The large flow of information and interaction with gadgets and mobile apps for everything makes people more anxious. To calm down, people used to turn off notifications on their phone and put on airplane mode. But with the advent of meditation apps, that has changed. Now users, instead of turning off their phones, download Headspace or Calm to stay focused, relaxed and productive throughout the day. Thus, creating a meditation app is a great option if you are interested in mobile app development.
The major growth drivers for the meditation app market are:
Here is what the Headspace app says about its effectiveness:
Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to one type of app. Your future product could be a combination of two types, for example, breathing and anti-anxiety practices apps or it could be your unique development.
To develop a great meditation app, you need a well-coordinated and experienced team. If you don’t have much experience in development, it’s better to turn to an outsourcing agency. Experienced designers are waiting for you here to help create a great user experience for your app. Developers who will develop the app. Testers who will check it for bugs. Outsourced teams usually also have business analysts, copywriters, marketers, and the icing on the cake is the project manager. This is the person who will lead your project from A to Z, tell you how development is going, will manage all the processes and give you updates.
We offer a rough list of techniques to help develop an effective and successful meditation app.
In our article, we’ll
✔️ talk about meditation app development,
✔️ explore the market to see why this is a promising direction for your business, and
✔️ explain how to develop a Headspace or Calm level meditation app.
Breathe in
Let’s check out the market! The global meditation app market was valued at $270.39 million in 2019 and is expected to reach $4,206.12 million by 2027. More than 40% growth!The major growth drivers for the meditation app market are:
- Stress and mental health awareness. Taking care of not only physical but also mental health is something that people have started to pay more attention to. People are going to doctors with problems related to stress and anxiety, and more of them are trying to solve these problems with meditation practices.
- Increased use of smartphones. Now that many people have smartphones with a bunch of apps for different purposes, it’s easier for them to monitor their mental health.
Statistics on meditation app development.
Who dominates the meditation app market right now?
We have already mentioned the two current giants of the meditation app market. They are:➔ Headspace
This is a meditation app that offers guided mindfulness sessions in several languages. Headspace attracts users with its cartoonish design and a solid guided meditation course for beginners. The app even offers guided meditation workouts with professional coaches.➔ Calm
The second largest mindfulness app. It attracts users with a calm design and images of nature. Many people who struggle with sleep and anxiety choose the Calm app. The app also offers users a selection of exclusive music tracks designed to help you focus, relax or fall asleep, including remixes from stars Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding.
2 top meditation apps.
Do users really need meditation apps?
Mindfulness meditation apps have found use among all gender types, regardless of age. These apps are made to “return” users to the present moment. With the rapid advancement of technology, it’s not easy for our minds to keep up with the external flow. Many people unconsciously fall out of the moment, and it can be difficult for them to fully experience life. That’s how meditation apps work — they help users practice mindfulness.Here is what the Headspace app says about its effectiveness:
- an internal study published in a leading journal says that 10 days of using Headspace reduces stress by 14%;
- research conducted by Northeastern University says about a 23% increase in compassion and a 57% decrease in aggression.
Types of meditation applications
There are many meditation techniques that have different goals and approaches. You can’t have your cake and eat it and put everything you want into one app, so the interface isn’t overloaded. A successful meditation focuses on a specific audience, a specific niche to work in.🔴 Anxiety and stress relief apps
These apps are designed to relax an anxious mind and calm a person in a stressful situation. Such an app can identify possible causes of stress and find exercises, audio or video, content aimed at dealing with stress.🔴 Yoga apps
Yoga and meditation often go hand in hand. Such an app combines content for meditation with programs with techniques for meditation. Such apps include difficulty levels for beginners and advanced users, progress tracking, and settings for practice sessions.🔴 Sleep apps
This type of app aims to create a soothing environment for the user before they go to sleep. For example, the app suggests listening to natural sounds designed to help the user fall asleep peacefully.🔴 Concentration apps
These apps help their users block out distractions such as other apps, messages, and phone calls. Concentration apps help people take their minds off distractions and focus all of their attention on one task.🔴 Breathing practice apps
Breathing exercises are one of the most effective ways to calm down and focus. Such an app shows users when and how to inhale and exhale properly. These techniques can be used to combat anxiety or reduce stress levels.Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to one type of app. Your future product could be a combination of two types, for example, breathing and anti-anxiety practices apps or it could be your unique development.
Meditation app development stages
⚫️ Discovery stage
When developing a meditation app, the discovery stage plays an important role in the success of your future product. Important things to consider:- Determine the type of app and the audience. This will help shape the marketing strategy, understand the target audience, and choose the type of app.
- Research the competitor market. Look at your competitors’ apps. Check what platform they work on. You can also read reviews in app stores and find out what users value in meditation apps.
- Prioritize features. Market research will also help you understand what to focus on first, which features will become defining in the app and which ones can be added after the release.
⚫️ Design
People use apps to meditate, relax and unwind, so nothing should interfere with their enjoyment of the app. The design of the interface also affects the users’ perception of things and mood, so the visual component is extremely important. To calm the nerves of users, you can design the application using images of nature.
An example of what a meditation app might look like by Rosie Manning.
⚫️ Development and testing
Since the market for meditation apps is quite competitive, it’s best to start with a minimum viable product or MVP. MVP includes the basic features that define the main point of your application. In the long run, it makes sense to start with developing a native app. If your app fires, a cross-platform app will be difficult to scale. But if you don’t have a big budget, start with one platform to test the idea. For example, release your app on iOS first and then on Android. It is better to start with iOS because the audience of owners is more payable. It will be easier to test unique features on them.P.S. The Brivian team has great expertise in developing native apps 🙂
The team tests the build every sprint in parallel with the development. QA engineers make sure that every aspect of your app works properly. This includes code, design, overall performance, load speed, and other important elements.⚫️ Release
The process of developing a meditation app is just beginning! After the MVP release, it’s important to gather feedback from the first users. What they like about the app, what can be added, and what should be better removed. This way, the app will become more competitive and its performance indicators will be higher.To develop a great meditation app, you need a well-coordinated and experienced team. If you don’t have much experience in development, it’s better to turn to an outsourcing agency. Experienced designers are waiting for you here to help create a great user experience for your app. Developers who will develop the app. Testers who will check it for bugs. Outsourced teams usually also have business analysts, copywriters, marketers, and the icing on the cake is the project manager. This is the person who will lead your project from A to Z, tell you how development is going, will manage all the processes and give you updates.
Tech stack and costs
As there are different types and scales of meditation applications, the list of tools and technologies for its development will vary.We offer a rough list of techniques to help develop an effective and successful meditation app.
- Programming languages: Kotlin, Java, Swift.
- Hosting: AWS.
- Payment gateway: Stripe, Braintree.
- Push notifications: Firebase.
- Utilities: Google Analytics, Twilio.
❗️ P.S. Please note that this estimate is based on limited information. Different projects involve different levels of design complexity and different amount of functionality. You can get an accurate estimate of your project by contacting our managers.
Breathe out
As we found out, developing a meditation app is a trending area for business. Stress levels are only increasing day by day, which means the need for something to reduce users’ anxiety is big. In addition, a meditation app is easy to monetize because most competitors have already implemented a premium subscription, and audiences are already getting into the idea of paying for the app regularly.At Brivian, we have extensive experience in web and mobile app development, as well as expertise in cutting-edge technologies, such as computer vision and AI. To find out more about the stack, cost and other issues related to app development, please contact our manager.
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