Tested
Amazfit Helio Strap
Spoons was built on this strap, so it’s the one we know best. It shares your steps too.
Pacing that’s on your side.
Your pacing companion for ME/CFS, Long Covid and other energy-limiting conditions.
Coming to Android and iPhone. Pacing is free, and Plus is £4.99 a month. Your health data stays on your phone.
7spoons leftYou started with 12 today
12:35pm
a proper rest
Right on pace. Keep doing what you’re doing.
How it works
See what today is costing, while there’s still time to rest.
Pacing means staying within the energy you have. Spoons are a way to count it: you start each day with a set number, and everything costs some. The idea is Christine Miserandino’s spoon theory.
Wear your strap
Most heart-rate straps work: chest straps, arm bands and many watches.
Heart rate becomes spoons
Spoons counts each minute for you, and adds anything you log by hand.
One dial, one plain sentence
Today shows what’s left and how the day is going, in words. No dashboard to decode.
Heart rate doesn’t see everything.
Thinking, talking, noise and stress can cost spoons without raising your heart rate much. Add those by hand, and Spoons counts them too.
- The phone call you rehearsecosts one before you’ve even dialled
- A friend visitingall that talking and listening
- A waiting roomthe noise, the lights, the forms
Rest is part of the plan.
There’s no guilt for a day spent lying down. Spoons speaks up softly, and only when it helps. It will never tell you to push through.
- No streaks
- No scores to beat
- No red alarms
- No telling-off
Spoons · 10:54am
Time for a pause
Your heart rate has been in your Exertion zone for a couple of minutes. A short rest now saves spoons later.
Spoons · 2:45pm
Spending ahead of pace
You have 4.2 of 12 spoons left. An evenly spread day would have 5.8 left by now. Could something wait until tomorrow?
You know your body. Spoons helps you hear it a little sooner.
Nudges arrive even with the app closed. Snooze one with a tap, or turn them off.
Will my strap work?
Probably. Most heart-rate straps use standard Bluetooth heart rate, the same signal that gym machines and cycling apps listen for. If yours does, Spoons can read it.
The strap’s own app keeps working as normal, with no extra login.
Reported working
Straps people tell us about
None yet. Tell us your strap when you join the waitlist, and we’ll know which to test first.
Won’t work
Apple Watch, and most Fitbit trackers
They keep heart rate inside their own apps.
Spoons isn’t affiliated with Amazfit or any other strap maker, and we don’t earn anything from straps. Choosing a strap? Here’s what to look for.
Your health data is stored on your phone.
- Not on our serversWe only hold what’s needed to run your account.
- No sign-up neededOpen the app and start. You only need an email to move your account to a new phone.
- No ads, no tracking, and we never sell your data
- Sharing is always your choiceThat goes for anything we add in future too. Read the privacy policy.
Pacing with your strap is free. Plus adds your patterns, sleep, reports and themes for £4.99 a month.
Or £49.99 a year, which is about £10 less than paying monthly.
Early access is free, Plus included. People who join early get a founding offer: [founding offer, to come]. If Plus ever ends, nothing you’ve logged is hidden.
| Compared | Spoons Free | Spoons Plus | Typical fitness apps | Typical pacing apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacing today | ||||
| Built for energy-limiting illness | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Rewards rest, not activity | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| No streaks or goals to hit | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, Mostly |
| Works with most heart-rate straps | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Health data stored on your phone | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Looking back | ||||
| Trends and patterns over time | The last week | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| A report for your doctor or clinician | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Sleep score and stability | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cycle tracking | Logging periods | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sickness and vaccines | No | Yes | No | Varies |
| All the living themes | Dusk and Blossom | Yes | No | No |
| Price | Free | £4.99 a month | Varies | A subscription, plus their device |
Ticks and crosses for other apps show what’s typical, not any one product. See everything in Free and Plus.
Come and pace with us.
Spoons is coming to Android and iPhone. Join the waitlist and we’ll email you when early access opens.
That’s the short version.
By our rough count, that was about one spoon of reading. Everything below is extra. Read what you need, or come back another day. It’ll still be here.
A short read
How spoons are counted
Every minute of heart rate falls into one of four zones. They’re set from your resting heart rate and age, and you can change them.
- RestCosts nothing
- ActivityCosts a little
- ExertionAbout four times as much
- PeakMost of all
A short, hard burst costs more than its length suggests, and effort without a break builds up. After a peak, the next few minutes cost a little more too, while your heart settles.
If you have POTS, standing up can raise your heart rate a lot. Beta blockers can hold it down. Zones can be adjusted for both.
Try a heart rate
For someone whose Exertion zone starts at 88.
0.3
ActivityPottering about, making a drink
A short list
Everything else Spoons does
Log as much or as little as you like. Spoons works if all you do is wear your strap.
Your day
How today is going at a glance, with your heart rate as it happens and slow breathing when you want it.
- The dial
- Gentle nudges
- Widgets
- Activity Monitor
- Breathe
Your body
The things that shape your energy.
- Sleep
- Stability Plus
- Symptoms
- Medications
- Periods
- Cycle Plus
- Sickness and vaccines Plus
Your patterns
For looking back when you want to, with a report to take to your doctor or clinician.
- Check-ins
- Journal
- This week’s trends
- Longer trends Plus
- Month at a glance
- Doctor report Plus
Make it yours
Living themes, drawn by hand. The sky follows the time of day where you are.
Dusk and Blossom are free, and the others come with Plus.
A few lines
No strap yet? You can still start.
Spoons counts from your heart rate, so it works best with a strap. Without one, you can still log spoons by hand and use check-ins, symptoms, medications, periods and the journal, all for free.
If you’d like a strap later, here’s what to look for.
Open what you need
Questions people ask
Is Spoons for me?
Spoons is made for ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis, which some people know as CFS or chronic fatigue), Long Covid and other energy-limiting conditions. People with fibromyalgia, EDS, MS fatigue and similar conditions may find it helpful too.
If doing too much today leaves you worse a day or two later, Spoons was made with you in mind. That delayed crash is called PEM, or post-exertional malaise.
Why heart rate?
Heart rate shows effort while it’s happening, often before you feel it. Many people with ME/CFS pace by staying under a heart-rate limit, and Spoons builds on that with a daily budget.
[The organisations that recommend heart-rate pacing, named and linked, checked against their sources before publishing.]
What can’t heart rate see?
Heart rate doesn’t see everything. Thinking, talking, noise and stress can cost spoons without raising your heart rate much. Add those by hand, and Spoons counts them too.
Will my strap work?
Most heart-rate straps that share standard Bluetooth heart rate will. That includes chest straps, arm bands and many watches with a heart-rate broadcast mode. See which straps we know about.
What should I look for in a strap?
Comfort comes first. You’ll wear it most of the day, so think about touch and pressure. Arm bands are soft and sit out of the way. Chest straps tend to be the most accurate, but some people find them hard to wear for long.
Battery life. Look for days between charges, not hours. Charging less often is one less thing to remember.
Standard Bluetooth heart rate. Check that it says it shares heart rate over Bluetooth, sometimes called “heart-rate broadcast” or “Bluetooth HR”. That’s what Spoons reads.
What’s free, and what’s in Plus?
Free is for pacing today. Plus is for looking back and going deeper. It costs £4.99 a month, or £49.99 a year, which is about £10 less than paying monthly.
Free
- Any heart-rate strap, the live dial and the plain sentence on Today
- Gentle nudges, and zones adjusted for POTS and beta blockers
- Logging spoons by hand, check-ins, symptoms, medications and periods
- Every past day, plus export, backup and delete
- Severity settings, the calmer display options, widgets and Breathe
- The Dusk and Blossom themes
Plus
- Trends beyond this week, and patterns such as how long effort takes to catch up with you
- A report to take to your doctor or clinician
- Your sleep score and stability
- Cycle tracking, sickness and vaccines
- All the living themes
What do you hold about me?
Your health data is stored on your phone, not on our servers. We only hold what’s needed to run your account: which phone and app version you use, your language and time zone, what you’ve agreed to, and your subscription and support messages if you have any.
If you join the waitlist, we also hold your email address, only for the waitlist. Read the privacy policy.
What happens after early access?
Spoons moves to the app stores. Free stays free, and Plus costs £4.99 a month. People who joined early get [founding offer, to come]. Nothing you’ve logged is lost or hidden.
Is Spoons a medical device?
No. Spoons is a wellbeing and pacing aid. It doesn’t diagnose, treat or prevent any illness, and it doesn’t replace advice from your doctor or clinician. Your spoon count is an estimate from your heart rate, plus anything you add. You know your body best.
Why we made Spoons
[Founders’ note, two or three sentences, to be written by Josh with Emily’s agreement.]Josh and Emily [How much to say about Emily’s ME is her call.]
Spend your energy gently.
Join the waitlist, and we’ll email you when early access opens.