A free app that I find extremely helpful for my mental health is called Daylio, which can be found both in Google Play and in the App Store. Before I go any farther, the ONLY complaint I have about this app is there is not a corresponding website. But believe me, it is a small con compared to the many pros.
I have an iPhone, so my screenshots will be from my device. The Android app might look a little different aesthetically, but the core components are still the same. This app is user friendly and self explanatory, but if you wanted to be walked through it before downloading it for yourself, or just learn more about what this app does, then this post is for you.
Since I have had the app for many months, I am unsure what the initial setup looks like, so I apologize for that. If I recall correctly, there is little if any “setup” required; once you install the app it takes you right into it. There may be a tutorial of some sort showing you around, I do not remember.
The main screen will show the Entries for the current month you are in. I took these first few screenshots on November 1st before I had entered anything, so that is why it looks blank. But here it will show you, for each day you log an entry, what your mood was and the activities you did that day. At the end of the month, it compiles a nice little chart for you as well as ways to find out how often you did certain activities.
Tap the Stats and it will bring you here. At the top is your handy tracker showing you how many days you have logged an entry in a row. Underneath is the monthly mood chart. It will show you, in a half circle type of pie chart, how many days that month you were in certain moods. There are other monthly stats if you scroll down, such as what activities you used the most, and even a way to see when you were a certain mood what activities most often corresponded with them. I don’t look at those much, to be honest.
When you tap the Plus in the middle, that is how you log your entry for the day. You can log for that day, the day before, or any previous days you may have missed.
This is what it will ask you first. Select a mood and it’ll automatically bring you to the rest of the entry details to fill in (if you select the wrong one, you can go fix it later).
Tapping the Calendar brings you to this screen. Each day you log a mood, a circle will surround the date with the color of that mood. It is a nice way to view how your moods have changed from day to day, the length of your ups and downs, etc.
More will bring you to your settings. You can set a reminder to log an entry every day. There is also the option to edit the names of the moods; I believe I changed all of them so I’m not sure what they were originally. You can also add additional moods as well. Activities that come with the app are very basic, and I totally customized mine to be DBT Skills (more about DBT in another blog). But there is quite a good list to start with; if you wanted to make your own there are a lot of cute icons to choose from if you’re into that kind of thing.
Here is what the moods screen looks like. I think Happy is the only one I kept as is. I added the two at the bottom.
And that is basically it! I hope this was a thorough enough walkthrough of Daylio to give you an idea of how simple yet useful this app can be. The statistics have been very helpful, when I’ve written notes in my entries, to find out what triggers certain moods as well as trends. I’ve used it obediently since the end of April when I downloaded it. I never miss a day. I find it one of my most used and most loved apps on my phone.
If you have any questions about the app, drop a comment! If you do decide to download it, my hope is that you find it useful, too! xo
I’ve been using the Daylio for a couple months now and I love it. It helped me discover what activities most improve my mood. So, I’m having a crummy day, I know that if I get at least these couple things done, it will get better. 🙂
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The stats are wonderful. I’m glad you like it too!
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I’ve never heard of this app before but I it seems so helpful!
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I think it is! It’s really nice to see the trends over time, especially if you utilize the notes section so you have an idea of why you were anxious or sad or whatever.
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I love that there are so many different mental health applications! I am totally digging the design of Daylio. There’s so much to do with the app! Thanks for sharing your thoughts :).
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
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You’re welcome! I’m going to review and try out others in the future, but Daylio has been a favorite of mine for almost 200 days now!
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I’ve not heard of daylio, this looks super simple to use though, and I like the layout of it all. I’m always on the lookout for more mental health apps, thank you for this! 🙂
Chloe xx
http://www.chloechats.com
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You’re welcome! I love the layout; it’s really cute. I hope you enjoy it if you try it out!
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Thanks for sharing this! I know some people in my life who may benefit from this quite a bit. I think it’s a great idea to take notes to see what might be triggering certain moods. 🙂
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Me too! Thanks for the comment. I hope if you mention it to any of them that they find it helpful as well.
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I hope so too! I think it’s important to try and take control of our mental health instead of letting it control us. Using the tools available is so helpful!
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Amen sister!
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Downloaded and going to check it out! It has been a rough day, what a perfect day to find this app!
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I don’t believe in coincidences! Hope it helps you!
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Great review of this app. I hope it truly helps to monitor feelings over a period of time.
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I think it can, if you cater activities to you and also utilize the notes section!
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A friend told me about this app, and I forgot about it. Super awesome! Thank you for posting about it!! 🙂
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You’re so welcome!
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I’ve never heard of this app before, but I do think it is very beneficial to be able to track your moods. Informative post!
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Thank you! I find that it has been!
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I’ve never head of this app but it looks really good!
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I love it!
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It’s not letting me see your whole comment. What app do you prefer? I’m certainly open to trying something else.
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I went to your post. I’ll try that website!
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I’ve just started using Dailyo to review on my own blog, and I love how simplistic it is, how quick it is to input data and how it’s customisable to suit what you most need
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Me too! I still use it.
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