Lifestyle

Natural Cycles’ new feature allows users to track coronavirus symptoms in the app



Fertility tracker app Natural Cycles is undergoing a pivot: its latest feature will allow users to track coronavirus symptoms in the app. 

Natural Cycles is powered by an algorithm that uses a woman’s body temperature to determine her fertility status, as an alternative to traditional methods of contraception. With over 1.5 million users in 162 countries already used to checking their temperature every day, the app is adding a function to allow women to track potential Covid-19 symptoms. 

High temperature, which develops into a fever, is a crucial symptom of coronavirus. Other symptoms include a cough and shortness of breath. 


Co-founder and CEO Elina Berglund said the company had seen a spike in temperature data being added over the past few weeks and decided to do something to help. “We asked ourselves, how can we better help our users, as well as the medical community, and immediately dedicated internal resources to release our Covid-19 symptoms tracker functionality to users everywhere.”

The new feature allows women to monitor their temperature to check for Covid-19 symptoms (Natural Cycles)

The new feature can detect unusually elevated body temperature on an individual basis, hopefully before it reaches fever level, and automatically excludes it from the algorithm. If this happens, the app will send users a message to let them know.

Natural Cycles stresses that the trackers are optional and are not to be used to replace a professional medical diagnosis. However, it certainly could be useful on an individual basis to allow people to monitor themselves and keep track of potential symptoms. 

As part of the global effort to combat coronavirus, the company has also donated thermometers and subscriptions to healthcare workers on the front line for monitoring purposes, whilst it has also received enquiries from institutions looking for data of this kind to support further research around the virus. 

Natural Cycles isn’t the only app which allows people to self-monitor potential Covid-19 symptoms. A new app which recently launched in the UK, called the C-19 Covid Symptom Tracker, is now the third most popular app overall in the UK on the Apple App Store. 

Developed by a start-up named Zoe in partnership with researchers at Kings College Hospital London, has had over 750,000 downloads since it went live earlier this week.  

Understandably, people are feeling a lot of anxiety around whether they have coronavirus or not. Whilst apps can help you monitor your symptoms, it’s not an alternative to an official diagnosis. If you are concerned you are showing symptoms, be sure to self-isolate for seven days and call 111 if symptoms worsen after this period. 



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