Cycle tracking apps are like weather apps… unreliable.
A question that I get asked ALL. THE. TIME. is “Which cycle tracking app do you recommend?”
If you’ve been hanging out with me long enough you know that the answer is NONE. I know that this may sound surprising given that I am a fertility awareness and menstrual cycle educator professionally trained to teach cycle tracking methods of birth control and pregnancy achievement, but here’s the deal…
Cycle tracking apps are like weather apps… UNRELIABLE.
Despite their best efforts, how often does your weather app incorrectly predict the weather? Just the other day my husband and I took our 1 ½ year old to a local farm to see the animals and hike the trails. Both of our weather apps predicted that the day would be cloudy with a high of 75F - perfect weather for us as we despise the oppressive heat and humidity of summer - so can you imagine how annoyed I was when it ended up being full sun in the high 80s! Our leisurely farm day turned into a sticky, frustrating afternoon of sweating through our clothes and constantly trying to keep our kiddo out of the blazing sun.
In the grand scheme of life, that annoyingly hot farm day isn’t really so bad. We have some really cute photos. Our son loved seeing all the animals. And, we had a nice, albeit sweaty day. When weather apps attempt to predict the weather and get it wrong we might get a little wet or sweaty.
When cycle tracking apps incorrectly predict our cycles, we might get PREGNANT.
Yikes. The stakes are much higher, y'all.
Cycle tracking apps (and the oura ring, and the apple watch, and all the femtech devices) determine one's fertile window based on predictions, not real time cycle data. They analyze your past cycles and use information relating to past cycle length and past temperature rises to predict when you may be fertile in your current cycle. This isn’t very accurate because we can ovulate earlier or later in any given cycle due to stress, diet changes, new medications, changes in sleep, illness (think COVID & the flu), and so much more.
In my cycle alone it is very common and very normal for me to ovulate as early as cycle day 12 and as late as cycle day 16. This means that, because unprotected sex up to 5 days before ovulation may lead to pregnancy, with ovulation on cycle day 12 I could potentially get pregnant from intercourse as early as cycle day 7, however with ovulation on cycle day 16 I could potentially get pregnant from intercourse as late as cycle day 11. Imagine if a cycle tracking app used data from a past cycle with ovulation on day 16 to predict the fertile window for a current cycle with ovulation on day 12. It would tell me that I would have infertile days all the way up to cycle day 10… just TWO days before ovulation. That has unplanned pregnancy all over it.
Cycle tracking apps rely on predictions. Fertility awareness methods, like what I teach here at Sauvage Wellness, rely on real-time cycle observations. They do not predict anything - not ovulation, not your fertile window, not your period. They allow you to observe real-time signs of your waxing and waning fertility in each cycle, apply method-specific rules to that data, and with that identify your real-time fertile window in each cycle.
If you remember nothing from today’s message, I hope you remember this…
Cycle tracking apps = PREDICT your fertile window
Fertility awareness methods = IDENTIFY your fertile window
I don’t know about you, but when it comes to preventing an unplanned pregnancy (or getting pregnant when I’m ready for that matter!) I want to IDENTIFY my fertile window, not predict it. I want to know exactly when I can and can’t get pregnant each cycle, not make guesses about it.
I do not want to be caught out in the wet without a raincoat ;)
(Sorry, I had to, It. Was. Right. There. haha)
So the next time you or a friend thinks about relying on a cycle tracking app or device like Natural Cycles or oura ring or apply watch to prevent pregnancy, ask yourself…
“Would I trust my cycle tracking app if it had the accuracy of my weather app?”
Ready to ditch the cycle tracking apps & devices and learn how to track your cycle the RIGHT WAY for birth control (or pregnancy achievement)? Let’s Chat!
I am currently accepting free consult calls. They are first come, first serve. You can scoop one up here!
Okay, and one more thing…
The only cycle app that I support the use of is called Read Your Body, however there is one very BIG stipulation when it comes to my support of using that app and that is that it must only be used if you have already learned how to use a specific fertility awareness method from, ideally, a trained educator. This app does not predict anything. It allows users to choose the fertility awareness method that they practice and manually enter all cycle tracking data, including manually applying the specific rules of the fertility awareness method that you are trained to use. It is simply an electronic version of a paper chart - but it is very user-friendly, modern, and beautiful looking!