I Tried the Reflectly App in 2023, That is How It Went

As a mom of 4 who works part-time, I typically actually really feel out of contact with myself and my emotions. One factor is on a regular basis demanding my consideration so I don’t on a regular basis have the presence of ideas to pinpoint what I’m feeling and what circumstances may need triggered these emotions.

I’ve moreover been acknowledged with grownup ADHD, and, although mindfulness has been urged to me time and time as soon as extra, it’s a apply I’ve had a troublesome time sticking with for varied days at a time. That’s what drew me to Reflectly, an app that gives digital mood journaling. I wanted to attempt it with the hope that it’ll help me turn into additional self-aware. The app makes use of every day notifications meant to rapid clients to judge their mood and keep a snapshot of their day. 

I tried every the free and premium variations over the course of 30 days, using it every day, and whereas I found the app easy to utilize, at situations it felt really easy it was underwhelming. Study on to check additional about my experience with Reflectly.

How I Signed Up

At sign-up, I had the selection to determine on between the free Reflectly app or enhance to Premium (which as of 2023 worth $19.99 yearly on Android or $59.99 yearly on iOS). 

I wanted to verify the two, so I decided to take a look at the free mannequin first. Then, I checked out Premium.

I’m an Apple particular person, so I paid $29.99 for my first 12 months as part of a promotion, which could enhance to $59.99 if I continued using it for a second 12 months. Android clients get a so much higher deal, paying $19.99 yearly for premium.

As far as I could inform, the one points setting the premium mannequin aside from the free mannequin are the marketing (there are ads throughout the free mannequin nevertheless not throughout the premium mannequin) and a bundle of further apps. I felt identical to the creators of Reflectly tried to increase the price of the distinctive app by providing these additional apps it’s possible you’ll get hold of freed from cost together with the Reflectly app. These apps embrace: 

• Carried out, a conduct tracker 
• Grateful, a gratitude journal 
• Remaining, a habit-breaking app for monitoring the ultimate time you in all probability did one factor that you just take into consideration a nasty conduct

Each time I  opened the free mannequin of the app, Reflectly impressed me to buy the premium mannequin. In some other case, I could nonetheless observe my mood and journal, depart a voice memo, or add {a photograph} of my day.

It is also worth noting that, since I paid for a 12 months upfront, I wasn’t able to cancel my Reflectly subscription. I moreover couldn’t flip off the auto-renew throughout the app. As a substitute, I wanted to go to the Apple App Retailer and navigate to my profile after which my subscriptions. From this net web page, I was able to flip off the auto-renew that may occur in 2024.

How I Used Reflectly

After signing up, I began using Reflectly immediately. I hoped it can lend itself to me being additional conscious of what was occurring in my day-to-day life. I did uncover the journaling helpful as a result of it compelled me to duplicate on my day sooner than mattress once I’m normally distracted by social media or TV. Nonetheless, the app doesn’t state whether or not or not it is notably helpful for ADHD indicators. 

I was requested to complete this mood check-in by deciding on some extent on a spectrum from “really horrible” to “super superior.” From there, I clicked “proceed” and the app prompted me to choose from icons indicating what about my day carried out into my mood. There are preset icons to choose, along with prepare, relationships, meals, and effectively being. Day-after-day, I chosen the icons I felt had been most straight related to my mood after which clicked “proceed.”

Subsequent, I was prompted to determine on how I felt about what I shared so faraway from icons representing emotions, along with anxious, blissful, excited, and bored. If I wanted to, I could add my very personal emotions as successfully. To complete the check-in, I needed to do some writing. That’s a particularly straightforward, no-frills aspect of the app. It is one topic that prompts you in order so as to add a title that is 40 characters or a lot much less and a second topic that prompts you in order so as to add some notes. The notes don’t appear to have a character limit, as I was under no circumstances decrease off even after I wrote a lot of paragraphs. 

There weren’t directions or prompts for ending the writing part of the every day mood check-in, and Reflectly doesn’t add so much rationalization on the intention of this prepare. As a substitute, the web page states the journal is meant so to “replicate in your every day concepts and points.”

The mood check-in was the first function of the app, nevertheless I might also participate in a every day downside. These included taking myself to a nice dinner, drawing a picture, or associated self-care actions.

Irrespective of whether or not or not or not I journaled or participated in an issue, Reflectly nonetheless supplied me with mood stats. This included a median mood primarily based totally on what I reported over the past month displayed as an emoji and a mood scale ranging from “really horrible” to “totally superior.” My stats moreover included a tally of what variety of unfavourable days I’d expert and a snapshot of which actions I reported tying into my mood daily. I found this tracker helpful, as a result of it allowed me to see the progress I was making by means of the usage of the app.

One aspect of the app I didn’t love was the notifications I acquired whereas using it.

I decided to point out them off altogether in my profile settings—there could also be moreover the selection to limit when these positivity reminders are despatched and what variety of you get hold of in a day. 

Most likely essentially the most helpful part of the app for me was the every day reminders to look at in with myself. These are notifications on my phone, which I scheduled after I first downloaded the app. 

Execs and Cons

Reflectly is an easy-to-use mood-tracking app. Whole, the app felt underwhelming and I’d advocate the free mannequin over the premium firms. That talked about, listed below are my professionals and cons.

Closing Concepts

After using Reflectly for a month (and attempting every the free and premium variations), I don’t suppose that the app’s value matches the value of the premium mannequin.

The one issue distinctive I felt I was paying for was the snapshot of my mood stats over time. Nonetheless, even that could be replicated on paper with just a little bit effort. 

In case you want to attempt the app, I’d advocate attempting the free mannequin over the premium mannequin because of they’re primarily the equivalent app, minus ads and some further bonus apps you seemingly don’t need. Nevertheless just because the app is free doesn’t basically suggest it’s worth your time. One different free app, The Healthful Minds Program, supplies a wealth of meditation and mindfulness exercises that info you through developing a mindfulness apply with exercises and lessons backed by neuroscience. In contrast, Reflectly is pretty bare-bones and leaves you out throughout the chilly.

One huge plus for me, though, was having the ability to customise the notification settings. This allowed me to take away the notifications that had been bothersome whereas nonetheless holding onto the notifications for the journaling portion of the app.

It helped me obtain a self-awareness I’ve been struggling to use with the distractions of frequently life.