Since the very first iteration of Azurite Fitness back in 2018 we have always strived to give our users the absolute best experience possible, with features that are easy to use to help them keep track of their fitness. Over the past few years this platform and codebase has served us well and given users a great experience. However, we must move with the times, and this is the moment where we take a fundamental shift in how we build Azurite Fitness and the core experience that runs in the background.
With version one, we have learnt a lot; from how features were implemented in that initial version, to how they were visually designed. We also know that change and constant evolution should be at the heart of any app or platform. This ensures that users have the best experience with features that are truly helpful and benefit them in the ways they were designed for.
Today, we are incredibly excited to be introducing the latest version of Azurite Fitness, version 2.0. Along with some new features and enhancements we think you will love; this update introduces a fundamental shift in how the app is built. We've spent a great deal of time changing how the app is constructed and developed to ensure that our users reap the benefits of this shift.
Same great features, all new codebase
With version two, we elected to bring the Azurite Fitness codebase into the next generation of Android app development, whilst also ensuring it was built to be easily maintained by anyone who worked on it.
Firstly, we have redeveloped how the codebase is structured, ensuring that different features are easier to maintain and are self-contained. We have also drastically improved build times to make the development flow quicker and easier.
Secondly, we have re-written up to 80% of the codebase in Kotlin, Androids newer lightweight development language. Although this decision has many benefits development wise, it also means the platform is prepared for the future as Kotlin gains more capabilities to support the great new features added in each update to the Android platform.
Finally, we have left no surface untouched, adding new, modern designs to every part of the app, cleaning up others and adding new features to help all our users track their fitness journey in the way they want to. Our aim has been to simplify the user experience by adding priority to information that matters and making actions even easier to complete. Put together, these changes will bring users a new experience that we believe you will love.
Here's what's new in version 2.0.0
Home Dashboard Update
With our first major update containing a huge array of visual changes across the app, we wanted to give the landing point some love. We've made the home dashboard as visually appealing and clear as possible by taking away complexity and making your information jump off the screen, along with some new additions that will make it more informative. To start with, the Motivation section now fills the top of the screen under the top navigation, allowing it to fill the space. However, with this version we are making changes that put a focus on goals, by adding not just your goal to the dashboard, but also your current weight. We have more to come here soon, so keep the app updated. Updating your goal is also incredibly quick and easy: simply tapping on the goal card will open the goals dialog, allowing you to change your goal any time.
The Gym card has also been given an overhaul by putting more reliance on visuals and simplifying the interface, removing the lines of textual information you are used to from version one. Users will now find their sessions for that year represented by a progress ring which contains a text representation of that number against their target. To the other side of this, the total number of sessions you've achieved are shown as a numerical figure. Being able to take a quick glance at your card removes the complexity.
We have also introduced a limiter to gym session logging to prevent users from spamming the log button. The default for the number of sessions that can be tracked per day is one, since most users will only go to the gym once per day. However, the gym settings card, which can also now be accessed directly in the dashboard, will allow you to update this to up to three sessions. We appreciate that the 3-session limit may be a little low for some users, so please let us know what you think in Feedback Centre.
Home Dashboard - Insider Access
Coming Soon
Today, we are excited to be introducing the start of our Health Connect integration into Azurite Fitness. With this first release we have introduced Step data into the home dashboard for Insider Access users. Once active, users will begin to see a new card below the gym card on the home dashboard. To start seeing Health Connect data, permission to access the data must be granted, which is just a button tap away. Once complete, users will start seeing their Steps data appearing as a graph in the card for that day. This initial implementation is simple, but it is only the start of what we hope to bring to users over time. We look forward to hearing your feedback through Feedback Centre!
⭐️ Introducing Metric Dashboard
In version two, we wanted to bring your different metrics together. In previous releases of Azurite Fitness, we worked on bringing Health & Measure closer, but with version two, we are going further. You will notice in this release; the Health & Measure dashboards no longer have their own dashboard pages in our navigation. Instead, they are both homed in the brand-new Metric dashboard.
We have introduced two cards in this dashboard. The health card is designed to show you your latest weight, body fat percentage and Progress Diary entry, to give you a snapshot of where you are with your health.
The new Measure card has been designed to be as simple as possible, showing your latest measure metric update in a way that is familiar and easy to read. This makes the Metric dashboard simpler and preventing it becoming overly data heavy.
Measure Update
In this latest version of Azurite Fitness, we have made sure to leave no stone unturned in terms of improving features and our user experience. We have updated the Measure dashboard with refreshed cards that implement a design that draws the focus toward current information. The user's current metric measurement has been made larger and placed to the right of the card to draw attention to the user. The previous reading is placed to the left and slightly smaller. This reverses in a right to left configuration.
We have also updated the image portion of the measure cards by adding a different background to this section of the card to allow the images to stand out. Each image has also had a rounding added to the corners to give them a real sense of flow and to fit with the rounded design aesthetic the app applies.
Finally, this update sees the introduction of headings to the measure list. We know that in the previous version, the list could look daunting if a user kept track of multiple measurements, so by adding headings into the list we are breaking up the list of cards to add space between major groups, whilst also hoping to make it easier to find what you are looking for.
Measure Update - Insider Access
Our Insider Access Program is of course, still built in. In this release, users who enable Insider Access will be able to gain access to our brand-new Measure Goals. The new Measure Goals have been designed to allow the easiest setup of goals for any Measure metric, giving you the flexibility to create goals that are right for you. We are looking forward to any feedback our users have about this new Measure Goals and will be working to refine the experience before making it available to all users.
Health Update
With the Health dashboard we have applied similar design ideas as those seen in the measure dashboard. You will notice the larger current value which stands out to the user, with the previous value across from it in a smaller font size. We have also updated the Smart Goals design by giving the progress bar a more rounded look to fit in with the rest of the design aesthetic. We have also introduced a progress ring to represent the number of increments completed so far which replaces the previous text-based implementation. The Smart Goal Progress bar has also been completely overhauled to make the progress it represents more accurate on any screen you use.
We have also made it much easier for users to change their Smart Goals for Weight and Body Fat Percentage. Instead of having to go to Settings, users can now change their Smart Goals right from the Health Dashboard. This change reduces the effort to update your Smart Goals and keeps it accessible, rather than being hidden behind the settings menu. Auto-BMI has also received a design & name update (now simply BMI), again applying the new progress ring principle to your BMI score, whilst also continuing to apply the different colours dependant on the BMI zone you fall into. We have also kept help at your fingertips for learning more, by always keeping the BMI info card available.
Smart Goals Update
We have updated Smart Goals to be even easier to setup right from the Dashboard. We have removed the Smart Goal setup page from settings, which has meant that we needed to update a few setup elements to provide the information the old page gave in a new way.
We have therefore introduced a new landing page to Smart Goal Setup, which adapts to what the user wants to do. If a user has already setup a smart goal, we provide a rundown right here as to what that goal is whilst also providing the option to create a new goal.
If a user has never setup a smart goal, they will now see an introduction to Smart Goals. All things to do with Smart Goals are now contained in one location, making them easier to use for every user.
Metric Update
In this next update we have taken this opportunity to enable the ability for users to select the day on which the reading they are uploading is from. This means that a user can add data from a previous date at any time, providing more flexibility. With some of the further behind the scenes work we have done; we will ensure that the data added on a previous date will appear in the right place within your data.
We have also made changes to how dates are shown on different Dashboard cards, so any reading that was taken on the current day, will show a "Today" label, with anything before the current date showing the date that the reading was recorded on.
Details View Update
We have incorporated a brand-new design into Details View to tie into our overall design update, but also to make Details View simpler to use. To start with we have removed the individual buttons dotted throughout the UI and replaced these with a tab layout at the top of Details View. This will give you the relevant options dependent upon what data is made available to details view. This can include home, history, and gallery views, with measure metrics supporting all of these at once.
We have also integrated Gallery into Detail View to give users a more seamless experience across their metrics. Users who track measure metrics using images and numbers will be able to make the best of this new user experience. It allows users to stay in context better than they ever have without being taken away from Detail View to look at a related image gallery.
We have also updated Detail View to be a dialog rather than a bottom sheet, which gives us more flexibility visually when it comes to supporting larger screens and also ensuring the UI adapts better to landscape views. It also means that Detail View is now matching other elements of the User Experience, which it has not done in previous versions.
⭐️ Introducing Progress Diary
Today, we are excited to introduce the first major new feature being launched as part of our Health features offering: Progress Diary. We have designed Progress Diary to make it easier than ever to keep track of your progress, using front, side, and back images to keep visual track of changes to the body over time. On the Health dashboard users will see their current and previous images side by side and be able to gauge the progress that they have made between the two images.
We have also made it incredibly easy to add a new entry into Progress Diary. After a user taps the plus button on the progress diary card they will be presented with a dialog, offering them the choice between camera or gallery upload. This will decide which option they are presented with for each image that is required for the entry. After selecting an option users will then be able to take a photo or choose one from their gallery for the Front, Back & Side images that make up each diary entry. Once the images are selected all that is left is to save the entry and see it appear on the Dashboard.
On top of this, we have introduced the Progress Diary Viewer, an easy-to-use way of looking back at all your progress diary entries over time. Each card shows each of the three images required to make up a diary entry. Now, with the new Photo Shield (detailed below) built in, users have full peace of mind that their privacy is always respected, with Progress Diary only loading when they initiate it. Plus, with Comparison Mode (see below), we make it even easier to compare your progress over time.
⭐️ Introducing Comparison Mode
On top of Progress Diary (detailed above) and Photo Shield (see below), we are excited to introduced Comparison Mode, a new, easy to use and flexible way to really see the progress you're making and compare your progress photos. We have ensured that Comparison Mode is threaded throughout the app to make sure that users can see progress, regardless of what metrics they're tracking. It has also been designed to be flexible for any screen size, with users being able to switch the default loaded layout between vertical or horizontal image placement.
Comparison Mode can be accessed in multiple ways depending upon the feature being used. Tapping on a row of current/previous images will automatically open Comparison Mode with those two images available for comparison, which applies to the Progress Diary dashboard card and any image pair on the Measure dashboard.
However, we can go even further. When a user opens Progress Diary, the option to select is available in the bottom corner. When selection mode is entered, users have access not just to entry deletion, but to multi-selection. Once two entries are selected, extra options are made available (Front, Side, Back), which when tapped, will open the corresponding image from each entry for you to compare. For example, you can select your most recent Diary entry and your very first, allowing you to compare the two images and providing you with a snapshot from where you started to where you are now.
The same can be achieved in Detail View's gallery for measure metrics, where comparison mode works in the same way once two images have been selected. We hope that Comparison Mode will make it even easier for users to see and monitor their progress on their journey from the start to where you are now.
⭐️ Introducing Photo Shield
We are also excited to introduce Photo Shield, a new privacy focused feature for Azurite Fitness version 2. With Photo Shield, we've looked to focus on providing peace of mind and privacy for users, in case they open the app to update metrics in a less private setting. We know and understand that not everyone wants others seeing their progress photos from over their shoulder. With Photo Shield enabled, users will see a blurred layer added over progress photos, so they cannot be clearly seen. We have implemented easy to use toggles that will allow a user to be able to see their images and re-blur them afterwards, putting every user in full control.
Because of the nature of some of our features however, at times, blurring an image isn't quite enough, and we have to prevent the loading of images until a user confirms they require an image loading. For example, the Progress Diary Viewer will show a prompt when Photo Shield is active, offering the option to dismiss the viewer, or to load the contents. This means we aren't simply loading images and adding blur to each one, which gives the user full control over whether they want the images to be loaded or not.
⭐️ Introducing App Stars
Today, we are excited to introduce our new App Stars, built into our Achieve page in Azurite Fitness. We have built App Stars as a place to store all your achievements related to features in the app. From your gym session numbers to your measure and Smart Goal achievements, your big achievements will appear in the App Stars section. By adding this new page into Achieve, it allows us to keep user defined Targets separated from those achieved over time through the app. We will be adding further support for App Stars over time and are excited to see what you think!
Feedback Centre Update
Ever since the first release of Azurite Fitness version one, Feedback Centre has been a pivotal part of how we learn from our users. We have always wanted an easy to use and direct link with our users, so that we can understand what users want from the product. As part of version two, we have worked to ensure that Feedback Centre gives users the best experience possible, both visually and functionally whilst also making it even easier to share feedback with us.
We have started by redesigning the feedback entries within the feedback list, breaking each into its own card, allowing clear, visual space between each individual piece of feedback. We have also made some other visual tweaks, such as spacing improvements and introducing new icons to represent feedback status and the type of feedback that the entry is. These improvements are also reflected within the Feedback Details pages, breaking apart the voting mechanism and the actual details of the feedback.
The core of our improvement work however, has been focused on how users travel through the process of sending feedback. We have started by removing all the dropdown boxes that were originally used to select options such as the feature the feedback is related to. We have replaced these with chips, which quickly adapt depending on what other options are selected. Users now will start by selecting the type of feedback they plan to send; this will reveal the feature selections available. Following the feature selection, users may then see the sub-features related to the selected feature. At this stage, users will be able to provide a title and further details of the feedback they are providing. At this stage, the feedback can be submitted, making it available for users to begin voting on.
Settings Update
With this major update, we have taken the opportunity to upgrade user settings to simplify how the app functions. As our existing users upgrade from version 1, they will be greeted by the setup process as the app loads, requesting you to update your settings. Making this change, though it may seem inconvenient, has allowed us to expend what the settings cover, including Comparison Mode's user selected default viewing mode and Photo Shields status. This means whatever device you go to; all your app settings are right there from the moment you login.
With this release, we have also taken the opportunity to update the visual design of the Settings menu along with all the pages that it houses. These updates allow every settings surface to fit in with the new design aesthetic that the app is using. We have also taken this chance to simplify one or two things, such as the height card in Personal Details, which now only shows the data you are able to update, and houses a Save button. Each Settings card that saves data also has our new Save Status design, allowing a user to know where their save is up to, as some settings continue to support auto-save.
Personal Details:
We have updated the Measurement Units selections to be Chips rather than radio buttons.
The height setting card has had the extra detail stripped out, so only the metric unit the user selects is being edited.
A save button has been added to the Height setting card.
The Goal selection have been updated to Chips rather than radio buttons.
All three settings have been updated to use a better saving mechanism.
Personalisation:
We have updated the design of the Accent Colour selection card to match other areas of the app.
The theme selection card now makes use of a Chip based design, as seen in other areas of the app.
Gym & Motivation:
We have updated the sessions target slider to now include buttons on either end to help make smaller changes easier. Your target value is now also shown above the slider, so it is not obstructed when the slider is being interacted with.
We have made general changes and improvements to Motivation, focused on the images section. This includes new image management based on what is available in Detail's View, introducing single and multi-image deletion.
Azurite Fitness Premium
With this release, we have also made some significant changes to our Premium subscription offering, making it a great fit for those who want full access to all the capabilities the platform has to offer. We have tried to design Azurite Fitness and its Premium offering in a way that does not limit the app for free users but gives subscribers extra benefits that will allow them to get even more out of Azurite Fitness. In our version 2 release, these are the features that are unlocked by our Premium service:
Feature | Azurite Fitness | Azurite Fitness Premium |
Azurite Photo Frame | - | ✅ |
Unlimited Targets | 5 incomplete targets | ✅ Unlimited |
Unlimited Progress Diary Monthly Entries | 1 entry per month | ✅ Unlimited |
Unlimited Measure Photo Monthly Uploads | 1 upload per metric, per month | ✅ Unlimited |
Unlimited Motivation Image Uploads | 1 image at a time | ✅ Unlimited images |
Ad Free | - | ✅ No ads, ever |
Updated landscape & tablet support
In this release we have gone to great lengths to ensure the best experience possible across both landscape and tablets, alongside the default portrait support for phones. Throughout the app and the UI, we have made significant efforts to ensure that we adapt the UI as best as possible to make better use of the screen orientation being used, from rearranging content to spreading things better across the screen if the space permits.
Deprecations
Our aim of Version 2 was to build on the great features of Version 1 and to add great new extras and design to give you the best experience possible.
However, it is worth noting that Version 2 has lost a number of features in order to simplify the implementation of the new features. Deprecated features to note include:
Image selection: this personalisation setting has been removed from Azurite Fitness as of Version 2 and has not been replaced.
Feedback Request: this Feedback focused Dashboard card has now been deprecated. We are looking to introduce a different implementation that is less intrusive.
Progress Photo: this health Dashboard feature has been removed from Version 2. However, we will soon be including a download function, allowing users to download any content that they did upload, which will be removed from storage once downloaded. Progress Diary has now superseded Progress Photo on the Health dashboard.
We look forward to hearing what you have to say and for your feedback to start landing in the Feedback Centre. We are incredibly excited to bring you version 2 and the opportunities it will open for the features we plan to deliver moving forward.
Head over and find us on Google Play!
Keep up the hustle,
Tim C.
Azurite Fitness Developer