A Streaks alternative without a streak to break
If a streak going back to zero is what puts you off, Ethos is a Streaks alternative that measures habits differently. Instead of counting days in a row, it gives you Rhythm, a number out of a hundred that dips a few points on a missed day and never resets. Ethos is also a daily planner with times and a family organiser. Streaks is the focused choice if you want a habit list with Apple Health built in. Both are on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, and neither shows adverts. Ethos isn’t connected to Streaks or to Crunchy Bagel.
Counting days in a row, or a running score
Streaks’ website says it plainly: every day you complete a task, your streak grows, and if you miss a day it goes back to zero. You choose how often each task needs doing, so a weekday-only task keeps its streak over the weekend. Its statistics show your current and best streak and completion rates.
Ethos doesn’t count days in a row at all. Every finished day gets a score for how much of what it asked of you was kept, and Rhythm is a running average of those days, with recent ones counting most. It rises faster than it falls, so one poor Tuesday costs a few points, not a month. Rest days and days off count as kept, and Rhythm keeps your best too. A habit tracker without streaks explains the sums.
Side by side
- Devices. Both have apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Streaks’ UK App Store page also lists Apple Vision, and its website describes it as an app for Apple devices.
- Sync. Both sync through iCloud. Streaks’ website says tasks sync between devices with iCloud. In Ethos, iCloud sync across devices comes with Ethos Plus, and there’s no Ethos account or server.
- Privacy label. Streaks’ App Store privacy label lists only crash data, under “Data Not Linked to You”. Ethos has no account, no analytics and no tracking, and its developer never receives your planner. On privacy, the two are close.
- Adverts. Neither has any. Streaks’ website says so in as many words.
- How many habits. Streaks tracks up to 24 tasks a day. Ethos is a whole routine laid out by time, from waking up to lights out, with reminders at the time or ahead of it.
- Apple Health. Streaks can link a task to the Health app and tick it when the data comes in, such as steps or mindful minutes. Ethos doesn’t read Health data.
- Breaking habits and timers. Streaks has negative tasks for things you want to stop, and timed tasks that count down on the Lock Screen. Ethos has neither.
- Doing it with others. Streaks lets you share a task with friends or family who use Streaks, so they can see your progress and cheer you on. Ethos groups go further for a household: shared routines with everyone’s faces, turns on jobs like the bins, a shared shopping list, notes and countdowns.
- Bad days. Ethos can push the rest of the day back, skip one task, make the day light so only anchor tasks count, or take it off.
Who should stick with Streaks
If a streak motivates you, Streaks is built around it, and that’s a fair way to keep a habit. Stay with it too if you want tasks that tick themselves from Apple Health, a timer for things like brushing your teeth, or a negative task for something you’re cutting back on. If you only want a short list of daily habits rather than a planned day, Streaks keeps to that.
Ethos needs iOS 26, iPadOS 26 or macOS 26 or later, so if your devices run something older, Streaks will install where Ethos won’t.
Ethos suits someone who’d rather see a missed day as a dip, who wants their habits to sit inside a timed day, and who keeps part of that day with the people they live with. The habit tracker and daily planner pages cover both halves.
Where the Streaks facts come from
Checked on 25 October 2026 from Streaks’ App Store page and website:
- “Streaks” by Crunchy Bagel on the UK App Store: its description, its Compatibility section and its App Privacy label.
- Streaks’ own website, streaks.app.
Apps change. If something here no longer matches Streaks’ own pages, theirs is the one to go by. Everything about Ethos comes from the app itself.
Questions
What happens in Ethos if I miss a day?
Rhythm dips by a few points and rises again with good days. Nothing resets, and the day after a miss is just another day.
Can Ethos read my steps from Apple Health?
No. Ethos doesn’t read Health data, so you tick things yourself, on your phone or your watch. If automatic ticks from Health matter to you, Streaks does that.
Can I track habits with my family in Ethos?
Yes. Make a group, add the routines you keep together, and each person’s face fills in as they tick their part. Joining a group is free; making one comes with Ethos Plus.
Is the habit tracker in Ethos free?
Yes. Your routine, the week and Rhythm are free. Ethos Plus adds iCloud sync and more. Questions go to support.
More from the blog
- A chore rota app for the bins and the school runTo keep a chore rota in Ethos, add the job to your family group as a shared routine, turn on “Take turns”, and tap the people on the rota in the order it should go round.
- A Cozi alternative for iPhone, Mac and Apple WatchIf your whole household uses Apple devices, Ethos is a Cozi alternative built around the jobs a family repeats: shared routines, turns on the bins, and one shopping list, on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.
- A daily planner for Mac that lives in the menu barEthos for Mac puts today’s count in the menu bar as a small ring, so you can see how much of the day is kept and tick the next thing without opening a window.