Failed Health / Fitness Apps

2 curated postmortems abouthealth / fitness products that stalled, shut down, or missed the market.

A generic spiritual habit tracker that learned faith products need real community specificity

R.I.P.

MAY '2024 – NOV '2024

FailedComposite exampleWrong Audience

WorkedThe onboarding was well-designed. Users picked their spiritual tradition (or 'none'), sele…

NeedsRebuild thesis: The generic spiritual tracker should not be revived.

Revenue

$0 (planned a $3.99/month subscription, never launched it — too few users)

Users

~700 downloads across iOS and Android, ~120 used it more than once

Built in

4 months

Has users

An AI journaling app with a magical first session and a brutal two-week retention cliff

R.I.P.

AUG '2024 – FEB '2025

FailedComposite exampleCouldn't Retain Users

WorkedFirst-session engagement was extremely high.

NeedsRebuild thesis: Daily journaling is a weak behavior to monetize, but episodic reflection a…

Revenue

$860 (annual subscriptions at $29.99/year — about 29 subscribers at peak)

Users

~3,200 downloads, ~1,100 wrote at least one entry, 29 paid subscribers

Built in

3 months

Had revenueHas usersLow rebuild difficulty