New US research has found that smartphone apps used to track the menstrual cycle are not as accurate as they could be, and are disappointing users with their stereotypical designs, lack of flexibility, and outdated assumptions about sexual identity and preference.
In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle gathered data from 2,000 reviews of popular period-tracking apps, surveyed 687 people, and conducted in-depth interviews with a dozen respondents to understand how and why women tracked their periods, and their thoughts on nine apps currently available on the Android Market and Apple App Store.