Welltory review: how I used a well-being app that can track it all

Tracking your heart rate and sleep is useful, but how important is it to add your social media or Google Docs to the mix?

The metric that I first became obsessed with was step counting. This is what led me to get a Fitbit Charge 2 tracker, which I used for years. After counting my steps, I also became interested in my sleep, later upgrading to the Apple Watch SE, which allowed me to further analyze some of my metrics.

Only later did I start using apps and looking for patterns in the metrics provided by health tracking apps from Apple, Samsung, or other third-party providers.

While the information these apps provide should be taken with a grain of salt, it is often the case that when this data is presented to a medical professional, it proves to be useful.

As people increasingly employ artificial intelligence in their daily lives, it is also being used to provide us with additional observations about our health data.

Recently, I started using Welltory, an application that collects information from health tracking apps I already use to provide me with insights about my health using AI.

What does it offer, and how different is it from other health tracking apps?

First impressions

When I first started using Welltory, I thought it was similar to any other health app that would either use my phone's data or extract it from my Garmin watch.

As someone who is drawn to minimalism, I prefer websites and applications that have a clear structure, display information clearly, and avoid excessive images, pop-ups, notifications, and other elements that distract rather than help me gain insights into my well-being.

When I first started using Welttory, I was quite overwhelmed by the amount of information displayed in an infinite feed that included daily reports on my sleep, exercise, and other activities, as well as educational information and advice.

Although it took me some time to get accustomed to it, I soon learned how to navigate the app and find the information I was interested in.

Where does Welltory take information from?

To provide users with accurate information, Welltory takes data from various apps that you may use. For example, to track my well-being, I use Apple Health, Garmin, Strava, Clue, and StepsApp.

The application allows users to connect even more apps, which aren’t necessarily related to health tracking, but can still provide data to draw insights on one’s well-being. Such apps include social media apps, work and productivity-related apps, as well as weather applications.

When I first attempted to retrieve the statistics from these apps, Welltory would indicate that there was no data to analyze, despite my having used the app for some time, and all the apps were listed as connected.

That was soon sorted out by Welltory’s customer service. Apparently, I needed to connect my Garmin to Apple Health for the information to be displayed on Welltory.

What does Welltory track?

In the main “feed,” the app provides me with reports on how my heart rate was, showing it changing during the day. It also provides stats on my exercise, suggesting whether I should move more or take a break. All these insights are drawn thanks to artificial intelligence.

It also provided insights into my sleep. These insights are followed by additional information on how to achieve a quality rest, as well as facts such as “Rain doesn’t cause joint pain.” Pretty educational, however, I rarely tend to read such information.

The app also allows you to “journal” your well-being by adding information on how you feel, exercise, and how much water you drink, among other details.

Information on your heart, sleep, activity, workouts, meditation, nutrition, health, and environment can be found in trends.

While I wasn’t too surprised by the insights I received, what I did find useful was how the app provided more information about the environment I was in. Apparently, by connecting related apps, you can gain insights into the air quality you’re in, noise pollution, and weather conditions.

For example, Welltory connected to my AirPods to show me how my headphone audio levels are ranging. Essentially, it allows me to see if I’m not torturing my ears by blasting music during my runs.

When the sky’s the limit: tracking not only your well-being

What caught my attention further was that the app allows you to track your productivity and work on the goals you may have for your social media accounts. How?

It can be done through IFTTT, a web-based service that acts as a bridge between apps. In this case, IFTTT enables Welltory users to utilize this data to gain a deeper understanding of themselves, analyze their lifestyle, and observe how it correlates with their overall well-being.

While I tried to set it up and see what kind of insights it would provide, I found that Welltory allows users to connect all social media apps, as well as work apps like Google Docs and Sheets, Trello, Asana, etc.

I had a few concerns over this. One question is how safe it is to share your data between apps like this.

According to the IFTTT help center, it only collects information such as “your email address and time zone.” It also notes that it doesn’t sell this information to third parties.

I was also interested in how tracking certain data, such as social media accounts, helps a person’s overall well-being, especially when you take into account that the shared information with IFTTT is still being used “to provide you with better suggested Applets and services that you may be interested in,” according to the platform.

“As a general rule, most of us use social media too much, and tracking it would probably lead to decreased use,” notes Dr. Earl J. Campazzi, M.D., a Johns Hopkins-trained doctor.

“However, constant tracking of everything can lead to stress and obsession. The idea behind these new tools is for them to work for us, not us for them,” concluded the expert.

While for some, tracking different aspects of their lives helps them stay focused on their well-being, Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, a longevity expert and CEO of Optispan, shares that “some people who try to over-engineer productivity tend to miss the forest for the trees.”

“This is an area where there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, notes Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, longevity expert and CEO of Optispan.

“For most of us, the biggest returns still come from getting the fundamentals right,” says the expert, who believes that we should focus on everyday things such as whether we’re drinking enough water, having a balanced diet, moving enough, and engaging in “meaningful relationships.”

Is it worth installing the Welltory app?

While I found the app a bit overwhelming at first, once I learned how to navigate it, I found it useful in that it provided me with all the information at once.

I was also interested in the additional metrics it provided, such as headphone audio range.

One of the main aspects of this app is that it provides AI-powered insights into this raw data. However, I would love to have more of these insights rather than the scope of information it can provide me with.

I believe that this app would be beneficial for individuals who find comfort in tracking every aspect of their lives, as it provides an opportunity to sync information from social media, productivity, and work apps. But my advice would be not to forget about one’s privacy and how this constant tracking can actually impact one's physical and mental well-being.

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