Best Boxing App I've Tried: A User's Review and Why It Captures What We Built

Every so often a review lands that puts into words exactly what we set out to build. Rob sent one of those, and we wanted to share it in full and then explain why what he describes is not an accident. It is the whole point of the Shadow Boxing App.

The review

Been using the Shadowboxing app for about 2 months now and honestly I’ve been really impressed with it.

I wanted to learn actual boxing technique, but I didn’t really have the time or money to join a boxing gym and pay for coaching consistently. I tried a bunch of online stuff first, but most of it felt more like cardio boxercise workouts than real boxing training. And the ones that did teach technique would spend forever talking instead of actually getting into it.

What I like about this app is it just gets straight to the point.

The technique videos are short, simple, and actually useful. Most are only like a minute long, but I’ve learned a ton of the fundamentals already. The workouts are solid, the programs are well put together, and I like how customizable everything is. The reminders help too.

Overall it’s been exactly what I was looking for. I’m getting a legit workout while also actually learning boxing instead of just throwing random punches around.

Rob

Thanks, Rob

Reviews like this are why we keep working on the app. Hearing that someone learned the fundamentals over two months, by themselves, without a coach or a gym membership, is the best feedback we can get. So before anything else: thank you for taking the time to write that out.

Now, on to the part we want to talk about. The reasons Rob lists for liking the app are not coincidental. They are deliberate choices we made early on and have stuck with.

Short technique videos, by design

There is a tendency in online boxing instruction to stretch a one-minute idea into a fifteen-minute video. The reasons are obvious: longer videos do better on YouTube, they let the instructor build a personal brand, and they leave room for sponsor reads. None of that helps you learn to throw a hook.

When we record technique videos for the app, the goal is the opposite. Show the movement, explain the cue, get out of the way. Most of our technique videos are under a minute because that is how long it takes to demonstrate a jab, a slip, or an L step properly. Anything longer is usually padding.

The other thing we try to avoid is the talking-head explanation with no actual boxing in frame. If you are learning the pivot, you should be watching feet move. If you are learning a hook, you should be watching the punch. Our videos default to showing the movement, with text cues for the key technical points. You can rewatch the clip ten times in the span of one minute, which is genuinely how people learn motor skills.

Real boxing training, not cardio boxercise

Rob mentioned that a lot of what he found online felt more like aerobic classes wearing boxing gloves. We are not against cardio, our HIIT exercises and bag workouts get hard, but the punches you throw in the app are meant to be real punches. Jab from the lead. Cross with hip rotation. Hook with the elbow at the right height. The combos called out during a session are real combinations boxers actually use.

That is why we put as much work into the Learn Boxing program as we did into the workouts themselves. You can run the program in parallel with regular training, picking up techniques and then immediately seeing them show up in your sessions.

If the only thing you wanted was a sweat, plenty of fitness apps do that well. The reason to use a boxing app is to actually box, and we treat that seriously.

Customization, because nobody trains the same way

Rob mentioned he likes how customizable everything is. That part took a while to get right. The first version of the app was largely fixed: pick a workout, hit start. People kept asking for more control, and they were right to. Someone training at home with no equipment has different needs than someone with a heavy bag in the garage, and a beginner needs different combinations than someone who has been boxing for years.

So we built out the combo creator, the custom workout builder, the round and rest length controls, the level settings, and a quick start feature for days when you just want a session generated for you in under a minute.

You can use the app as a fixed program, you can use it as a free-form tool, or you can mix the two. Most people end up somewhere in the middle.

Reminders, because consistency is the whole game

Rob also called out the reminders. This is one of those quiet features that does not look like much in a screenshot, but matters more than it should. Boxing improvement comes from showing up regularly. The difference between someone who trains four times a week and someone who trains twice a month is enormous, and most of that difference is just habit.

A push notification at the right time of day, set to your schedule, is a small nudge. But over months, those nudges add up to the difference between learning the fundamentals and meaning to learn them.

What we want the app to be

To put it plainly: we want the Shadow Boxing App to be the thing you reach for when you want to actually train, not the thing you reach for when you just want a sweat.

We want the technique videos to teach you something real, and we want the workouts to feel like training, not like a workout class. We want you to come out of two months with the kind of understanding Rob described, where you can talk about throwing a hook with palm down versus palm in, where you know what an L step is for, where you can build your own combos because you know the vocabulary.

That has always been the plan, and reviews like this one tell us we are at least pointed in the right direction.

If you want to see other user reviews, they are collected on the site and on the App Store. And if you have been using the app and want to send us a note like Rob did, we read every one of them.