A survey of 1,604 US phone owners shows why people quit health and habit apps. Effort beats boredom as the reason, and the fix is simpler than a new app.

We took the raw figures from a goal-setting experiment and a weight-loss trial and computed what telling a friend actually adds. It is most of the gain.

Habit apps fail because you have to remember to open them. A daily text with a one-word reply removes that step, and a buddy doubles the odds it sticks.