Rooted - Grow Habits
Science-backed habit tracking
$1.99 · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
100% free, built on 7 peer-reviewed studies. No streaks, no points, no subscriptions — just the science of how habits actually form.
Most habit apps punish you for missing a day. Rooted doesn't, because the research says missing once doesn't matter.
I'm a solo developer and I built Rooted because every habit app I tried was doing the opposite of what the psychology research actually recommends. Streaks that make you feel like a failure when you miss one day. Points systems that replace your real motivation with fake rewards. Reminders that just add noise.
So I went back to the papers and built something different.
HOW IT WORKS
You pick something you already do every day. Making coffee, sitting down at your desk, getting into bed. Then you attach your new habit to it: “After I make my morning coffee, I will meditate for 5 minutes.”
That’s called an implementation intention. It’s one of the most validated techniques in behaviour change research. A meta-analysis of 94 studies found it has a medium-to-large effect on follow-through. It works because the decision is already made. You just follow the cue.
Your progress is tracked as total repetitions and an automaticity score, not as a streak that resets to zero.
WHAT’S INSIDE
• Implementation intentions: every habit is “After I [cue], I will [habit]”
• 80+ habit templates across health, productivity, mindfulness, and more
• Automaticity tracking based on the real science of how habits form
• Growth stages: Seed, Sprout, Sapling, Rooted, Deeply Rooted
• Milestone check-ins that ask “Does skipping feel strange?” as you progress
• Your Garden: a dedicated view for habits that have truly taken root
• Progress dashboard with weekly overview and average automaticity
• 5 visual themes with light and dark modes
• Full data export and import
• Interactive onboarding that teaches the science while you set up
NO GAMIFICATION
No points. No badges. No XP. No leaderboards. Research shows these things actually undermine intrinsic motivation over time. Rooted gives you honest progress feedback instead.
HONEST PRIVACY
All your habit data stays on your device. No accounts. No sign-ups. We collect anonymous usage analytics to understand how the app is used and make it better — things like which features are popular and how far users progress. We never see your habit names, cues, or personal content. No ads. No data selling. No third-party sharing.
THE RESEARCH
The app is built on 7 specific peer-reviewed studies. They’re all cited inside the app with full titles, authors, journals, effect sizes, and DOI links. Not “inspired by science.” Actually built on it, and you can check every claim.
This is v1. I’m one person and I’m actively working on it. If something doesn’t work for you or you’ve got ideas, I want to hear about it. Hit Send Feedback in settings. Your feedback decides what gets built next.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Rooted is now completely free — every feature, no paywalls, no subscriptions. Updated privacy messaging to honestly disclose anonymous analytics. Fixed an issue where rooted habits could lose their status when exporting and importing data.
The developer, Johan Smit, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Johan Smit
- Size
- 58.9 MB
- Category
- Health & Fitness
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.1 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.1 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 15.1 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.1 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 SparkHut
