The Jawbone UP app works in tandem with the newly released Jawbone UP24 bracelet. Of all the fitness trackers, this one provides the most complete picture of how your fitness plan is working. Metrics are displayed on bright, cheery user-friendly screens and the UP app is simple to use.

The Jawbone UP24 is a wearable fitness tracking devices that is lightweight, fashionable and comfortable. The UP app is actually the only way to read the data collected by the UP24 device, since it has not screen of its own Combined with UP app to create, this is one of most comprehensive tracking devices on the market.

Three areas

The Jawbone UP program focuses on three cornerstone of good health: exercise, nutrition and sleep. Insight Engine™ provides metrics on how you sleep, move and eat, helping you tie it all together to find hidden connections and blockages on your path to wellness.

The main screen shows the vertical orange bar tracking your physical activity. Tap on it to reveal a 24-hour timeline showing hourly movement based on the number of steps taken or kilometres walked/ run. It’s an instant visual to how much physical activity you have done. Additional information displayed in a bar graph shows the longest active and idle time, total calories burned including active and resting.

Get up and move!

The UP app will also send UP24 a message to deliver a slap on the wrist –literally. You can set Idle alerts to get the band to buzz when you’ve been inactive for a set period of time. You control the time and intervals by turning Idle Alert on and entering the time of day and intervals you want to be alerted. When the band buzzes, it’s your signal to get up and move around. A perfect accessory for people who lose track of time and end up sitting for hours on end in front of the computer (note to self). Note: Don’t confuse your Idle Alert with a low battery warning! Remember that the low battery warning will vibrate three times quickly and the Idle Alert is a single long vibration.

Today I Will

UP delivers more personalized data and works with the iOS notification system that triggers the “Today I Will” system to set goals. This could be as simple as drinking eight glasses of water day or getting to bed at a decent hour (note to self). UP analyses your activities between four to seven days and measures how well you did and then offers a “Try This” system of suggestions. Once you’ve accepted the challenge, the app will push notifications and with real-time communication between UP and UP24 you can get pings to nudge you towards the goal and then live feedback showing how close you are to completing it.  Timely recaps show what you accomplished – all designed to support you and help you meet your fitness and wellness goals one day at a time.

 

Track snacks and meals

Jawbone has taken food logging to another level. UP employs barcode scanning with the smartphone camera and the UPC code on food product to calculate nutritional value and calories. You can log meals and snacks consumed and keep tabs on the calories you are consuming and figure out if they are being cancelled out by exercise. Pick dishes, drinks, and snacks from the database and do some meal planning. You can also snap a picture of something and have UP connect you to the image gallery that shows many calories you are about the scarf down. Keep a food journal and see what are your weak spots.

The quality of your zzzz’s

The UP24 wristband tracks your sleep time, logging the length and quality of your sleep before sending it to the UP app for reviewing. It offers a detailed report of the kind of sleep you had, whether it was light or deep and how quickly you nodded off. Sleep quality is shown with dark blue, light blue and orange bars on a timeline.

The Jawbone UP24 will even guess when you are sleeping or awake and record the time accordingly. You can set the UP’s Smart Alarm to wake you only when you are in a state of light sleep, so you feel wake refreshed. Slide the Smart Alarm to on, set the time and day you want the alarm to occur and tap Save to finish. The UP app will trigger the UP24 bracelet to gently buzz your wrist to wake you. Your partner and anyone else sharing an adjacent bedroom will appreciate you throwing out that annoying alarm clock.

Track the java

 UPCoffee is going to help you control your caffeine intake and show you if it’s affecting your sleep. This expanded database crunches the numbers on coffee, workout supplements, Nespresso, and other sources of caffeine to learn about your body’s reaction to caffeine. Put everything you are consuming into the app and it will crunch the numbers using a caffeine sensitivity algorithm. The results will show you if that afternoon pick-me up cup of Joe is keeping you awake at night. It offers suggestions on how to cut back and what you can do to help you sleep better. You can couple it with the main UP app to support add its suggestions to your fitness plan and create challenges such as cutting back on caffeine. This app can be used without the UP24 band so is a good universal app.

Collaborate with others

 The UP app system will also work with other apps you already. Biking with Strava, jogging with RunKeeper working out with Wello? No problem. UP will track it all for you and give you a complete picture of your activities night and day.  Milestones will show how your daily wins add up over time and celebrates them with you. It also offers bragging rights to share with friends. Other options include logging workouts of any kind as well as your moods to discover if there are any patterns that affect how you feel. Send reminders to yourself about workout time, pill taking and custom tasks and UP will send those notifications to both your phone and the bracelet.

The UP app ecosystem has apps for fitness, weight loss, sleep coaching, detailed food journaling and more. Combined with the UP24 bracelet and you have one of the most exciting fitness trackers on the market.

Shelagh McNally
I’ve been covering technology since 1992 and I’ve seen a lot of technology come and go. I enjoy following the trends, spotting the winners and losers and teaching consumers how to get the best products and services for their needs. My work has been published in the National Post, Reader's Digest.com, Yahoo, Miami Herald and other North American publications and websites.