During your busy days, it is recommended to take a break from work to spend quality time with yourself. Especially recently, when we have started to work from home due to the Coronavirus outbreak or any other emergency. Amidst all the house chaos and kitchen noise, it is essential to keep the mind stress-free and bring positive energy with meditation and yoga.
So how can we achieve this in a closed environment? The answer is simple. Use mobile apps. Both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store are full of meditation apps that help calm you down.
We have hand-picked five of the best meditation apps for both iOS and Android. We’ll list meditation-focused apps alongside more functional software solutions like weight loss tips, podcasts, and more. Lets start.
1. keep calm
Calm is the best looking meditation app out there. When you sign up, the app takes you to the beautiful homepage with nature sounds and background.
When you scroll down, it shows different session categories with mental fitness, sleep stories, meditations, and calm music. Calm offers the richest meditation and sleep library out there. The sleep menu is neatly divided by different categories such as kids, nature, non-fiction, maps, and more.
The Meditation tab is also divided into categories in different menus. You can choose from sections such as stress, self-care, peace of mind, focus, emotions, and more.
Calm collaborated with world-renowned experts for a life-changing masterclass. You can find them in the settings menu.
Other features include a nature music plug-in, Apple Health integration to export mindful minute data, the ability to customize the homepage with beautiful wallpapers, Siri Shortcuts support, and more.
My favorite from the group is breathing exercises. I always use it. Tap and hold the app icon, select the breath, set the timer and start breathing.
Calm is free to download, but most of the functionality is covered by a $70 annual premium subscription.
2. Top space
Headspace is the combination of thoughtful UI with the right elements in the right place. New users may find the homepage confusing. It’s happening too much.
The sleep tab changes to a purple theme and I like that. You can choose from ready sleep sessions with relaxing music. You can choose sleep radio (8 hours of sleep sound mix), soundscape (3D recording from beautiful places in the world), wind drops and more.
Headspace has integrated the built-in workout with video tutorials. You can do quick workouts, cardio and stress relief exercise.
The Explore tab is nicely categorized. Headspace did a good job of ranking activity sessions on life challenges, sports, studies, performance mindset, business, personal growth, and more. There is something for everyone.
The list of functions includes Siri Shortcuts support, detailed session statistics, Apple Health integration, social sharing, and more.
Unfortunately, it misses the iOS widgets and 3D Touch menu in the app icon. Headspace is free to download, but most of the functionality is locked under the premium label. Pay $100 per year to unlock (Price varies by region).
3. Simple Habit
The simple habit brings a calm and comfortable user interface instead of the radical and fancy ones of Calm and Headspace.
The homepage is tailored to the user’s activity and sessions tracked in the app. It gives you the starter pack for beginners and educates you on attention, body activities, stray mind and more.
The meditation section is amazing. Contrary to dozens of categories, the title gives a brief idea about the session. You can browse focus sessions, build relationships, experience Coronavirus anxiety, get expert help about family, love and more.
My favorite function is the driving mode. You can listen to relaxing audio, well-known interviews to build habits, motivational talks, life coaching sessions and more. It is useful for those who drive long distances alone.
I like that the simple habit showcases comments from community members. Reading them helps lift your spirits in difficult situations. The app supports Apple health integration, custom stats, sleep sessions and more.
Simple Habit is free for a few sessions. After that, it costs $100 a year.
4. Cast box
If you are unsure of your meditation journey and just want to test the waters before the bomb is loaded, start using the Castbox app.
As the name suggests, the app is a primary podcast app with a Zen mode plugin. You won’t have the rich sessions, workouts, and interviews done by the experts. Instead, it focuses on different backgrounds and a combination of nature sounds.
Go to the library, turn on Zen mode designed to meditate, focus and sleep better. You can choose from different packages that change the background and sounds. Tap the filter button below and customize from a variety of nature sounds.
Apart from that, Castbox offers excellent podcast functionality with social integration, personalized recommendations, creative tools, and more. The app has made its way into our list of best podcast apps.
Castbox is free to use. Premium functionality in the podcast category costs $20 per year. But the Zen mode reminds completely free.
5. Oak
If you’re tired of expensive subscription-based meditation apps, Oak is a worthy look for its simplicity and affordable price tag.
The homepage features meditation, breathing, and sleep sessions. Unlike other apps, it doesn’t throw hundreds of sessions to the user. Instead, the app encourages users to try small sessions and only unlocks the next session from Settings after a milestone is complete.
You can also opt for more comprehensive meditation courses. I like how Oak shows live stats from the community and your growth in the settings menu.
The app offers Apple Health integration to migrate data. However, the iOS widget is short on features like the 3D Touch menu and Siri Shortcuts.
Sit back and relax
Each one in this list app has unique features. Calmness is pleasing to the eye, Headspace has excellent exercise integration and drive mode. Simple Habit nailed the driving mode. Castbox and Oak makes perfect sense for beginners. Now it’s up to you to try them out and choose the one that best suits your routine.
Next: Confused between Headspace and Calm? Read the specific comparison between the two in the post below.
Support our work ❤️
If you enjoyed this article, consider leaving a tip to help us keep publishing great content.
