CARROT Hunger is a smart calorie counter with a mean streak

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In their efforts to trigger mass market adoption, most food-tracking apps and tools go out of the way to be nice to you. After all, who wants an app which publicly shames you for gorging on unhealthy food — or choosing a greasy takeout over five sticks of carrot and a crouton?

Try telling that to the creator of CARROT Hunger, an hilarious new smart calorie counter which rewards you for healthy eating — and brutally punishes you for overindulging.

Your on-screen avatar gains or loses weight depending on the foodstuffs you choose to enjoy, while the app also offers easy-to-understand advice for burning off specific items of food — meaning that scoffing a single slice of pizza demands a 90-minute walk to cancel it out.

So where’s the nasty bit? Well, thanks to iBeacon integration, CARROT can make smart location-based observations. While that might mean gently prodding you to log your foods when you sit down near to the dinner table, it may also mean that your virtual assistant will yell abuse at you if you open the fridge after exceeding your daily calorie goal.

Of course, it is possible to bargain with CARROT Hunger. If you do happen to go over your calorie goal for the day, the app will let you bribe it with a dollar to keep it happy. Decide to keep your money to yourself and you’ll be punished with a fullscreen ad (many of which are joke ads, btw.)

I’ve long enjoyed previous CARROT apps such as CARROT Fit, so I’ve got no hesitation recommending its nutrition-oriented sequel — even though you might wonder why you ever downloaded it when it’s telling you off for reaching for that delicious microwavable cheeseburger at three in the morning.

Source: iTunes

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