Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
I was never an athletic kid, and that continued through most of my 20s. That is, until I decided to change things up, drop some weight, and focus more on my health. Intermittent fasting was a big part of that journey, and I’ve been following it for several years now. In fact, it’s the one constant in my wellness journey that has actually stuck with me. Much as I’ve dabbled with workout plans, picked up the best fitness trackers, tracked macros with obsessive detail, and even experimented with sleep optimization, it’s the 16:8 fasting approach that has been the most sustainable thing I’ve done for my health. Ironically, what hasn’t been sustainable is finding a fasting app that doesn’t eventually go down the usual rabbit hole of ads and subscriptions. Trust me, I’ve tried them all.
While most fasting and fitness apps start out helpful, the core experience very quickly gets buried under microtransactions and basic features locked behind paywalls. Curious about what fasting zone you’re in? You’d better be prepared to pony up some cash. Everything from custom fasting windows to simple insights that used to be free is suddenly a premium feature. And don’t get me started on the notification spam every time I open the app. Look, I just need a glorified stopwatch. I don’t need your app to support a full-fledged wellness program and the accompanying fees. So I did what any self-respecting tech enthusiast would do: I looked at open-source solutions to the problem.
That’s how I found FastTrack, a minimal, open-source, self-hosted, and rather excellent fasting tracker on GitHub. What it lacks in flash, it makes up for in substance. While it might not have dedicated apps on the Play Store or gamification elements to keep you on track, it has all the features you actually need. That simplicity is exactly why I’ve stuck with it all this time, and why you might too.
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The right kind of minimalism
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
When I first started intermittent fasting, I was already deep into my fitness journey. Between tracking workouts, counting calories, and trying to lose weight without dropping too much muscle mass, intermittent fasting was a crucial part of the equation. But I needed this done without unnecessary friction. Just a timer and a way to check how long I’d fasted, without being given advice about reaching a zen state of mind.
FastTrack keeps it simple with a timer, a log, and basic weight tracking.
FastTrack, on the other hand, is, for the most part, just a simple timer app. It opens quickly in the browser as a bookmark and gives me a single button to start or stop a fast. Yay for simplicity. The onboarding process is just as straightforward, with no wizards or welcome screens talking me through the benefits of fasting. I already know what I’m getting into. Just make an account, log in, tap a button, and get on with your day. Honestly, I wish more apps worked like that.
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