10 Apps That Use The Streaks Feature

This post is part of a series on how gamification mechanics are used effectively in various types of consumer apps. You may find these gamification examples helpful if you are looking to incorporate gamification into your product strategy.

The Streaks Feature and Its Role in Gamification

In gamification, "Streaks" track consecutive days (or time periods) a user performs a desired action. They're interesting because humans are motivated to avoid breaking established patterns and like to see progress visually. Apps use streaks to boost engagement and retention by encouraging consistent behavior, tapping into loss aversion. This consistency can add value to users by helping them form habits and achieve their goals within the app's framework. Now, without further ado, here are 10 apps that use the streaks mechanic to delight and retain users.

10 Apps That Use The Streaks Feature

Duolingo

Duolingo is a language-learning platform that uses gamification to motivate users to learn new languages through points, levels, and streaks.

Duolingo uses Streaks, a count of consecutive days a user completes a lesson, as a core engagement and retention tool. By visually representing progress and consistency, Streaks tap into users' desire to avoid loss and maintain achievements. This simple mechanic encourages daily app usage, turning language learning into a habit. Users are motivated to complete at least one lesson each day to avoid breaking their Streak, leading to more consistent learning. Beyond just consistent usage, Streaks contribute to a sense of accomplishment and progress. Seeing the number of days grow provides a tangible measure of effort, boosting motivation and building a positive association with the app. Features like Streak Freezes, which prevent a Streak from breaking if a user misses a day, add a safety net, reducing anxiety and improving user satisfaction. Ultimately, the Streaks feature adds value by promoting consistent learning habits, which is crucial for language acquisition. It gamifies the learning process, making it more enjoyable and motivating. This increased engagement translates to more time spent learning, leading to better learning outcomes for users.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy provides free educational resources and uses points, badges, and progress tracking to motivate users to learn various subjects.

The Khan Academy app leverages the Streaks feature to motivate consistent learning. By tracking consecutive days of activity, the app encourages users to log in and engage with content regularly. Seeing a streak visually represented provides a sense of progress and accomplishment, making users less likely to break the chain and lose their streak. This continuous engagement translates to increased time spent learning on the platform. The Streaks feature isn't just about gamification; it adds value by reinforcing learning habits. Consistent practice, even in short bursts, is proven to improve knowledge retention and skill development. The app uses gentle reminders to help users maintain their streaks, prompting them to complete a quick lesson or exercise each day. These small, consistent efforts, spurred by the desire to keep the streak alive, contribute to long-term learning gains. Ultimately, the Streaks feature is a tool for building positive learning routines. It provides a simple, trackable goal that users can easily achieve, creating a sense of momentum and encouraging them to continue their educational journey. By tying engagement to a tangible reward (the unbroken streak), Khan Academy subtly motivates users to stay committed to learning and derive maximum benefit from the platform.

Simply Piano

Simply Piano offers personalized courses and uses gamified exercises to make learning piano fun and engaging. It provides instant feedback and adapts to your skill level.

Simply Piano leverages the Streaks feature to encourage consistent practice and increase user engagement. By rewarding daily or regular sessions with a visible streak counter, the app taps into our natural desire for progress and completion. This simple visual cue acts as a powerful motivator, prompting users to open the app and practice even on days when they might otherwise skip it. The fear of losing the streak often overrides inertia, resulting in more frequent and sustained engagement. Beyond mere motivation, Streaks also add value by subtly reinforcing the habit of playing piano. Regular practice is crucial for skill development, and the streak provides a tangible reminder of this commitment. The longer the streak, the more invested the user becomes in their musical journey and the more reluctant they are to break the chain. This consistency translates into improved playing ability and a greater sense of accomplishment, further solidifying their attachment to the app. Ultimately, the Streaks feature in Simply Piano isn't just about earning badges or numbers. It's a strategically designed tool that promotes consistent practice, fosters habit formation, and enhances the overall learning experience, leading to improved user retention and a greater perceived value of the app.

Strava

Strava is a social network for athletes that tracks activities and allows users to share progress, join challenges, and compete on leaderboards.

Strava uses the Streaks feature to encourage users to exercise consistently. By tracking consecutive days, weeks, or months of activity, Strava motivates users to avoid breaking their streak. This gamification aspect taps into users' desire for achievement and avoids loss aversion, making them more likely to continue using the app regularly to maintain their streak. Streaks also add value to users by providing a visible representation of their progress and commitment to their fitness goals. The visual feedback of a growing streak offers a sense of accomplishment and reinforces positive behavior. It provides an objective metric for measuring consistency and can serve as a powerful motivator, especially during periods of low motivation. Ultimately, Strava's Streaks feature enhances engagement and retention by leveraging behavioral psychology principles. It makes fitness feel more rewarding, turning exercise into a game and turning app usage into a habit. This encourages users to stay active and connected to the Strava community, benefiting both the user and the platform.

Headspace

Headspace uses a progress system, badges and streaks to help users learn and practice meditation techniques to improve mindfulness.

Headspace uses the Streaks feature to encourage consistent meditation practice and increase user engagement. By tracking consecutive days of meditation, Streaks provide visual reinforcement and a sense of accomplishment, motivating users to maintain their routine. Seeing the streak grow creates a fear of breaking it, prompting users to open the app daily even when motivation is low. Beyond simple gamification, Streaks add value by fostering habit formation. Consistent meditation, tracked by the streak, leads to better stress management, improved focus, and overall mental well-being. This reinforces the positive impact of the app, making users more likely to continue their subscription and utilize Headspace's services long-term. Ultimately, the Streaks feature is a simple yet effective tool. It transforms meditation from a sporadic activity into a consistent habit. By turning consistency into a measurable achievement, Headspace encourages regular use, leading to tangible mental health benefits and increased user loyalty.

MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal tracks calorie intake and exercise, offering personalized goals and rewards to help users achieve weight loss and fitness milestones.

MyFitnessPal uses streaks to encourage consistent logging of meals and exercise, fostering engagement and retention. By visually tracking consecutive days of logging, users are motivated to maintain their streak and avoid "breaking" it. This simple mechanic leverages the human desire for completion and progress. The app presents streaks prominently, reminding users of their commitment and the progress they've made. This consistent reminder reinforces the habit of tracking their food and exercise. Longer streaks become a source of pride and achievement, adding value by providing a tangible representation of the user's dedication to their health goals. Ultimately, streaks help MyFitnessPal users build sustainable habits around tracking their nutrition and fitness. By gamifying the process, the app increases the likelihood of users remaining active and continuing to use the platform long-term. This, in turn, benefits users by supporting their ongoing health and wellness journey.

Untappd

Untappd is a social networking platform for beer enthusiasts. Users can rate and review beers, earn badges, and track their beer-drinking experiences.

Untappd's Streaks feature is a simple mechanic designed to encourage daily app usage. By checking in beers on consecutive days, users build a streak, displayed prominently on their profile. This gamified system taps into users' desire for progress and accomplishment. The visual representation of the streak serves as a constant reminder and motivator, prompting users to continue checking in beers, even if they might not otherwise. This streak building has a direct impact on engagement. Users are more likely to open the app daily to maintain their streak, leading to more exploration of beers, venues, and friends' activity. The fear of losing their streak acts as a strong retention driver. The longer a streak, the more invested a user becomes in maintaining it, increasing the likelihood of continued app use. While Streaks might seem purely cosmetic, they offer users value beyond simple points. They encourage users to actively engage with their beer consumption and the Untappd community, discovering new beers and staying connected with friends. This ultimately reinforces Untappd's core value proposition as a comprehensive beer discovery and social platform, solidifying its position as a go-to app for beer enthusiasts.

YNAB

YNAB (You Need a Budget) is a budgeting software that uses rules and education to help people gain control of their money. Although not directly gamified, it promotes engagement through its methodology and community.

YNAB uses Streaks to encourage consistent budgeting habits. The app tracks consecutive days you categorize transactions. Each day you categorize at least one transaction, your streak increases. Seeing this number grow motivates users to maintain the habit and avoid breaking the streak. This simple gamification element adds value by making budgeting feel less like a chore. The visual progress and sense of accomplishment associated with a longer streak tap into behavioral psychology principles, reinforcing the positive behavior of actively managing finances. Ultimately, Streaks in YNAB improve engagement and retention because they provide a clear and immediate reward for consistent use. This continuous positive feedback loop encourages users to build a lasting relationship with the app and their budget, leading to better financial outcomes.

Yousician

Yousician is a music education platform that offers interactive lessons for guitar, piano, ukulele, bass, and singing. It uses gamification to track progress and motivate users.

Yousician utilizes the Streaks feature as a core driver of user engagement and retention. The app tracks consecutive days a user practices, rewarding consistency. This creates a sense of accomplishment and motivates daily interaction, fostering a habit of regular practice. The visible streak acts as a reminder and a challenge, prompting users to maintain their progress and avoid breaking the chain. This streak system adds value to users in several ways. By encouraging consistent practice, it accelerates skill development. Users see tangible results faster, making the learning process more rewarding. The gamified element of maintaining a streak provides a fun and motivating framework for practice, transforming it from a chore into a personal challenge. Ultimately, the Streaks feature in Yousician leverages behavioral psychology to keep users engaged and progressing. By reinforcing positive habits and providing visual reminders of progress, it transforms the app from a simple learning tool into a motivating companion on the musical journey. The longer the streak, the more invested users become, significantly increasing long-term retention and solidifying Yousician's value proposition.

Nike Run Club

Nike Run Club tracks runs and provides challenges, badges, and leaderboards to encourage users to achieve their fitness goals and compete with friends.

The Nike Run Club (NRC) app leverages its Streaks feature to boost user engagement and retention by gamifying running. Streaks encourage users to run consistently by tracking consecutive weeks of running at least once. This creates a sense of accomplishment and motivates users to maintain their streak, preventing them from skipping weeks and dropping out of the routine. Losing a streak can be demotivating, so NRC strategically uses notifications and reminders to prompt users to run before their streak is broken. This gentle pressure encourages consistent activity. Furthermore, users can view their personal best streaks, providing a tangible measure of their progress and commitment. This fosters a sense of pride and encourages them to beat their previous records. Ultimately, the Streaks feature adds value by providing a simple but effective framework for building a consistent running habit. It provides a sense of accountability and positive reinforcement, turning running into a game with clear goals and rewards. By tapping into the psychology of habit formation, NRC effectively uses Streaks to keep users engaged and coming back to the app.

Conclusion

These are just a few examples of how streaks can be used as a gamification mechanic to improve consumer apps and platforms. We hope you found these examples inspiring and that they help you think about how you can incorporate gamification into your own product strategy.

If you're looking to build gamification into your app or platform, we encourage you to check out Trophy, a set of APIs and tools that make it easy.