When you have an allergy, avoiding your trigger becomes a way of life. But it's not always easy.
Food allergies can be challenging when you eat out, and seasonal allergies can make it difficult to be outside at times. The good news? Technology may be able to help.
We chose the year's best allergy apps for their quality content, reliability, great reviews, and ability to help you avoid allergens of all kinds.
AroundMe
iPhone rating: 5 stars
Android rating: 4 stars
Price: Free with in-app purchases
When you live with allergies, easy access to what you need when you need it can be important. Find the closest hospital, restaurant, supermarket, and other business in your immediate vicinity with AroundMe. This robust app gives you instant information about your surroundings, pinpointing nearby places of interest on a map and providing the best routes from your starting point. Add the details to your contact list or email it to a friend, and get where you want to go.
Allergies and How to Cure Them
Android rating: 4 stars
Price: Free
This audio book is an easy way to learn all about allergies, from the general definition and different types, to tips for prevention. Browse the table of contents to find the information that interests you, including airborne allergies, contact allergies, food additive allergies, allergy clinics, alternative medicines, allergy skin tests, and more.
Yummly Recipes + Shopping List
iPhone rating: 5 stars
Android rating: 5 stars
Price: Free
Yummly features more than two million recipes that you can personalize to your tastes and dietary needs. Just plug in your allergies and preferences, and it'll dish up recipes you'll love. Follow the step-by-step guided recipes, collect and save your favorites, and even find recipes you can make with ingredients on hand.
ShopWell
iPhone rating: 5 stars
Android rating: 4 stars
Price: Free
Simplify nutrition labels and find foods that suit your lifestyle and dietary restrictions. The app gives you a personalized nutrition score when you create a food profile with your dietary goals, allergies, health concerns, and dislikes. Then you can scan items to see how they match your needs. Create lists of your favorite finds and even share them with friends.
First Aid: American Red Cross
iPhone rating: 4 stars
Android rating: 5 stars
Price: Free
The American Red Cross First Aid app features videos, interactive quizzes, and step-by-step advice for all kinds of medical emergencies, including allergies and anaphylaxis, so you can feel better prepared in the event of an emergency. It's also fully integrated with 911, which means you can contact an EMS directly through the app.
Allergy Pollen Count
iPhone rating: 4 stars
Price: Free
People with seasonal allergies will find this app invaluable. In addition to pollen and mold counts based on actual air samplings conducted by pollen-certified counters of the National Allergy Bureau, the app also provides continuously updated, educational, allergy-related videos featuring Dr. Safadi, a board-certified allergist.
Propeller Health
iPhone rating: 4 stars
Android rating: 4 stars
Price: Free
This FDA-approved technology works with existing asthma and COPD inhalers to help people better understand their symptoms for greater control over their allergies. The app records when and where you use your inhaler to identify triggers and track symptoms. You can also use it to customize a schedule for controller medications, see personalized patterns, trends, and tips about your asthma or COPD, check your daily asthma forecast with details about pollutants, humidity, and temperature, and much more.
My Pollen Forecast
iPhone rating: 5 stars
Price: Free
Track pollen count to keep your allergies under control with My Pollen Forecast. The stylish app shares hay fever forecasts and includes a diary for tracking your symptoms for greater insight. Check out maps of local areas with the highest pollen count and learn about the pollens that affect you the most.
Plume Air Report
iPhone rating: 5 stars
Android rating: 4 stars
Price: Free
Check the air quality wherever you are or wherever you're going with Plume Air Report. The app features real-time air quality data, plus 24-hour forecasts so you can plan ahead. This worldwide air quality forecaster is also designed to give you customized recommendations about the best time for your favorite outdoor activities so you can keep pollution exposure to a minimum.
If you want to nominate an app for this list, email us at nominations@healthline.com.
Jessica Timmons has been a writer and editor for more than 10 years. She writes, edits, and consults for a great group of steady and growing clients as a work-at-home mom of four, squeezing in a side gig as a fitness co-director for a martial arts academy.