5 reasons meditation apps are in need of a desperate overhaul

Given the meteoric rise in popularity with meditation in the past few years, it’s no surprise that meditation and general wellness apps are on the rise in the Apple store and the Google play store. A recent search I did on the Google play store listed about 850 odd apps, ranging from free to paid, from well-known spiritual teachers to the not so well known meditation methods like tratak meditation(gazing meditation).

While the choices are endless, the human mind is fickle and always ends up picking the one that most visually appeals to us or worse yet, what Apple or Google believes are the ones we should be using based on algorithmic popularity. The ones with the most star ratings and better SEO optimization are the one’s that make the top of the list and understandably so. Even since in my early quest to try mediation apps a few years back, the market is now saturated with a 100’s of 5 star rated apps. I can relate to the anxiety a novice experiences in picking the wrong app. Though what’s the worst that can happen? Spend a few minutes on the app, sample a few of the meditation tracks, if it doesn’t appeal to you move onto the next one. This is of course natural progression in how we pick any app on these app stores. Why should our selection criteria be different for a meditation app? Conversely, why should meditation app developers build or market their apps any differently?

This is precisely the root cause of what I believe is only the beginning of a much larger problem. Meditation apps these days are built to attract eyeballs and not

Research shows that 80% uninstall or do not open their meditation apps within 15 days of installing the app.

While try-before-buy seems the most probable reason for why most people abandon apps, there are many other reasons for why people abandon their meditation apps:

1. Most apps are only a product of a lucrative consumer industry and do not promote meditation as a way of life. We know more and more people are showing interest in meditation. As of 2017 cdc.gov released data suggesting that 14.2% of the American population has tried meditation. So, most app developers are solely in for the purpose to make money off this lucrative business as a monthly paid service or as a freemium model. In most of the cases, this is not made clear upfront and the jargon & methods used might turn-off someone just starting out. So, not seeing the promised results, most users opt-out before the start of their paid service.
2. Recommendations don't always work — a friend or family member mentioned a specific meditation app or that even a specific meditation teacher did wonders for them and they recommended it to you. You give it a try, but there’s a good chance that what works for someone doesn't work for you.
3. Commitments and expectations are not set— To make matters worse, you may be underestimating the commitment that is required when trying meditation for the first time to find what sticks.
4. Don’t see immediate results — wanting to realize the benefits of meditation immediately lead you to believe that the app is not working.

The root of the problem stems from our addiction to technology (our mobile devices, iPads, laptops etc) and our inability to sit still for more than a few minutes to make meditation a way of life. To think of how bad it’s going to be for future generations. On average Americans spend over five hours each day glued to their mobile devices. Nearly 80% of Americans check their smartphones within fifteen minutes of waking up. These distractions have reduced our ability to sit still, pay attention, and focus — key foundational requirements to start a consistent meditation practice.

So, why do I believe that the meditation app market is in need of a major overhaul?

1. Most apps can’t help in keeping you focused — In this attention-based economy where attention spans are less than 7 seconds, how are even the most motivated people expected to sit still for 3 minutes? These apps (for obvious reasons) are not able to provide a distraction-free environment that helps with staying focused. A distracting tweet, ping, or poke in the middle of your app meditation session will quickly take you down a rabbit hole of forgotten responsibilities.
2. Too many choices — The paradox of choice is real with these apps. Too many options in the form of a catalog even when organized might not be a good place for people to start with without having proper context. Barely a handful have foundation courses that assist users in making the right choices for a new meditation technique or modality to try. Without these foundations, jumping straight into 30 min meditations or even 5-minute meditations can and almost always prove intimidating. Switching to something new and not giving your new-found practice or app a breathing chance almost always makes sticking with meditation that much harder.
3. Fail in making meditation a habit — As defined in the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, a habit is something you cannot give up once started — this is true for the good and bad habits. It’s harder to stick with a good habit like meditation because we need to give it time to steep as compared to a bad habit that is designed to give immediate gratification. Most apps don’t bother providing foundations to enable habit-building. On the other hand, it’s also too much to ask for people to maintain something like a Self‐Report Index of Habit (SRHI) as suggested by this Verplanken-Orbell research study. There has to be a good in-between checks and balance these apps must provide to ensure you are able to pinpoint exactly where and why you were falling off and assist accordingly.
4. Need to go beyond gamification — While it is helpful to keep a log of your practice, most apps use gamification for motivation that defeats the whole purpose of meditation, which is to let go of any ego to want to achieve anything. In focus group studies we conducted as a part of Heal, it was shown that this works against the intention to help and even de-motivates most. Offering kudos, streaks, and gold stars definitely helps to a certain extent, however, with mindfulness and meditation if the inner contentment with your practice doesn’t match up with the accolades received it's not long before you stop using the app altogether.
5. Most apps only promise the pipe dream of health benefits but fail to deliver — Famous literary authors, monks, and eloquent speakers are often touted as teachers to charm and motivate you into meditation on these apps. There’s no question that these teachers are in their own right knowledgeable and their personal experiences inspirational. I’ve attended seminars, retreats, and meditation sessions with some of these teachers myself. While their years spent at monasteries or their clairvoyance and ability to channel sentient beings make for great learnings, these don't always channel well to students through short 10–15 meditation sessions.

There’s definitely a lot further the apps need to go to address these pitfalls and even do even more to stay closer to the true intentions of meditations. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked “What do you gain from meditation?”

Truth is that I meditate to shed, not gain anything at all.

Maybe it’s just the purist in me, but these apps need to take up the social responsibility to encourage and help teach a new generation of yogis how meditation is to be practiced the way it was originally intended.