Freemind Meditations
Find your happy place on iOS
Free (IAPs) From FreeMind Services Ltd, freemindhub.com Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch Needs iOS 9.0 or later
This follows the familiar business model of self–help apps on the App Store: while the core app offers basic mindfulness and meditation training for free, to get all the guided mediations you need to subscribe. Here, that’s $10.49 per month, or $79.99 per year.
The full version has over 250 guided meditations on subjects like happiness, stress management, self–confidence, overcoming anxiety, and even public speaking. It also includes music by film composer Mike Trim.
The daily meditations are available in 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25–minute chunks to fit
around your other commitments. The app can also teach you mindfulness and time your sessions when you fancy a bit of freestyle meditation. The interface design is very relaxed and tasteful, although we’d prefer something a little more legible than pastel text on pastel backgrounds. The meditations are well recorded, with pleasant voices (something that’s not always the case with meditation apps) and nice music.
Whether the app is worth the money depends very much on whether you like the guided meditations and music enough. The subscription fee is typical of a sector where people will happily pay $35 for a glowing mindfulness rock, and it’s no more expensive than a streaming music service. If you feel the sessions are beneficial, it’s much cheaper than going to classes or seeing a therapist.
THE BOTTOM LINE. The free version is just a demo, but the full version is very versatile.