Mental health care isn’t cheap. Unfortunately, unless you have insurance, it can be expensive to receive help; that or you end up on a waiting list for free assistance. But like so many things in life there’s an app for that. Mobile mental wellness is a growing market with free as well as affordable subscription-based options available.
For most businesses, having a mobile app developed is an opportunity to connect with previously untapped markets like the mHealth space — but you should know what to look for if you’re thinking of designing such an app. With so many apps available for download, it pays to get familiar with the mobile tech trends of 2019 — and to make sure your mobile app developer is just as aware.
Many Google Play apps have decent ratings, and cover similar features (i.e., meditation and mindfulness), but which provides the best services for the cost? And what should mobile app developers keep in mind when designing for this space? Well, let’s consider the apps that are making waves this year.
Headspace: Meditation & Mindfulness
An app by Headspace Inc., Headspace is an Editors’ Choice pick on Google Play. With over 10 million installs and a 4.5 star rating, this user-friendly app seems like a good place to start.
Features
- Guided and unguided mediations
- Reminders sent via push notifications
- Sleep aid
- Progress tracking
- Headspace for Kids
Great for beginners, Headspace offers meditations for the uninitiated. According to their product summary on Google Play, Andy Puddicombe, co-founder of the app and a former monk, will act as your personal meditation coach and guide you through every step.
But guidance from a former monk doesn’t come cheap – if you want anything beyond the free basics, you will have to pay a monthly, yearly, or lifetime subscription fee. A lifetime subscription costs $399.99, but to be fair, this is probably the cost of two or three in-person sessions with a registered therapist.
Wysa: stress, depression & anxiety therapy chatbot
Created by Touchkin, Wysa is a mobile app that provides you with someone to talk to: a chatbot penguin named Wysa. A considerably different approach from the more structured methods of Headspace, Wysa offers counselling through conversation.
Features
- Mood tracking
- Conversational coaching tools
- Guided meditation
- Visual techniques and exercises to deal with various issues
- Life Coach plans with certified (human) coaches
What’s interesting (and great) about Wysa is that many of its features are free – save for the Life Coach Plans. You can either access the Tools separately or by talking to Wysa, who will come up with suggestions for you to try to help your manage your mood. Unfortunately, no AI is perfect, and Wysa often misses the mark by failing to understand some dialogue.
So, does the perfect app exist?
Not yet, but they’ve come a long way. More affordable than traditional therapy, mobile apps offer an interesting modern-day solution to managing (to some degree) mental health issues. The best apps will provide helpful tools to manage stress and guide users towards healthy habits. This is typically done with mood trackers, reminders/notifications, or the scheduling of daily activities (i.e., mindfulness). But most importantly app developers need to continue to focus on how to make the user’s experience truly personal; something that goes beyond guided meditation and AI interaction.
These are just a few of the trends in this expanding field, and if you’re considering a dive into this space, do your due diligence. Creating a wellness app requires a sophisticated combination of health and business knowledge, so it’s vital to find the right app developer.
Partnering with an experienced and innovative app developer will help your company connect with a broader range of users. Guaraná Technologies, for instance, will provide the knowledge and personal touch impossible to find with larger app farms.
Companies like this one can take you through the necessary steps to creating a popular wellness app — and they will go the extra mile to ensure that your idea is both technologically exciting and provides a helpful service in this growing space. Get the professional insight you need to make the next big app in the mHealth space.