (streaks)

4. inherent gamification for external goals

5. internal rewards for self-set goals

6. continuous assistance through positive reinforcement

7. positive and negative reinforcement without rewards

8. progressive gamification for health professionals

Of course, mobile apps are not a magical solution to an obesity epidemic and will not turn a population with chronic disease into a healthy population of fitness freaks. We know that maintaining engagement with most apps can be challenging and a substantial fraction of app users will abandon the app within a few weeks. The observed improvements are often modest on average, and results have varied between studies. But this is also the challenge for app builders and behavioural scientists. How can apps be built so that dropout rates are low and app use will result in real and meaningful behaviour changes? A closer collaboration between behaviour change scientists and app builders will result in better apps, especially when grounded in behaviour change theory.

Key messages

• Mobile fitness apps with gamification can boost physical activity

  • Digital tools are not magic bullets, but they offer a meaningful bump in activity levels compared to no intervention. Apps will likely improve in the future, increasing the effects and result in more meaningful behaviour change.  

• Gamification will improve engagement short term but also longer term      

  • Features like points, badges, leaderboards, and team challenges tend to significantly improve user participation and step numbers. Competition elements especially in teams seem to be effective.

• Maintaining long-term behaviour change will require continued engagement 

  • Many interventions see physical activity gains diminish after the initial few weeks or months. This drop-off highlights the need for evolving game content, ongoing rewards, or social support.  Long-term success likely requires reinforcing habits until exercise becomes part of one’s routine. This is where the close collaboration between app developers and behavioural scientists is crucial.

• Effective apps leverage behaviour change principles alongside gamification   

  • Programs that incorporate established behaviour change strategies (goal-setting, self-monitoring feedback, and social support), and are informed by psychological theory, tend to achieve better adherence and outcomes.

In practice, this means gamified apps should set achievable challenges, provide personalised feedback, and foster a sense of progress and group camaraderie. By combining principles of behavioural science with engaging game mechanics, mHealth interventions can more reliably convert short-term motivation into lasting physical activity (and nutrition) habits.

References

1. Sousa Basto, P., Ferreira, P. Mobile applications, physical activity, and health promotion.BMC Health Serv Res 25, 359, 2025.

2. Xu L, Shi H, Shen M, Ni Y, Zhang X, Pang Y, Yu T, Lian X, Yu T, Yang X, Li F The Effects of mHealth-Based Gamification Interventions on Participation in Physical Activity: Systematic Review. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2022;10(2):e27794

3. Stawarz K, Cox AL, Blandford A. Beyond self-tracking and reminders: designing smartphone apps that support habit formation. Proc 33rd Annual ACM Conf Hum Factors Comput Syst 2653–2662, 2015. 

4. Schmidt-Kraepelin M, Toussaint PA, Thiebes S, Hamari J, Sunyaev A. Archetypes of Gamification: Analysis of mHealth Apps. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Oct 19;8(10):e19280.