5 ways your iPhone can help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions

Key Takeaways

• Your iPhone can assist you in sticking to your New Year’s resolutions, such as fitness goals, tracking finances, managing screen time, learning new skills, and quitting bad habits.
• The built-in fitness tracking features on your iPhone can help you stay active and motivated, even without an Apple Watch. There are also third-party fitness apps available.
• Your iPhone can help you track your expenses and save money through the Wallet app or third-party finance apps. Additionally, you can use the Screen Time feature to limit your phone usage and adopt healthier digital habits.

Every January 1st, millions of people worldwide say New Year, new me. This overused statement generally refers to the resolutions we have in store for the upcoming twelve months, which typically revolve around bettering ourselves. In reality, however, many people lose motivation soon after and disregard whatever goals they have planned for the new year. If you’ve been struggling with sticking to your New Year’s resolutions and need a small push, the new iPhone you bought during the holiday season can assist.

5 Fitness goals

You don’t need an Apple Watch to utilize some fitness features on iOS

Apple’s smartwatch is renowned for its advanced fitness and health tracking features. Nonetheless, you don’t need to buy an Apple Watch to live a healthier lifestyle. Your iPhone, by default, supports basic fitness tracking, and there are plenty of third-party apps available that could push you to move more.

Starting with first-party options, your iPhone records the steps you take and the distances you walk or run on its own. You can access the detailed statistics in the built-in Health app or check the simpler view, along with your daily Move ring, through the Fitness app or widget. Furthermore, you can add your friends to the Fitness app to view each other’s daily activities. However, you won’t be able to use the competition feature without an Apple Watch.

The Fitness app’s functionality extends beyond just displaying your relevant data. You can head to the Fitness+ tab to access Apple’s subscription service, which provides you with guided workout videos. You can pick between HIIT, yoga, strength, core, and much more. And while using a watchOS 10 wearable will unlock more stats as you exercise, such as your heart rate, you can still benefit from the workouts without the additional metrics just fine.

Apart from Apple’s offerings, you can find plenty of apps that push you to live a fitter life. AllTrails, for example, could push you to hike more frequently. That’s because it displays nearby trails elegantly and gamifies the exercise through achievements and more. That’s not to mention its community-driven approach, where you get to interact with other hikers, read trail reviews, and view the photos others capture on the way. There’s also Peloton, My FitnessPal, SmartGym, and many other apps that could help you commit to a more active lifestyle.

4 Tracking finances

Monitoring your expenses can help you save more

Another common New Year’s resolution is to spend less money and have more savings for bigger plans or emergencies. If you’re an Apple Card user, you can track your spending using the built-in Wallet app on iOS 17. Otherwise, whatever bank you use may offer a similar functionality in its official iPhone app. Typically, you get graphs or pie charts that break down your expenses based on the category and compare the total spent to your monthly income.

The aforementioned graphics and juxtapositions may not be detailed or helpful enough for some users, though. That’s not to mention that some bank apps don’t offer similar charts at all. In this case, you could rely on a dedicated app to link your bank account or manually input your expenses and monthly income. The app then analyzes the data and offers different graphs to visualize your spending. You’ll get a unique feature set and pricing depending on the app you opt for. So, you may have to try a few and see which app works best for your use case. Some popular options include CoPilot (not Microsoft’s), Nudget, Monarch, Mint, and Monefy.

3 Screen time management

Less scrolling, more strolling

Many users are addicted to their phones, and sometimes, it’s hard to resist the temptation of scrolling through the feed just a little bit more. Fortunately, Apple offers iPhone users an advanced Screen Time feature that enables them to set their own limits. So, you could limit social media app usage to 30 minutes per day, for example, while unlocking iPhone games for an hour every day. Screen Time can also remind you to hold your phone at a safe distance, thanks to the Screen Distance feature.

For obvious reasons, Screen Time will never lock you out of the Phone app, and you can always bypass the limits you set through the Screen Time password. If you’d rather not have control over these limits, you can alternatively ask a trusted friend to set your Screen Time password. This way, no matter how tempted you are to bypass the limits, you won’t be able to do so easily. The weather is nice today; why not take a walk outside instead?

2 Learning a new language or skill

Investing in yourself can unlock more potential

Learning something new is yet another common New Year’s resolution; your iPhone can help you achieve it. Whether you’re trying to learn a new language or skill, there are dedicated apps for that. The most versatile option is YouTube, as you can find all sorts of courses for free on the platform. However, if you’d rather find something potentially more serious, then Udemy and Coursera offer plenty of professional content, and you can watch the videos on your iPhone.

If you’re not a fan of the video format and are trying to learn coding or a new language, then there are also dedicated apps designed for this type of learning. In this case, they’d focus on practical exercises in which you apply what you learn, and they’d highlight your weaknesses to work on improving them. Some of these apps include Duolingo, Ling, Babel, Memrise, Mimo, and Sololearn.

1 Quitting bad habits or adopting positive ones

With determination, breaking old routines becomes possible

Lastly, many people mark the beginning of a fresh streak on New Year’s Day by quitting or adopting a new routine. Whether you’re trying to stop smoking or want to start drinking 2.5 liters of water daily, there are iPhone apps that can assist. These apps will help you count the days you’ve committed to the new habit and celebrate your milestones. Some apps are designed for specific habits, such as committing to sobriety or overthinking less. In this case, the provided features and app theme will be more relevant to you than generic habit trackers.

Either way, plenty of solid apps are out there, including I Am Sober, Kwit, Habit Tracker, Routinery, Journal, and How We Feel. Just remember that apps alone won’t be effective if you’re not personally determined to pick up or drop a certain habit.

iPhone apps can help you in so many different ways

As you can see, plenty of iPhone apps and features can help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions, regardless of their nature. So, your iPhone can assist you if you’re focusing this year on fitness, mental well-being, financial responsibility, healthier digital habits, or all of the points above. However, it’s important to take these commitments seriously, as downloading and ignoring these apps won’t do you any good.