MyFitnessPal’s barcode scanner made counting calories easy — now it’s being paywalled

MyFitnessPal's planned change comes after new ownership in late 2020 and a recent app redesign. | Image: MyFitnessPal

The popular nutrition and weight loss app MyFitnessPal is moving its free barcode scanning feature behind the paywall. For years, users with free accounts have been able to use this tool to scan food barcodes for easy logging and tracking of daily calorie intake, but the company recently announced that beginning October 1st, a premium account will be required.

MyFitnessPal's daily calorie counting is a key component of the app, with the barcode scanner offering a shortcut to finding nutritional value for a specific food item in the app's vast database of food. Much of that database is user-generated, with both free and premium users able to add any food by entering the nutrition facts and barcode off a label. Once October 1st rolls...

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