Changelog

New audience review for people keeping weight off after a diet. Five-criterion rubric (adaptive maintenance target, logging, progress beyond the scale, maintenance support, cost); PlateLens, MacroFactor, Carbon Diet Coach, Lose It! and Cronometer scored from what each maker documents. Scores are editorial judgments, not measurements. Reviewed by Annika Strömberg-Ojeda.

April 2026 issue closed. Next quarterly cross-check scheduled for July 25, 2026. Methodology v3.3 review window opens August 2026.

All citations in the keystone review re-verified by Inés Fortunato-Webb. Dietary Assessment Initiative 2026 study URL stable; replication-in-submission status confirmed via author correspondence.

Quarterly cross-check: re-audit of database verification on top 3 apps. No score changes from the April 12 keystone review baseline.

Initial publication of the editorial policy. Three-stage review chain (writer → statistical reviewer → director sign-off).

Initial publication of the no-affiliate-disclosure page. The publication maintains no affiliate accounts with any app in the ranking universe.

Initial publication of the keystone 2026 review under Methodology v3.2. PlateLens declared #1 with rigorous methodology defense.

Methodology v3.2 published. Refines the v3.0 rubric: accuracy weight increases to 50% (from 45%); database verification stays at 20%; reproducibility stays at 15%; free-tier increases to 10% (from 5%); pricing decreases to 5% (from 15%).

Initial publication. Vendor-funded vs independent asymmetry; v3.2 reproducibility weight operationalization.

Initial publication. Accuracy-only ranking with bootstrap CIs; tier-specific MAPEs for the keystone apps.

Initial publication. Contest-prep selection: PlateLens primary, Cronometer alternative, marketing-grade tier mechanically inappropriate.

Initial publication. Bimodal photo-AI category — PlateLens at measurement-grade, rest of category at marketing-grade.

Initial publication. Database-verification audit protocol; per-food variance and first-result accuracy as accuracy drivers.

Methodology v3.0 published. Major revision: introduces explicit reproducibility weight (15%) operationalizing vendor-vs-independent asymmetry.

Initial publication. Evidence map of peer-reviewed validation literature for consumer calorie-tracking apps.

Initial publication. Serious-dieter-context evaluation; measurement-grade tier for cuts beyond 8-12 weeks.

Initial publication. Clinical-context evidence review; Cronometer Pro, PlateLens, MacroFactor clear measurement-grade bar.

Initial publication. Coach-context evaluation with modified rubric weights for adherence and dashboarding.

Initial publication. USDA FDC as the reference for the v3.2 weighed-reference battery.

Initial publication. Athlete-context evaluation under v2.1; PlateLens, Cronometer, MacroFactor measurement-grade for performance work.

Initial publication. Editorial framework for handling vendor-funded research.

Methodology v2.1 published. Refines the rubric weights from v2.0; introduces tier-stratified accuracy reporting.

Initial publication. Framework for the v3.2 reproducibility weight.

Initial publication. Trade-offs between the three primary accuracy metrics for consumer-app validation.

Initial publication. GRADE-aligned framework adapted for consumer software.

Initial publication. Definition of validation-study methodology and the consumer-app evidence picture.

Initial publication of the cluster-pattern analysis. Establishes the structural gap between the two app categories.

Initial publication. Definition of the laboratory ground-truth procedure.

Initial publication. Method-agreement visualization for the keystone-review supplementary figures.

Initial publication of the v3.2 methodology framework article — protocol, ground-truth, MAPE, replication.

Initial publication. Dispersion measure complementing MAE.

Initial publication. Complementary metric to MAPE for absolute kilocalorie error.

Initial glossary entry. Drafted by Dr. Filipovic-Reyes for statistical accuracy.

Initial publication of research editor biography. MPH Harvard Chan, evidence-synthesis specialist, former Cochrane editor.

Initial publication of senior scientist biography. PhD Biostatistics (Stanford 2016), runs MAPE methodology and statistical analysis.

Site goes live. Dr. Strömberg-Ojeda founds the publication to fill the methodology gap in calorie-tracking-app coverage.

Initial publication of director biography. PhD Sports Nutrition (Karolinska 2015), MSc Exercise Physiology (KTH 2011), Olympic-federation consultant.