It is always important to drink enough. But especially in the heat, it is essential to maintain hydration. MeinMMO editor Sophia Weiß drinks a lot, but often the wrong things. A brilliant app is now holding a mirror to her.
In the height of summer, the weather regularly tortures us with temperatures around and above 30 degrees. Cool down is the first thought that comes to mind. But it is also important to drink regularly and especially enough. Drinking is really vital, as the body cannot sustain itself without enough fluid.
The Consumer Advice Center states that water is essential to transport nutrients through the body, excrete toxins via the kidneys, and regulate body temperature. Especially the latter is important on hot summer days – it is difficult to sweat if you water your body as often as a cactus.
To achieve my personal drinking goals, I got a tracking app. However, it first cleared up my ignorance: Not everything I drink throughout the day hydrates me sufficiently – some things even hydrate me negatively because I have to pee more often because of them. And exactly for this reality check, I love Waterllama, a tracking app for iOS.
How much should I drink a day?
Since we at MeinMMO are not health experts, we have gathered information for you from the Consumer Advice Center, the Techniker Health Insurance and the AOK.
The Consumer Advice Center recommends every adult to drink 1.5 liters of water a day. The actual amount needed can be three or even four times higher on hot days and during activities like sports and heavy work. The AOK agrees with this. However, the Techniker Health Insurance directly recommends drinking two to three liters of fluids a day.
The AOK’s website also provides direct tips on how to hydrate while exercising: It recommends consuming about 0.3 to 0.5 liters of fluid every 15 to 30 minutes and drinking at least a little every 15 minutes after one hour of exercise.
Waterllama doesn’t let me cheat
I installed Waterllama about three months ago because I was dissatisfied with the fluid tracking of my nutrition tracker. The app was designed by a Ukrainian couple in 2019 and awarded by Apple in 2022 for cultural influence.
In the app, you fill a silhouette of a selectable figure with colorful bars by entering your drinks day by day. Each bar represents a different drink, which leads to great color combinations. Unless you mainly drink water, black tea, and energy drinks like I do. Then the block remains quite blue and olive-colored.
Waterllama natively offers over 150 types of drinks but also allows users to add drinks themselves. For example, I entered Energy Drink Zero to accurately represent my consumption of calorie-free caffeinated beverages.
What I particularly like is that the app also considers the hydration level of different drinks: Coffee is a liquid, but it only hydrates by 90%. This is probably because coffee is diuretic, and you have to go to the bathroom faster or more often (via bzfe.de).
I also cannot chug three liters of beer in a beer tent and say I have achieved my hydration goal of three liters of fluid. Beer with a slight alcohol content even hydrates negatively in the app -40% – so you actually need to consume more non-alcoholic fluids when consuming alcohol. The dehydrating effect of alcohol is also described on the AOK’s website.
Easily and quickly enter drinks – How Waterllama works
To stay on track, the app lets me set automated reminders. Currently, it pings me on my Apple Watch every two hours. However, you can also completely disable this feature.
Creating entries is also quite easy: At the bottom of the screen, the self-selected drink types are displayed. With a click, a menu opens where the amount consumed in milliliters can be entered via keyboard input or slider. Press the button to confirm, and you have tracked your drink.
You can also calculate your daily fluid goal either by entering your own data such as gender, weight, activity level, and current weather, or set it yourself.
In addition to the core functions, the app also has some fun features: It gives tips on drinking or prompts to participate in multi-day drink challenges. I once took part in the Tee Rex
challenge, where I had to track tea at least once a day for ten consecutive days to unlock a T-Rex as a new drink figure.
The drink figures that you fill daily all serve the same function. However, they are very lovingly and detailed designed. Unlocking them is completely free with daily entries or challenges.
However, not everything about Waterllama is free: The app can be downloaded and tested for free. But for permanent and complete use, a subscription is required. The costs here are €0.99 per month. You can also buy the app for a one-time price, which usually ranges between €7.99 and €9.99.
Click on the images to enlarge and take a closer look at the UI of Waterllama:
Waterllama – is it good or not?
In fact, the price and the sales practices are so far the only drawback of Waterllama from my point of view. During my testing phase, I was repeatedly offered the one-time purchase option in the app, accompanied by a timer that suggested temporal exclusivity.
I liked the app after a few days of testing, so I took the plunge. However, during the research for my article, I found out that this lifetime offer is not a one-time deal: According to iosapps.de and HealthAppInsider.com, the offer is permanently available. This then gives the pressure to purchase applied in the app a bitter aftertaste.
The very playful design is also probably not for everyone. It makes me happy and I gladly choose a new drink creature every day.
For me, Waterllama absolutely fulfills its purpose as a simple and appealing app for tracking fluid intake. As the app can also send its data to Apple Health, I have these details in my central database and can combine them with my other tracked health data. And I’m having fun while doing it.
Do I have to use Waterllama to track water? Of course, there are many other apps that enable clean tracking of water, coffee, beer, and more, also many with less playful designs. Here are a few examples:
Water Minder – iOS & Android
According to HealthAppInsider , the best overall package for an app to track liquids. The app also looks a lot simpler than Waterllama and may appeal more to app purists.
Plant Nanny – iOS & Android
With Plant Nanny, you are the parents of a little digital plant that you take care of and water by tracking your drinks. More than Waterllama, this app is gamified. For GameStar, the app was a bit too complicated, but it is recommended for people who want to drink more playfully.
Hydro Coach – iOS & Android
Hydro Coach ranks third on HealthAppInsider and also appears in the introduction round by GameStar. The app is said to be very good for Android smartphones due to its broad data synchronization options. Additionally, there is weather integration and a social feature allowing you to add friends.
Water Tracker – iOS & Android
The GameStar states that Water Tracker is the most comprehensive app in their test. The design is modern and clear. Additionally, according to the test, the app does not overload the user.
Apple Health, Google Fit & Samsung Health
If you don’t want additional apps, you can directly log fluid consumption via the Health app on iPhones or through Google Fit on Android devices or with Samsung Health on Samsung devices.
No matter whether with or without an app, you should now be prepared for the next heat waves in summer. But: Drinking enough is important, but often it’s not enough for physical well-being on most really hot days. The MeinMMO editorial team has compiled a total of 19 tips on how to withstand the peak of summer and cool down.
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