Simple Fasting reviews
What users love and hate, from real reviews
Once a minimalist fasting timer, now relaunched as an AI coach fronted by a cartoon overseer mascot: the real product isn't the fasting schedule but emotional accountability — which hooks one segment and drives another off through shame.
What users love
For another segment the same mascot is the core retention hook
Users wired for the playful attachment log their food specifically to get the character's reaction: "I like logging my meals because of the positive feedback." The mascot turns the chore of tracking into a tiny relationship, and people return daily for the approval, not the data — that's the daily-open engine.
I found I like logging my meals because of the positive feedback
I really like Blinky, even when he gets mad when I haven't logged food because I can't use my phone at work. he is a pleasant remi der to stay on track
Great little purple creature gives facial expressions I just love to remember to log in my fluid intakes and what I eat
Accountability via the daily check-in is the strongest real driver of results
Users who click describe the same mechanism: the daily logging of food, water, weight and movement keeps them honest, and on that they drop 10–34 lbs. The value isn't fasting per se but the ritual of honest daily tracking — the app wins people who need external accountability.
it keeps me accountable. I no longer eat after dinner, and I've lost 20# since starting
I have really enjoyed this. It has helped and encouraged me to lose 34 pounds
It is important to be aware of all the elements, eating right, moving, staying hydrated and logging it all
The AI coach removes confession-shame — users are more honest with a bot than they'd be with a human
An unexpected mechanism: some users admit it's easier to disclose "shameful" eating slips to a non-human, which raises logging honesty. For people embarrassed by a live dietitian, the AI format lowers the barrier — and that, not accuracy, is what retains them.
I also feel less embarrassed to bring up shameful eating mistakes with the AI
My coach is very good at pointing out where I can improve without making me feel shite
I wasn't sure if something non-human would be enough motivation for me but so far I am fairly happy with it
Plans adapted to age, illness and low mobility win a forgotten segment
When personalization lands, it captures people fitness apps usually ignore: 70–80-year-olds, PCOS sufferers, post-surgery recoverers. Low-impact at-home workouts tuned to energy level deliver results where generic apps scare them off with difficulty.
As lady with PCOS the app has customized my workout plans to accommodate my very specific needs
I'm 71, and I'm now lighter than when I left school. Try it, stick with it, it really does work
Simple exercises for an 80+ beginner to follow and hopefully address balance problems and flexibility
Teaching "what to eat" rather than just counting is what makes users stay
The loudest praise isn't for the timer but for the app teaching diet composition — protein, fiber, portions, single-serving recipes. People frame it as "learning to eat for the rest of my life": the product sells a skill, not a diet, which yields retention beyond the first weight drop.
I am learning how to eat for the rest of my life
The program keeps you focused and educated about the best foods for your body, like proteins and fiber-they have lots of delicious single serving recipes
Loving this app! The library is awesome with tips and information on fasting, exercises, how food affects your brain and body
What users hate
The mascot overseer IS the product: it hooks some and shames others out
When you miss a log the cartoon (Blinky/Pinky/Avo) turns passive-aggressive — "hoping I'm happy without him," a sad face, crossed arms. For users who came to get healthy this backfires: shame reads as punishment, not motivation, and they quit over the tone itself, not the features.
the daily aggressive shaming from the app if you miss logging something is a hard pass. I'm looking to get healthy and shame is not going to make that happen
a petty, childish message from Blinky about hoping I'm happy without him because I hadn't logged in for 2 days
it seriously told me that it was "worth more than broken promises" when I had zero cell service for 3 days
The ad promises tai chi and walking; inside it's diet and fasting — the funnel breaks trust on screen one
People are acquired by ads for a "free tai chi / walking / sore-knee exercise plan," then land in a fasting-and-food-logging app. Expectation and product don't match, so users bail before any first taste of value — the acquired traffic is mismatched to the core.
Signed up for the "free exercise plan" which was NOT provided. Turned out to be a fasting app. Not what I thought I was getting
Not at all what I was expecting, which was a free downloadable tai chi program
the first workout was not designed for me as promised (for sore knees)
The AI coach botches basic nutrition and undermines the whole point of tracking
The headline feature — "smart" food analysis — fails systematically: plain chicken breast gets 13 carbs, raw spinach is flagged "too high in sodium," brands and ingredients aren't recognized. Users came for tracking accuracy and instead get numbers they must fact-check — the product fails its core job.
App literally clocks plain chicken breast as having 13 carbs
It just told me that my raw spinach salad was too high in sodium and that a single steamed artichoke with no seasoning has 8 of fat
It doesn't understand brands, so healthy, high protein options aren't treated as such. if you list a meal plus the ingredients, it thinks those are a side and basically double counts everything
The AI overrides the medical limits users explicitly enter
People spell it out — wheelchair, back pain, need regular meals — and the coach still prescribes standing workouts, a bike ride against doctor's orders, or fasting until noon. The most vulnerable segment (seniors, people with limitations) is both the frequent audience and exactly who the product actively loses.
the Bot assigned to me did not / would not take into account any of my medical limitations, going against the medical advice I have received from my doctors
im in a wheelchair and can only do chair workouts but yet im always sent stand-up or stuff I can not do
emphasised where I could that I need regular meals and need to consume most of my calories in the morning. I was put on a fasting diet where I was not supposed to eat until noon
The fasting timer — nominally the core — breaks for exactly the serious fasters
The schedule won't hold the window: start times autofill wrong, long fasts (24–40+ hours) lose their data, days bleed into each other. The paradox: the app is named for fasting, yet the advanced faster is precisely whom the timer fails — only beginners on standard windows get the value.
I have it set for 8 pm to 10 am but then actually have to click to start the fast, which always has the wrong time
when I fast for 40+ hours it loses track of the fasting data for that day plus others
i like to do more than 24hr fast on Saturdays and the fasting never works right. it wants to know Saturdays fasting time but it continues off of Friday
The "macros over calories" design is both a draw and a quiet risk
Some users pick the app precisely because it ditches calories — it lowers food anxiety. But the same logic cuts the other way: the "energy" goal closes before the real intake target, signaling "stop eating" too early — for eating-disorder-prone users that nudges behavior in a dangerous direction.
the app says you've reached your daily energy goal long before you've actually met your energy goal. It only counts macros and not calories or TDEE which can put you in a dangerous deficit
the reason I chose this app was to not, EVER, be presented with calories as a primary aspect of the data. I want macros, only
i love that the app takes how much energy and motivation tou have into account
Inability to edit a logged meal destroys trust in the data
After an AI mistake (and it makes many) the user can't fix the entry — no editing of the dish or the scanned portion weight. The error becomes permanent, careful tracking loses its point, and the most motivated "disciplined loggers" hit this wall hardest.
all the way to the fact that you can't EDIT a meal after logging it, this app is total rubbish
I haven't figured out how to fix a mistake, though. That's the only thing I have problems with
I've found myself having to go back and edit the weights
Duplicate reminders for already-done actions turn motivation into annoyance
The app pushes "log your weight/food" when it's already checked off hours earlier, and prompts snacks in the middle of a fasting window. The reminder system doesn't reconcile with its own state — the nagging undermines the very habit it was meant to cement.
I'm constantly getting notifications to check in when I already checked in and it's checked off. Or it tells me to log my weight when I already said that hours ago
you log a meal, and literally two minutes later it's suggesting you eat something. It keeps suggesting I have somethung to eat in the middle of fast periods
Constant notifications for activities you've already completed
The "calibration" progress gimmick punishes the most disciplined
The "calibration percentage" meant to reward consistency gets stuck: the user checks in every single day, yet the counter hangs on "day 29" and threatens to reset. Gamification that punishes the ideal user destroys faith in the progress system — losing the very best, paying-through-term customers.
I have been on "day 29" of the calibration process for 3 days now! I did all the things I mentioned above today and still got a notification that I was in danger of losing 98% calibration if I didnt check in
it also logs your meals and even gives you meal ideas. it counts down all your exercise. it will log your success
Works well. Does take time to create the habit of logging everything!
Broken step sync and data drift undercut the "all-in-one" promise
The "all-in-one place" promise rides on data integration, but steps don't sync, 3,000 garden steps have nowhere to go, and entered weight and times silently change. When the aggregator can't aggregate reliably, users fall back to MyFitnessPal — the product loses on its own positioning.
it also wouldn't sync for my steps, so again, wildly inaccurate
My steps are never correct though, sometimes because I'm not wearing my watch. I do a lot of gardening
When I enter data like my weight or foods I've eaten, the app regularly changes my numbers or omits some ingredients