The popularization of mindfulness and meditation created a nearly $1 billion dollar industry in 2015, according to research by IBISWorld. That number doesn’t even include revenue from the almost 1000 meditation apps available. Basically, that means that there’s a whole lot of information out there on meditation and it can be hard to know where to start.
As an app geek and meditation teacher, I decided it was time to try out some of the meditation apps I’ve gotten questions about from friends and students. In an ocean of apps I took five out for a test drive. I tried at least two meditations from each app and spent time poking around in general—my QA (quality assurance) friends would be proud.
In general, after spending time on each one I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them. Each app offers a selection of guided meditations and some type of timer for self-guided meditations as well. If you want an app to help you meditate don’t get too hung up on picking the “right” or “best” one. Any of these can get you started—it’s more a question of your budget and which one you will actually return to on a regular basis to use.
I found that the biggest single factor that influenced whether I would personally use the app or not was the voice of the person guiding the meditation. I also include the delivery of the meditation itself—the tempo and pace—in with their voice. Some of the apps have different people leading meditations and some, at least as far as I could tell, stick with one person. This is a completely subjective and personal issue that you will need to assess for yourself. However, just like in life, there were teachers whose voices and style that I meshed with better than others. If you have the option to sample meditations or sign-up for a free trial I strongly urge you to try before you buy—especially when a monthly subscription is involved. This will help you determine if someone’s voice is going to drive you crazy or whether it will fall pleasantly away into the background.
For each app I kept in mind:
- How easy is it to navigate and use
- Is it geared to beginners/experienced/both
- Community and or help if needed
- App only or app/desktop options
- Cost
Here’s my impression of the following five apps.
Stop Breathe & Think
Buddhify
Calm
Many of the meditations offer a short introduction that provides useful insight on the theme before the meditation starts. You can’t skip ahead within the 7 or 21 day segments. So if you want to get to the third mediation you have to do the first two to get there. You also have the option to set a daily reminder to meditate.
Headspace
Headspace has made it easy for their customers by providing a specific mediation pathway to follow. They also have a lot of great scientific information about meditation on their site. The app and desktop are both easy to use and aesthetically simple and uncluttered. You can also set reminders to meditate within the app and receive “mindful moments” notifications.
Insight Timer
There are also thousands of community groups you can join to discuss meditation and gain support. Each group is different. I popped in one group that had a very esoteric discussion taking place about meditation. In another group people were offering advice to someone on their back injury which I found a little worrying. Like anything online, I encourage people to be careful about the advice they receive or take to heart. It’s wonderful that the community on Insight Timer is so engaged but again, use common sense and your own discretion when receiving advice or insight from someone you don’t really know.
You can see who else is using the app to meditate and where they’re located. It pretty cool to be able to see that you’re meditating at the same time as 1000 people from all over the world.
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Again, I don’t think you could go wrong in picking any of these apps. If you’re interested in developing a meditation practice, the important thing is to pick one and get started.
I couldn’t touch on every feature of each of these apps. For instance, like Insight Meditator, Headspace shows you how many other people are meditating at the same time. So just because I didn’t mention a particular feature doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t find it on the app.
Remember to always trust your gut/intuition and never take one person’s “expert” advice over what you know is right for you. Happy meditating!