Hello Belly: Pregnancy Tracker Reviews

Tried HelloBelly since it was recommended in HelloBelly store and pregnancy websites. Unfortunately, many aspects of HelloBelly include high movement visuals which move automatically, such as the fast spinning baby on the landing page. The high movement visuals have been making me feel dizzy and disoriented. When I am trying to read something, these visuals pull my eyes and the jerky motion makes me feel dizzy. Sometimes the visuals pop out from the bottom of the screen and can catch me unprepared. Since I was tired of holding my hand over half my screen to cover the visuals and read something, I contacted support, who could not provide a solution beyond trying to skip among the pages to avoid the movements. Moving quickly among the pages to avoid these visuals does not seem to address my issue with high movement visuals, but rather potentially stimulate it with quick movements. I wouldn't be able to read if I can trying to quickly jump among the pages. HelloBelly does not have a way to reduce motion. Sure - this dizziness might be a symptom of pregnancy from seeing these fast moving visuals, but this is an app FOR pregnancy. Given this, I expected that HelloBelly might be better tailored to the variety of experiences during pregnancy. I'm already pass the first trimester. HelloBelly seemed to have a lot of potential, but I don't want to feel dizzy from an app.

I really enjoy using HelloBelly. The articles are well-timed and excellent - I look forward to a new one everyday.
I just wish HelloBelly would not ask me to turn notifications on every time I enter it. I’ve turned them off. And have said no every time I entered it. Trust me, I’ve made a decision not to have notifications on. So, stop badgering me. Would be great if they removed that!

I’m 12 weeks this week. If I put my due date in, HelloBelly tells me I’m 13. If I put in the date of my last period. HelloBelly tells me my due date the day before it is, and if I put in the weeks, HelloBelly tells me I’m due 11 days after I actually am. There’s not a whole lot of information on HelloBelly like there is on some other apps. There’s only a couple articles that are a paragraph or 2 long and not super informative about anything.

Verdict? Skip it.

Edit- I received a response from the developer- i May have missed articles that I didn’t go searching for, but my dashboard didn’t show me many articles, so I wasn’t going to scour HelloBelly looking for them. As far as the weeks thing though, maybe that’s something that should be changed- that’s not the way any other app, or the doctor reads it. I’ve never heard on anyone considering you being on your “13th week” until you are 13 weeks. And that’s still doesn’t solve the problem for the due date issue. If that was the case, my due date should be a week off when I put in how many weeks I am, not almost 2 weeks off.

HelloBelly gives little mini articles throughout each week, but it’s a little confusing because some of them are addressed to a significant other and some are not. This didn’t make sense to me because why would a guy add an app called hello belly with a little pregnant lady on it? It just seems like it’s clearly for the person who is pregnant, so the articles should be consistent with that.
Secondly, the language in the articles is confusing, almost like it’s been translated or written by someone who doesn’t speak common English. Also, one of them says not to get upset if your body rejects a pregnancy at week 7 because it’s a good thing. Really? This is so insensitive and all around strange to say. Why would a pregnant woman want to read that?
Lastly, the image of the baby is not at all scientifically accurate. When matched with countless other images on apps and websites, the baby shown on HelloBelly is several weeks ahead of where it should be.
Overall HelloBelly is confusing and awkward. I will not be using for the remainder of my pregnancy and wish I hadn’t spent the money.

As soon as I opened the free app I somehow purchased the $50 yearly subscription. The words and price did not pop up until after I used the finger print select option to move to the next screen. At that point it was too late. I decided to give HelloBelly a try and have found it not useful. My weeks/days are off once I managed to select the correct due date - which I could only select by choosing a different due date since they seem to be off a few days. For example when I chose Dec 26 it would pop up as the 24th or 25th. Then say the incorrect number of weeks and days into my pregnancy. The yoga feature is terrible. There are videos but the directions for each pose need to be read on screen and it doesn’t automatically move to the next pose. Also the timer is off. For poses that say a duration of 3 minutes, the timer only goes for 1 minute and poses that say 1 or 2 minutes for duration only have a 30 sec timer. I tried to request a refund via report a problem but it was denied instantly.

Such a waste of money. It doesn’t even give you the right “week” when you put in your due date or last period date. It’s always a week ahead.
The yoga videos are one min each, even once you purchase HelloBelly . You have to constantly close and click the next video to continue, which defeats the purpose of relaxing yoga.
The videos of the baby in the womb don’t start until week 13 and it’s not even super informational. Plus it’s less of a video and more of a photo you can rotate.
Now, I’m 10 weeks pregnant (of course HelloBelly incorrectly says I’m 11) and it says there isn’t information available for my week yet and to “stay tuned.”
I paid $20 for a year of HelloBelly and it was a huge mistake. I emailed them with my concerns and they said HelloBelly is still a work in progress.
I got a different app for FREE and wish I just did that in the first place. DO NOT GET IT unless you love wasting your money.

Edit to say: Even your response is unprofessional. I have the email I got originally that I will forward to you where I WAS told that the reason certain things weren’t working properly was because you were still “perfecting HelloBelly ” which is the same thing. I also tried to get a refund through HelloBelly Store and they denied me because they said it isn’t their fault that HelloBelly doesn’t work as advertised. And if you “don’t need the money” from customers that don’t like your app, please feel free to send my $20 back. Thanks.

First, this due date calculator is insanely frustrating. It goes completely against what your doctor (and what any other app) will calculate if you put in the correct start of your LMP, plus the weeks are off. I understand they have their own “philosophy” of what week you’re in but it’s not helpful to have everything else in your life agree on a number for the week with the exception of this one app.

I thought maybe I could get something out of it by ignoring that and using the tools like meditations. The meditation was not high quality or well written. It was frustrating that they harped on one pronoun which was not configurable and was incorrect for me. I get that some people are having a different gender baby, but if you’re gonna make it just one pronoun, maybe don’t use it 50 times in 2 minutes? Completely takes away from the experience.

So glad I didn’t pay for this. Will be deleting.

I paid full price for HelloBelly sight unseen and I think that was a mistake. The illustrations are really cute and I really like how they included prospective fathers, and that it didn't require a login.

However, the information is patronizing, uncited, and sometimes inaccurate. For example, it said that the Chinese moon method of predicting gender was 90% accurate, when it is only 50% accurate. It keeps telling me not to eat too much, but weight gain is actually not one of my worries. It gives lists of chemicals to avoid but not lists of common pregnancy symptoms. Then it asked me to review HelloBelly before I've read most of the cards (not taking me to HelloBelly store when I put in the stars!). I'm not sure if I can trust any of the information in HelloBelly now, even though I was hoping that a paid app would have good research.

I like HelloBelly but, I automatically got charged when I opened it for the first time. I didn’t choose an option or hold my finger down for authorization. I’m so confused what to do because I’ve tried sending my “report a problem” through Apple Support but, I have gotten no where because all it says is “We could not process your request at this time.” I’m a mother of two and we have a vacation coming up this next week and I just had $26 dollars ripped from my account without me authorizing it. I don’t know what happened but, I’m trying my hardest to get it resolved. That $26 would be a meal for me and my husband. I hope I hear from someone soon about this issue! Thank you.

Savanna

I actually would give this 3.5 stars if that were an option.

The good: I downloaded 6 pregnancy apps and this one is in the top 2 for interface and ease of use. I am debating whether to buy a subscription to get full access to the features especially the to eat or not to eat feature.

However, as many have noted in the reviews, the “weeks” calculation is off by a week, so if you are at 7 weeks 1 day, HelloBelly says you are at 8 weeks. I read the developer’s response that you are technically on the week ahead, in this case 8 weeks as you have completed week 7. BUT NO OTHER APP NOR DOCTORS calculate your weeks this way. It’s very confusing.

I don’t understand why they just don’t fix this calculation. In pregnancy knowing the weeks matter. I think this is a big issue and one that is making me hesitant to spend money on for additional features. It’s a pretty app but really needs to make sense medically for me to keep using.

Downloaded HelloBelly today and one of my first interactions on it was to read about how my first ultrasound was coming up (which it isn’t because I’m not getting any ultrasounds and it shouldn’t be assumed that everyone wants or needs one) and is “a harmless procedure.” This kind of misinformation is infuriating as a birth doula who works hard to help women actually be informed about the risks of every procedure considered standard routine in our western medical system. Even the FDA claims openly that we don’t know the long-term risks of routine ultrasound, especially on women for whom it is not medically necessary! Read a book, Happy Belly! Ultrasounds are entertainment for the masses and cannot prevent harm to mother or baby.

Writing this while being on the 8th month of pregnancy. I’m exhausted, overwhelmed, and above all completely terrified I’m going to do the wrong thing for me and my future baby. But HelloBelly was really helpful: instead of reading "pregnant" books from the endless list, I got essential information from Tips (the call the pieces of advice so) in Hello Belly and saved time for me, my health, my husband and family! Thank you so much for creating it and making it so funny!

HelloBelly provides some good information but unfortunately this is overshadowed by negative advice and quite frankly unresearched and thoughtless advice. There is a lot of information here that is more conservative than advice given by reputable sources, and this advice comes with warnings about the dire consequences that will occur if you don’t follow the advise. This is quite frankly unneeded stress pregnant women don’t need and in conflict with more reputable sources. It also offers a good amount of mental health advise which is weird first of all (I.e. there is no euphoria?) and second of all, is also not medically sound advise (go to the park if you are sad?). Finally the grammar is pretty terrible in this ap.

Why does the latest update not give an option to remove the spinning fetus at the top of the page? The entire reason I sought out this particular app was because I WOULDN’T have a strange 3D representation of an imaginary fetus staring me in the face every time I opened it. Not to mention the fact that the new layout squishes down the existing daily tips and makes them harder to navigate.

The giant spinning fetus was already available in the side menu! Why does it need to default to my main page and take up half the screen?! This is not the first thing I want to see in the morning!

I’m feeling rather dumb for spending $26 on an app that has all the same information as the many free ones out there. In addition, I’m super frustrated at not being able to edit my due date (which was changed by doctors 3x as my baby grew). When I try to edit the date, it won’t let me change it to accurate date - it keeps jumping to July for some reason. I’m around 30 weeks now and have been reading information two weeks off of schedule. It makes the entire app experience less enjoyable when you know it’s not consistent with where you’re at in your pregnancy.

I put in my LMP, and it gave me a due date one day too early compared to all other due date calculators (I’m an ultrasound tech and work in OB, so I’m positive it’s HelloBelly that’s wrong). This calculated me to be 1 day further along than I actually am. So I adjusted my due date manually and it changed the LMP the wrong direction and then said I was 2 days further along than I actually am. The calculator appears totally broken. I finally fudged the calculator enough to get an accurate due date, but so far my first impression of HelloBelly isn’t great.

HelloBelly is just terrible. I’ve tried to set my due date like 10 times and it simply will not accept my correct due date. It keeps setting it to the day before my due date. Also, it is telling me I’m on week 11 when I’m at the beginning of week 10. In addition, the prompt to pay $30 for the “full service,” which apparently doesn’t work anyway, was at the very begininning when you are setting up HelloBelly so I accidentally paid for it and there’s no way to cancel it after the fact. Worse pregnancy app on my phone. I would delete it but I was scammed into paying $30 for the stupid thing.

I wrote another review saying the content was lackluster and HelloBelly is in NO WAY worth the money. I saw in the other reviews and replies that the developer is suggesting that refunds are available through HelloBelly Store. Let me clarify that is NOT the case and apple only refunds for very specific cases. Displeasure is not one of them.

I can’t recommend other apps more. Any of them. This is so boring I never use it. It’s added zero value to my life, and frankly I’m so angry about it I’ve written 2 freaking reviews. THIRTY DOLLARS?!?

I’d like to say I was high or drunk but sadly I was just stupid. HelloBelly is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. Also, like a lot of other reviewers said it can’t seem to get your due date or week correct which is excessively annoying. It’s not complicated and why Why WHY would I want to track my pregnancy differently than my medical provider? Moronic to the core.

I’m going to delete it and forget this nightmare happened. Woof.

I love HelloBelly! It’s a great tool during pregnancy and keeps me completely in-the-know about what’s happening in my body. I get so excited each week to open the new tips, my husband often does it with me so we both know exactly what’s happening and developing. I love being informed, it makes me feel more at ease. HelloBelly definitely helps with that.

HelloBelly is cute. And that’s all. Very judgmental and made for a certain public which in not part of. I’m sure it’s important to have a healthy diet in every stage of our life, but give me a break. You can’t talk like that to women specially considering the vulnerable position we are at. Not everyone can afford some of the tips and the pressure you guys put it’s a lot. I read some posts suggesting I would have nausea and never did, which is great. But why generalize things like that? Did some research and could not find the people responsible for HelloBelly, other than 2 Russian men (?).

I’m 12 weeks this week. If I put my due date in, HelloBelly tells me I’m 13. If I put in the date of my last period. HelloBelly tells me my due date the day before it is, and if I put in the weeks, HelloBelly tells me I’m due 11 days after I actually am. There’s not a whole lot of information on HelloBelly like there is on some other apps. There’s only a couple articles that are a paragraph or 2 long and not super informative about anything.

Verdict? Skip it.

Edit- I received a response from the developer- i May have missed articles that I didn’t go searching for, but my dashboard didn’t show me many articles, so I wasn’t going to scour HelloBelly looking for them. As far as the weeks thing though, maybe that’s something that should be changed- that’s not the way any other app, or the doctor reads it. I’ve never heard on anyone considering you being on your “13th week” until you are 13 weeks. And that’s still doesn’t solve the problem for the due date issue. If that was the case, my due date should be a week off when I put in how many weeks I am, not almost 2 weeks off.

When I saw HelloBelly advertised on social I thought it looked cute and downloaded it without reading the reviews. After it was downloaded and I started looking at it I found it rude and insensitive. The problem with is app is that instead of saying things like in week 10 some may experience this it says things like “pregnancy brain, getting stupid or clever”. Or your loved one has gained weight better pay more attention to her. Not all women have these “symptoms” and not all women feel insecure about their changing bodies. I feel like HelloBelly fails to recognize that which is unfortunate and sad.