this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2024

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Manstrual cycles (lemmy.ca)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

162 comments fedilink hide all child comments

There are downsides with downloading their app just to input bad data, but it's a fun thought.

edit: While we're at it we might as well offer an alternative app to people.

I posted in [email protected] to collect recommendations for better apps

The post: https://lemmy.ca/post/32877620

Leading Recommendation from the comments

The leading recommendation seems to be Drip (bloodyhealth.gitlab.io)

Summarizing what people shared:

accessible: it is on F-droid, Google Play, & iOS App Store
does not allow any third-party tracking
the project got support from "PrototypeFund & Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Superrr Lab and Mozilla"
Listed features:
- "Your data, your choice: Everything you enter stays on your device"
- "Not another cute, pink app: drip is designed with gender inclusivity in mind."
- "Your body is not a black box: drip is transparent in its calculations and encourages you to think for yourself."
- "Track what you like: Just your period, or detect your fertility using the symptothermal method."

Their Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@dripapp

(page 2) 50 comments

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago

I like how "drip." is designed to be gender neutral!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

iOS has a first party health app that has menstrual tracking. I’m under the impression Apple takes data security seriously. If you don’t, self hosted is probably best.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago

Calling an app that tracks menstrual cycle "Drip" is peak comedy

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I've been using it to track my poops.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Eat more fiber for extra data

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

Don't worry. I give them literal shit loads of data. Even more after fajita night.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm so sorry ladies, but you had me until the Ts & Cs. This app is a privacy nightmare. I would put all of this energy into finding or crowd funding a better alternative.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago

I signed up for the app and there are so many dark patterns used in the signup process it's insulting.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Okay, but since real menstrual cycles are typically highly regular - wouldn't it be fairly easy to filter out the fake ones?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Perimenopause can happen in women a lot younger than most people think. I'm in my 30s and dealing with perimenopause symptoms such as hot flashes and irregular periods.

I'm supposed to be tracking my periods to help my Dr decide if that's what's going on, but because if this anti abortion garbage I have to do it manually on paper which I'm terrible about remembering to do(brain fog is another symptom)

So yeah, irregular periods are common for many reasons(endometriosis for example), but the most common one every ovulating woman eventually faces is perimenopause and menopause.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Irregular menstrual cycles are very common and happen for a lot of different reasons. Also, there are different kinds of "regular" periods. Someone could be said to have regular periods even if they happen on shorter or longer cycles than the typical 28-30 days provided that it's a consistent pattern without significant deviation for that person.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 day ago (6 children)

I don’t want to victim blame but if using an app is optional and it could get you in trouble with the law (regardless of how bad the law is), you should not use it.

Having said that, as a dev, please pollute data as much as possible.

Management needs to learn how valuable good data is and good data comes with proper consent (most people wouldn’t share their data if they could opt out).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

That's not great advice for people who weren't afraid of law enforcement in the past and are now feeling exposed due to data they already gave away.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

Period tracking is a very good tool for understanding your health. Issues may be spotted very early in some cases.

If it's required for preventative healthcare, the blame is solely on the exploitative app operators for any data safety concerns.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

These apps are very helpful for people who have irregular cycles or who are family planning. I relied heavily on a similar app in high school, because my monthlies weren’t monthly. I was able to share that data with my doctors to help better understand my body.

This really indicates a need for self-hosted solutions.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Absolute worst case you could always keep track of it as a raw text/markdown/excel/Libre calc/whatever your preference is. You're not going to get any predictions or useful data out.

But it would at least provide a record for your doctor if need be. And as long as you encrypt the device you store it on, or the directory its stored in, it's relatively safe to do so.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (4 children)

How does this work with non technical people?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago

This is a legitimate concern.

A teenage girl who is looking to track her cycle is likely not educated on data security - as someone who works with teens, Gen Alpha is shockingly tech illiterate. They are going to go into the App Store, type “period tracker” and download the first thing that pops up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

A potentially good option if you're on Android is putting it in your secure folder. It's basically just a sub directory for all your files, notes, and pictures, but it an encrypted form.

So if you're technical enough to understand jow to enter a password (most people), then you have an easy to use option. Just don't forget your password, and don't set it to something easy to crack. It's the same rules for any other password.

I'm sure there are similar options for windows/mac/ios

But if you're a more technical user, by all means it is in your interest to encrypt the whole thing.

https://lemmy.world/post/21961202

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Write it down on paper or put it in a word document or excel spreadsheet (or FOSS equivalent if you don't have Office 365).

From a medical perspective, a handwritten journal with dates and notes about the amount/consistency of the flow as well as associated symptoms would be the most useful. Having irregular periods that last for 3 days with very heavy bleeding would have a very different diagnostic approach than irregular periods that last 3 to 5 days with normal bleeding and horrible cramps.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (13 children)

Non technical people are not raccoons, they can use a text file.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The number of people I deal with at work that have no idea what a file is...

And forget about folders.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago

I CAN'T FIND MY DOCUMENT!!!!

Okay, where did you save it?

I DON'T KNOW, I JUST CLICK SAVE LIKE ALWAYS!!!

*remotes into workstation and clicks save only to find the file was saved in their temp directory*