MyFitnessPal is putting calorie logging behind the paywall

Image: MyFitnessPal

Behind the paywall, the barcode scanning feature is being moved. Users with free accounts have been able to use this tool for years, but the company recently announced that starting October 1st, a premium account will be required.

The barcode scanning feature of the app allows users to find nutrition information for food items in the app. The database is user-generated with both free and premium users able to add any food by entering nutrition facts and barcodes. When October 1st rolls around, free users will still be able to search the database for their food entries, but they will have to pay for a barcode scanning plan. If you don't pay before September 1st, you won't be able to use your free account to barcode scans.

The redesign of MyFitnessPal's app in May put more helpful information on the home screen for premium users while adding more scrolling through ads and pop-ups for free users. The loss of the barcode scanning feature is a bit of a shock to long time users of MyFitnessPal, but it is understandable that the app is sacrificing the user experience to maximize the return on investment.

It is not a new concept in the world of tech to have free features behind a paywall. When a feature has life-changing benefits, it's hard for companies to make money from it.

As a personal user of MyFitnessPal with a check-in streak of over two thousand days, I have been able to change my habits, lose weight, and improve my health. Being a free user, I knew the trade-offs and withstood the onslaught of pop-ups urging me to go premium. Whenever I want to be more strict with my daily intake, I can use that database of food and nutrition to keep track of it.

MyFitnessPal is doing its users a disservice by losing the barcode scanning. It's difficult to lose weight and be aware of what you eat. Adding more hassle to the process when someone just wants to log their cup of Greek yogurt seems wrong since I have enough shame manually searching the app for the nutrition value of half of an entire pizza after I let myself make some bad decisions. It's a delicate balancing act to keep weight off and anything that gets in your way can tip the scales toward undoing weeks of hard work in a single day.

If the popular r/loseit subreddit is any indication, many users may switch to competing apps like Cronometer, Loseit, or Macros over this loss. Premium features like recipes and nutrition plans will probably be added to MyFitnessPal. Most people just want the simplest tool possible to log their calories and weight, and MyFitnessPal is taking a big hit here. Maybe it is time for me to stop.