Should I Build It Should I Build It
11 Jul 2025
Health & Fitness

I want to build an app to help people breath properly. The app provide ...

...guildlines of breathing in and out. It aslo provides pattern of breath for purposes like dealing with stress or strength, etc.

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Freemium

People love using similar products but resist paying. You’ll need to either find who will pay or create additional value that’s worth paying for.

Should You Build It?

Build but think about differentiation and monetization.

Your are here

You're entering a market with moderate competition, as we've seen around 24 similar breathing apps launch. These apps generally see good engagement, averaging 12 comments per launch, which is pretty high. While there's no strong signal either way in terms of people explicitly wanting to use or pay for such an app from the historical data, the high engagement rate suggests users are actively seeking solutions for stress reduction, focus, and overall well-being through guided breathing. Your challenge will be to cut through the noise, differentiate your app, and convince users that your approach is worth their time and, potentially, their money. Given the 'Freemium' category, you'll need to identify what aspects of your app are truly valuable enough for users to upgrade and pay for.

Recommendations

  1. Given the freemium nature of this space, focus on identifying which users get the most value from the free version of your app. Analyze user behavior within the free tier to pinpoint the features they use most and the problems they're trying to solve. This understanding will inform your premium feature development.
  2. Create premium features that offer tangible, enhanced value beyond the free version. Consider features like personalized breathing programs tailored to specific needs (e.g., anxiety, sleep, athletic performance), advanced analytics tracking progress over time, or exclusive content led by certified instructors. Look at the DailyBreathing app and how some users are interested in pro benefits - that's a signal for you.
  3. Explore charging teams or organizations rather than individual users. Businesses and wellness programs may be willing to pay for a breathing app that can improve employee focus, reduce stress, and boost overall productivity. This aligns with the need to find users who will pay within the 'Freemium' category.
  4. Offer personalized help or consulting as a premium service. This could involve one-on-one sessions with breathing experts, customized program design, or ongoing support to help users integrate breathing techniques into their daily lives. This adds a high-touch element that can justify a higher price point.
  5. Before a full launch, test different pricing approaches with small groups of users. Offer varying levels of access and features at different price points to see what resonates best. Gather feedback on the perceived value of each tier and adjust your pricing strategy accordingly.
  6. Based on criticism of similar apps, ensure your app provides clear, scientifically backed information about the benefits of each breathing technique. Address concerns about safety and credibility by citing research and consulting with medical professionals. Transparency builds trust.
  7. Consider integrating features that users have requested in similar app discussions, such as haptic feedback, Apple Watch support, and time management tools for stress relief. Prioritize features that align with your app's core mission and target audience.
  8. Address the legal language and typo issues that some breathing apps have faced. Ensure your app's terms and conditions are clear, concise, and error-free. Pay attention to detail to build user confidence.
  9. As a final note, prioritize Android support to increase accessibility and market reach, as the lack of it has been criticized for similar apps.

Questions

  1. Given the freemium model, what specific, unique value propositions will entice users to upgrade to a paid subscription, and how will you effectively communicate these benefits to your target audience?
  2. How will you differentiate your app from the competition, considering the importance of scientific backing and credibility in this space, and what steps will you take to address potential user concerns about safety and accuracy?
  3. Considering the mixed feedback on features like breath detection and the potential for causing anxiety in some users, how will you design your app to be sensitive to individual needs and ensure a positive, calming experience for everyone?

Your are here

You're entering a market with moderate competition, as we've seen around 24 similar breathing apps launch. These apps generally see good engagement, averaging 12 comments per launch, which is pretty high. While there's no strong signal either way in terms of people explicitly wanting to use or pay for such an app from the historical data, the high engagement rate suggests users are actively seeking solutions for stress reduction, focus, and overall well-being through guided breathing. Your challenge will be to cut through the noise, differentiate your app, and convince users that your approach is worth their time and, potentially, their money. Given the 'Freemium' category, you'll need to identify what aspects of your app are truly valuable enough for users to upgrade and pay for.

Recommendations

  1. Given the freemium nature of this space, focus on identifying which users get the most value from the free version of your app. Analyze user behavior within the free tier to pinpoint the features they use most and the problems they're trying to solve. This understanding will inform your premium feature development.
  2. Create premium features that offer tangible, enhanced value beyond the free version. Consider features like personalized breathing programs tailored to specific needs (e.g., anxiety, sleep, athletic performance), advanced analytics tracking progress over time, or exclusive content led by certified instructors. Look at the DailyBreathing app and how some users are interested in pro benefits - that's a signal for you.
  3. Explore charging teams or organizations rather than individual users. Businesses and wellness programs may be willing to pay for a breathing app that can improve employee focus, reduce stress, and boost overall productivity. This aligns with the need to find users who will pay within the 'Freemium' category.
  4. Offer personalized help or consulting as a premium service. This could involve one-on-one sessions with breathing experts, customized program design, or ongoing support to help users integrate breathing techniques into their daily lives. This adds a high-touch element that can justify a higher price point.
  5. Before a full launch, test different pricing approaches with small groups of users. Offer varying levels of access and features at different price points to see what resonates best. Gather feedback on the perceived value of each tier and adjust your pricing strategy accordingly.
  6. Based on criticism of similar apps, ensure your app provides clear, scientifically backed information about the benefits of each breathing technique. Address concerns about safety and credibility by citing research and consulting with medical professionals. Transparency builds trust.
  7. Consider integrating features that users have requested in similar app discussions, such as haptic feedback, Apple Watch support, and time management tools for stress relief. Prioritize features that align with your app's core mission and target audience.
  8. Address the legal language and typo issues that some breathing apps have faced. Ensure your app's terms and conditions are clear, concise, and error-free. Pay attention to detail to build user confidence.
  9. As a final note, prioritize Android support to increase accessibility and market reach, as the lack of it has been criticized for similar apps.

Questions

  1. Given the freemium model, what specific, unique value propositions will entice users to upgrade to a paid subscription, and how will you effectively communicate these benefits to your target audience?
  2. How will you differentiate your app from the competition, considering the importance of scientific backing and credibility in this space, and what steps will you take to address potential user concerns about safety and accuracy?
  3. Considering the mixed feedback on features like breath detection and the potential for causing anxiety in some users, how will you design your app to be sensitive to individual needs and ensure a positive, calming experience for everyone?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 24
  • Engagement: High
    • Average number of comments: 12
  • Net use signal: 15.3%
    • Positive use signal: 23.2%
    • Negative use signal: 7.9%
  • Net buy signal: -2.6%
    • Positive buy signal: 1.8%
    • Negative buy signal: 4.4%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

DailyBreathing - Breathwork

23 Jun 2023 iOS Android Health & Fitness

DailyBreathing provides the quick and simple science backed breathing exercises to cure for anxiety, deep relaxation, improve energy, Set focus and a good sleep. App is Free, Login Less, Access without Internet, Quick and can be used anytime anywhere.

The Daily Breathing app is praised for its effectiveness in reducing stress and anxiety, promoting relaxation, and improving focus through guided breathing exercises. Users find it easy to use, with some highlighting its offline functionality and diverse programs. Many appreciate the app's ability to induce calmness and enhance overall well-being. Some users express interest in pro benefits and onboarding strategies, while others simply congratulate the launch team. One doctor recommends the app for improving focus, energy, and overall life quality.

parth_raval3

I am using Daily Breathing in my daily routine. It helps me to stay focused and relax.

riya_patel11

So easy to use and helps me to feel calm and relaxed.

jaypatel_208

Found this to be an pretty amazing app. I live with severe anxiety day to day and have for years now and in just a few excercises, I can tell the difference and feel more calmer. I can just imagine if i stick to it daily how much more balanced i'll feel in the future..

tilak_patel

DailyBreathing is an incredible app that has truly transformed my daily routine. The science-backed breathing exercises provided are quick, simple, and incredibly effective. Whether I'm feeling anxious and in need of calm, or I want to improve my energy levels and focus, this app has become my go-to resource. The best part is that it's completely free, requires no login, and can be accessed without an internet connection, making it convenient for any time, anywhere use. Thanks to DailyBreathing, I've experienced deep relaxation, reduced anxiety, and even better sleep. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a simple yet powerful tool to enhance their well-being.

meet_gadhiya

I love how Daily Breath can jump into an overwhelming moment and help. Do you feel anxious? Try breathing with Daily Breath. The way I use it: take a break from work. Wear earphones&open Huma Breath. Ambitious team with huge goals! I'm sure the product will grow like crazy!

ravi_rupapara

Daily Breathing has a great variety of breathing programs for relaxation or energy pick-me-ups. They are all built with visual and auditory aids which make it very natural to follow. I am so grateful for this app, Which makes it so easy for me to tune into my breathing and my body. Superb Perfomance & So easy to use and helps me to feel calm and relaxed. Highly recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yash_mehta9

DailyBreathing has become my sanctuary in the chaotic world we live in. With its soothing breathing exercises, this app has become an essential part of my daily routine. It's like a personal guide to tranquility, helping me find peace and relaxation whenever I need it. Simply breathe, relax, and repeat!

krupa_patel5

The Daily Breathing app is a fantastic tool for mindfulness and relaxation into your daily routine. It offers a variety of breathing exercises and techniques that can help you reduce stress, increase focus, and improve overall well-being.I recommend to each one to use this app and feel relax.

nilesh_khetani

Daily Breathing has a great variety of breathing programs for relaxation or energy pick-me-ups. They're all built with visual and auditory aids which make it very natural to follow. I am so grateful for this app, which makes it so easy for me to tune into my breathing and my body. I downloaded this on recommendation from my sibling and use it a couple of times a day for a minute or so. It's a fantastic tool for recentering my body and thinking throughout the day.

nancy_deepcoder

Started using Daily Breathing app recently and is just fantastic. I feel breathing is very important to control stress and anxiety. Daily Breathing app is a Great & usefull on stress. amazing support! Very easy to use!!!

dharmesh_kerai

I am so grateful for this app, Which makes it so easy for me to tune into my breathing and my body. I feel breathing is very important to control stress and anxiety. It also detoxifies blood which results in younger and glowing skin.

jaydeepsinh_gohil

This app is working smoothly and the best part is work without the internet.

anshu_kumar23

"Daily Breathing" App is simple, easy to use, and provides users with an unobtrusive tool for managing stress. I feel free better after using this app.

d_square1

Simple app to reduce daily Stress. I fell very happy by using app on daily basis. Thanks.

parth_raval4

I recently downloaded a breathing app and I must say, it has been a game-changer for me. The app has a variety of breathing exercises that are easy to follow and have helped me manage my stress levels. The interface is user-friendly and provides helpful instructions for each exercise. Additionally, the app allows me to track my progress and set reminders for my breathing sessions. Overall, I highly recommend this app to anyone looking to improve their breathing techniques and reduce stress.

stepan_cherkasov

Great product guys! I'll definitely give this a try the next time, I'm stressed out.

Avatar
91
29
55.2%
29
91
55.2%
Relevance

Universal Breath App - Yoga breathing exercises, pranayamas

26 Dec 2023 Meditation Health & Fitness

Designed to replace the teacher who counts aloud and marks the moments of breaths, delays, and exhalations. Now you can turn on the app after your yoga practice and it will count for you. Or you can practice pranayama independently.

The Universal Breath App launch garnered positive feedback, with users congratulating the team and expressing excitement to try it. The app's simplicity and privacy focus (no personal information required) are appreciated. Users suggest integrating relaxation features like 5-minute breathing exercises and time management tools, especially for stress relief for working professionals. Yoga fans find the product cool and useful.

The primary criticism is that the product lacks specific time management features, such as a dedicated "10 minutes calm down" period. Users seem to desire more structured guidance for incorporating the product into their routines.

Avatar
71
9
44.4%
9
71
44.4%
Relevance

Breathing Exercise - Meditation, Breathing, Healthcare, Exercise, Lifestyle

26 Jul 2024 Android Health & Fitness

Master the Art of Breathing for Enhanced Relaxation and Focus. Discover the transformative power of breathing with our app designed to guide you through scientifically-backed breathing techniques.

The app provides accessible, scientifically backed breathing techniques that are effective for focus. Users find the techniques fantastic.

Avatar
6
2
100.0%
2
6
100.0%
Relevance

I'm a doctor and made a responsive breathing app for stress and anxiety

26 Jan 2023 Health & Fitness

Hey HN! Some more info: I’m an NHS doctor and the founder of Pi-A (https://www.pi-a.io) which developed Lungy (https://www.lungy.app). Lungy is an app (iOS only for now) that responds to breathing in real-time and was designed to make breathing exercises more engaging and beneficial to do. It hopefully has many aspects of interest to the HN community – real-time fluid, cloth and soft body sims running on the phone’s GPU.My background is as a junior surgical trainee and I started building Lungy in 2020 during the first COVID lockdown in London. During COVID, there were huge numbers of patients coming off ventilators and they are often given breathing exercises on a worksheet and disposable plastic devices called incentive spirometers to encourage deep breathing. This is intended to prevent chest infections and strengthen breathing muscles that have weakened. I noticed often the incentive spirometer would sit by the bedside, whilst the patient would be on their phone – this was the spark that lead to Lungy!The visuals are mostly built using Metal, with one or two using SpriteKit. There are 20 to choose from, including boids, cloth sims, fluid sims, a hacky DLA implementation, rigid body + soft body sims. The audio uses AudioKit with a polyphonic synth and a sequencer plays generated notes from a chosen scale (you can mess around with the sequencer and synth in Settings/Create Music).There are obviously lots of breathing and meditation apps out there, I wanted Lungy to be different - it's about tuning into your surroundings and noticing the world around you, so all the visuals are nature-inspired or have some reference to the physical world. I didn’t like other apps required large downloads and/or a wifi connection, so Lungy’s download size is very small (<50MB), with no geometry, video or audio files.Lungy is initially a wellness app, but I’d like to develop a medical device version for patients with breathing problems such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) & long COVID. Thanks for reading - would love to hear feedback!

Users find the app concept interesting, with neat visuals and useful features like breathing exercises, but suggest improvements such as haptic feedback, LiDAR integration, and better tutorials. Some users resonate with the app's health benefits for anxiety and stress, while others are concerned about safety and credibility. There's interest in cross-platform availability, particularly Android and smartwatches, and a preference for privacy and one-time purchases over subscriptions. Comments also include personal experiences with breathing techniques and related health issues, as well as some unrelated product promotions and technical feedback.

Users criticized the product for lacking sensitivity to different breathing types, questionable accuracy, and issues with the visual and microphone aspects. The app's dependency on iPhones, unclear benefits, and potential for causing anxiety or dependency were also noted. Criticisms included the app's unclear guidelines, confusing interface, and lack of support for non-iOS platforms. Users were concerned about the app's medical claims, potential to trigger panic attacks, and the need for scientific validation. The app was also seen as complicating simple tasks and having a distracting visual design.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=prox

I just bought it, the microphone doesn’t seem to do a lot (and I don’t gave access to camera) but I will try it out later.It’s a well thought app. The core function is really good, I will enjoy trying out the different exercises! The design of the homescreen could be better, looks a bit cluttered.Maybe some background information if it takes off in the future would be nice for people who don’t know the science behind each breath type.Other than that, I wish you success!

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=AndrewKemendo

This looks amazing.The only suggestion I have is to make it paid, instead of free so I can maintain low anxiety that you're not going to sell my data, or show me ads in the middle of box breathing.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dceddia

I’ve been on the lookout for a better way to do embeddable videos. The YouTube one is fine, but for a landing page, it’s not great that YT (of course) tries to get you to watch recommended videos right afterward.I was actually going to say, Wistia has a nice player but it’s expensive - and then I just checked their pricing and they actually have lowered prices quite a bit! There’s even a generous free tier now.I’ve also been curious about how hard it’d be to self-host an embedded video. Naively it seems like the hardest part would be encoding it into a bunch of sizes and chunks… and then keeping an eye on bandwidth. I found a good blog on it a while ago and can’t find it now.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lukko

+1. I did add very subtle haptics (possibly too subtle) as the indicator changes, but I like the idea of making them stronger and recognisable for each breath phase

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cantcopy

Nocturia + Sleep issues could mean Sleep ApneaI don’t snore, I am not overweight.And I had some ADHD like symptoms.My doctor didn’t think that it would be useful to test but I insisted, lack of sleep was making me desperate. I took at least three naps a day just to be able to function.The results were surprising even to me, AHI of 23.CPAP treatment has been life changing.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=ElijahLynn

Well, first thing is, can you breath through your nose? Do you have that habit down? Fixing this is really important, for me at least. If a person can't breath through their nose, I suggest trying Afrin. This was such a huge lightbulb moment for me, and was my "AHA" moment. I really didn't know that the normal human condition is to nasal breathe. My mom has the same condition and I was raised by her so I didn't realize it and she didn't either to even notice it in me. It works instantly, within 10 minutes, and my world was opened up! And it still took me months to form the habit of nasal breathing, because I could never trust it enough when it worked (due to the nasal cycle). I definitely do Afrin just before bedtime too, every 12 hours or so. And I am getting surgery for the deviated septum too in February.Second thing, do you have chronic pain? That will keep the body in a stress response. Chronic pain is actually easier to get rid of than I thought, and I tried a lot of things for 20 years. The new research at University of Colorado Boulder, using functional MRI scans in 2020 proves that much chronic pain can be eliminated in a short period with a very specific technique called Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), which is a compassion-based therapy. This is a really, really hard thing to believe, and one doesn't have to believe it fully, they just have to believe it enough to be curious and learn more. And if one is curious, I recommend listening to a 15 episode mini-series podcast called Tell Me About Your Pain by Alon Gordon (Pain Pyschologist) and Alon Ziv (Neuroscientist), then after that listen to the audio book (not ebook) by the same people called "The Way Out" (2022). Then there are 6 specific meditations by Alan Gordon on an app called Curable that I used to eliminate my chronic neck and back pain, I can dig up the link to them if you like. This same technique is what I use to react to my shallow breathing and fatigue with deeper breathing. This got me sleeping through the night.Third, the trauma therapy (it isn't if we have trauma, it is how much), I recommend starting with the film The Wisdom of Trauma. And if that is interesting then reading In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. Myth of Normal seems like a great book too, I haven't read it yet though but it is on my list. I did start reading Gabor's AD(H)D book Scattered Minds a while back, way before this breathing breakthrough surfaced and need to finish it, but to sum up one thing I learned I have ADD-Like symptoms and this whole shallow breathing thing I have noticed is a large part of it. Once I start conscious breathing, by ADD-like stuff reduces. I've been more motivated to actually exercise and not fall asleep doing it, and I have been working on cold-exposure therapy (What Doesn't Kill Us by Mark Carney, investigative journalist who tried to debunk Wim Hoff, ended up drinking the Koolaid, and explains why). The cold-exposure increases the chemical called norepinephrine, which is one of the chemicals that Adderall increases (along with Dopamine). There is a quote from the film "My Octopus Teacher" (fantastic film) where he says "the cold really upgrades the brain" and references him diving into the ocean without a wetsuit almost every day for a year making friends with an octopus. I really like that quote. The cold does help me think when I do it, and I am still easing into it, and getting my brain back.All in all, I feel at a really new phase of my life, and that includes this thing called "Hope". I no longer think my fatigue is caused by my diet, and in fact I know it isn't.I'm happy to chat about this with you or anyone else. I'm also open to saying "hi" on a real-time communication (RTC) chat here https://cal.com/ElijahLynn.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=telcal

> If a person can't breath through their nose, I suggest trying Afrin.Be careful of the "rebound" effect with nasal sprays. Years ago I was "hooked" on Afrin. Not in a getting high sense but in the sense that I started to constantly need it in order to breath out of my nose, even after my cold went away. It was a terrible feeling and took weeks to wean off.With a bad cold and miserable congestion, nasal spray like Afrin is like a miracle. I still use it in those instances but only for 2-3 days max and very sparingly.If you really can't breath out of your nose well see a doctor.https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/allergies/exp...https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/nasal-congestion/rebound-c...

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=ElijahLynn

Yes, I forgot to mention but I have surgery coming up in February so hopefully I want need my Afrin dependency anymore! I wasn't sure about surgery at first, and was just super duper happy I could breath through my nose, after 40 years of not even knowing that it wasn't normal to breath only through my mouth. But after a few months of this precious nose breathing, and my mouth not drying out at night anymore which caused me to want to drink water at night, and would contribute to waking up to pee, getting shitty sleep, and putting me in chronic stress from sleep deprivation, I now am ready to take the next step and get surgery to fix the deviated septum and have my turbinates function as they were intended to again!

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=thecoppinger

Good luck with the surgery! I'm looking at doing it next year myself. Anecdotally, everyone who I ran into locally who'd had his said the same thing: they wish they'd done it sooner—ergo, it sounds like a winner. Again, thanks for sharing your wisdom in your original post. All the best!

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=fud101

i want to ask chatGPT to summarise this for me and repost but i'm not sure if that's welcome here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=wjnc

As a permanent snorer and nose cold sufferer several tips in that book worked wonders for me. I already had a good set of lungs and low breathing rhythm thanks to swimming, but a few weeks of sleeping with my mouth taped shut and attention to my jaw posture solved quite some issues. (N=1 YMMV etc)

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=nick__m

+1 For tapping the mouth shut. I used to snore and wake up tired now that I use 3M-1530-2 tape I wake up refreshed. So N is now equal to 2 !

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jackschultz

+2 for taping mouth shut.I read the book a week ago, said, why not. Instant improvement. Before, I'd have to wake up to go to the bathroom every night for the past 10 years, and when I woke up I'd have this eye pain every day leading to these giant eye bags. On top of those, if I didn't get that last sleep cycle in, I'd have to take a nap to get rid of this weird headache which made the time in the morning before nap seem pointless. In the book he mentioned how face skin can improve, and less bathroom in the middle of the night because apparently the body releases something to tell the body to hold water because we're sleeping. Mouth breating at night didn't cause this to happen.I did the mouth tape and instantly, first night and every night in the past week, eye pain is gone, I don't have get up to use the bathroom, and the amount of consistent energy is absurd compared to before.Seriously, I want to shout it out to everyone to tape their mouths at night.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=drc500free

+4 with my wife and I. I have sleep apnea from a deviated septum, she has various breathing issues from EDS. We both sleep better now.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=wjnc

It did cause some anxiety for me. But I use a soft tape that easily comes loose with just the back of my hand or a big jaw movement.I especially enjoy how the nasal cycle with nose breathing just seems to physically “halve” colds. Even with a cold with nose breathing one nostril just opens up at night in order to let me breathe.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=ectopod

My understanding from the book was that CO2 is an essential part of the mechanism that transfers oxygen to your muscles. If you breathe too much you have too little CO2, your muscles can't get enough oxygen and they don't work efficiently. I've no idea if this is true, but since I read the book I breathe less when exercising and it seems to help. Edited to add: I'd forgotten, when I first started breathing less during exercise it made a huge difference, like coming down from altitude. I recommend it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dom96

As a fellow Londoner, thank you! I just gave it a try, it was very relaxing and responsive.One thing I would suggest, and I know it's a bit of a balancing act, but it's what always irritates me about breathing exercise apps. When it comes to the "Breathe In" and "Breathe Out" instructions, I wish you would hold off on switching to telling me to "Breathe In" when I am still clearly breathing out (which you know based on the microphone). It always makes me feel rushed when I am not perfectly in sync with what the app wants me to do and I feel like the responsive way in which this app works could make this a bit better.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=kwooding

Exactly what I was looking for!A quick suggestion, I’d love to see you add the “cyclic sighing” pattern from [1] as it’s recently gotten some amount of attention for it’s effectiveness, and is potentially less common than the others.[1]: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-37...

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lukko

This would be great to include! I have been getting a few requests since the article was published...

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=refulgentis

Because its a scalable way of teaching adults breathing exercises.I am much more likely to engage with beautiful app than remember "that guy pointed out breathing is simple i should do it more"

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=awfml

Designer here— This whole experience is really killer. Fantastic work, truly.I was not sure what to expect when it requested microphone access, but the way you've done it is really clever.The interactive tutorial is really cool as well. The visuals, also, are different and fun.Never seen anything quite like this. Really great work. I'm going to share this with some friends.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=ElijahLynn

Looks cool. I would try it. I'm on Android. This could be a PWA for both web and Android targets. Not sure about iOS yet, do they still not support PWAs?

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=domber

Flutter is just awesome. Can't recommend it enough.Never had an easier time porting UI to so many, different platforms.Flutter alone saved a year of work.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=atentaten

Yes to how you imagine the UI layer, and yes you can definitely target both iOS and Android native APIs with Flutter.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lukko

Thanks! Yep, I would love for it to also be a web app one day, I think definitely would be possible now with WebGPU. Will hopefully be able to release an Android version this year..

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=tr33house

awesome. Looking forward to trying this on Android!

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=curun1r

My favorite is an app called ApneaTrainer. It has two different breathing patterns, but I do the 1-4-2 pattern for 30 min, 3 times a week. It helps you set your level as you improve. I’ve mostly plateaued at level 16, but I still find it useful for maintaining my level and I love the post workout calmness that I get.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=esel2k

Few feedbacks: - It think description in the store is too exhaustive. Be more to the point.- I like the concept as I was using mindfulness app mostly for the breathing exercises but ended up downloading the video and playing it to myself. I like that the whole app is just around this.- I personally would enjoy a mood tracker and a daily notification or quiet time moment reminder to increase adherence.- on top of this some motivational aspects and smileys can help :)Good job by the way.PS: I manage a patient facing MS app will many trackers:).

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lukko

Yep - that is one of the reasons I wanted to use the mic input, so if someone was hyperventilating it would be possible to tell them to slow down and breathe less deeply.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=leros

This sounds really cool. I struggle from anxiety and the occasional panic attack. The only thing I've found so far that helps is the Wim Hof breathing exercise. Three rounds of that gets me grounded again no matter how bad my anxiety is. I do usually breathe off tempo from the guided exercise, so I really like the idea of an app that adjusts to you.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cvccvroomvroom

Very cool and innovative!I don't have direct anxiety but I have shallow breathing and inappropriate sinus tachycardia that feels like a persistent state of anxiety without a proximal cause. Anything I could do to physiologically relax would be fantastic.Keep up the good work!

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lukko

oh amazing, I was looking for equivalent frameworks - thank you!

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=practice9

I'm a typical meditation app user, as I found that both Android & Apple lack good apps for breath practices. The ones that I found were had complicated UX or were buggy or too basic.Love the UI on the first glance, will try it for a longer time to understand if UX is comfortableThe lack of bloat and small download size is something I gained appreciation while traveling last year, good job on this!I wonder if you will consider Ukrainian & Polish translations in the future too

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=rak

This seems pretty cool. I was a big fan of Spire[1] and their device that monitored steps and breathing. Spire seems to have completely left the consumer market and I would love another device that does that stuff.1. https://www.spirehealth.com/

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lukko

Yep, it would definitely be a use case - so post-operative chest or abdominal surgery patients are often given breathing exercises. It's not yet a medical device, so can only be used in stress and anxiety ('wellness'). The basic functionality would be similar - breathing exercises, responsive visuals, encouragement, but hopefully we can add more specific measurements of lung function in the medical device version (track improvement / deterioration)

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=whoomp12342

Can you make this but for situps? like I want 30 seconds of execize but 5 seconds of rest/reposition

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lukko

Yep, definitely! The app has a euler fluid sim implementation based off: https://developer.nvidia.com/gpugems/gpugems/part-vi-beyond-...

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=Invictus0

I wish I had some kind of bracelet that could detect when I'm stressed and send a vibration as a signal to relax/breathe.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=stuaxo

Only problem with us Androids is a lot fewer pay for apps (I probably would).

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=drusepth

I always love apps like this. Would love to try it out when it's available on other platforms someday.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=eatsyourtacos

Ever had a pregnant wife and then one in labor? Ever had a real panic attack and potentially feeling more come on? Ever had a child who is inhaling so rapidly that they cannot calm themselves down?Slow deep intentional breaths work in the above. If you haven't experienced these first hand, then maybe you think it's a bunch of crap. But it is in no way a placebo.Even if you are a "healthy adult", I think the point is that you should practice these types of breathing exercises so you know how to handle situations where you need it. Additionally, I would say even if you don't have extreme stuff like above, teaching yourself how to breathe properly even for exercising is very important. It may sound stupid but a lot of people just don't breath properly when exercising, it's not natural.Just sit there yourself and do some intentional deep breathing for a few moments.. it will feel very different and probably 'good'.

Avatar
666
187
5.9%
-4.3%
187
666
17.6%
2.1%
Relevance

I'm a doctor and built a responsive breathing app for anxiety and sleep

02 Jun 2024 Health & Fitness

Hey HN!I’m an NHS doctor and the founder of Pia (https://www.piahealth.co) which developed Lungy (https://www.lungy.app). Lungy is an iOS app that responds to breathing in real-time and was designed to make breathing exercises more engaging and beneficial to do. It’s been just over a year since Lungy launched (here’s the original ShowHN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34534615) and it's had a huge update and complete redesign. We rebuilt the whole app, and added a real-time 3D soft body solver which gives some really cool interactions like blobs / objects that inflate as you breathe. We also made a version for Vision Pro, called 'Lungy Spaces'.My background is as a junior surgical trainee and I started building Lungy in 2020 during the first COVID lockdown in London. During COVID, there were huge numbers of patients coming off ventilators and patients are often given breathing exercises on a worksheet and disposable plastic devices called incentive spirometers to encourage deep breathing. This is intended to prevent chest infections and strengthen breathing muscles that have weakened. I noticed often the incentive spirometer would sit by the bedside, whilst the patient would be on their phone – this was the spark that lead to Lungy!Since making the first version we’ve made exercises fully customisable (you can dial in exact timings for each breath phase), added new breathing indicators, learning modules, e.g. self-care for anxiety symptoms, and lots of new visuals. The free version gives you access to a new breathing exercise each day, whilst premium ($14.99 per year, $39.99 unlimited) unlocks the full library of exercises, exercise data and visuals..The visuals are mostly built using Metal (a couple use SpriteKit) and there are lots to choose from - boids, cloth sims, fluid sims, a hacky DLA implementation, rigid body + soft body sims - each one reacts to breath and touch. The audio uses AudioKit with a polyphonic synth and a sequencer plays generated notes from a chosen scale (you can mess around with the sequencer and synth in Settings/Create Music). The nice thing about the visuals + audio being generative is that the download size is relatively small with no other downloads. We’re still working on improving the breath detection, using ML - currently, it uses microphone input, with optional camera input to guide positioning.We’re also close to finishing the medical device version - http://lungy.health - designed as a pulmonary rehab platform for patients with asthma and COPD, it should hopefully be released in the UK early 2025.Thanks for reading - would love to hear any feedback!Lungy Version 2 here: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1545223887

The Show HN product received mixed feedback. Users praised its mission, beautiful design, and smart launch strategy, but suggested a name change due to negative connotations. There were questions about its effectiveness, especially in comparison to medical devices, and concerns about breathing efficiency and long-term consequences. Interest in an Android version was high, with multiple users awaiting its release and one offering development help. Some users recommended similar apps and asked for additional features like Apple Watch support and breathing exercises for energy and focus.

Users criticized the product for its potentially problematic name, lack of Android support, and concerns over the effectiveness, cost, and safety of the app. The breath detection feature received mixed reviews, and there was confusion about the premium version and the absence of information for Apple Watch integration. Users also expressed distrust in sleep test devices and were discouraged by inconsistent exam results. The FAQ section was noted to be lacking in detail.

Avatar
51
22
0.0%
-4.5%
22
51
9.1%
Relevance

RESPIRA - Symphonic breathwork app

16 Mar 2023 Music Meditation Health & Fitness

Science-backed breathing exercises fused with psychoacoustic soundscapes. Find your focus, feel more relaxed, and get better sleep.

Users are excited about the science-backed focus and stress reduction techniques offered by the mindfulness product. The breathing exercises combined with soundscapes are seen as potentially helpful for anxiety and insomnia. Many find the product intriguing, and appreciate the breathing exercises, comparing them to fresh air for stress relief. The product name is also well-received, and users are eager to try it.

Avatar
38
5
100.0%
5
38
100.0%
Relevance

Breezz - Take a deep breath and relax with Breezz

20 Mar 2023 iOS Meditation Health & Fitness

Breezz - iOS app for guided breathing exercises, relaxation and mindfulness. Reduce stress, improve focus, and promote a sense of calm and wellbeing.

Users express positive sentiments towards the product, highlighting its potential for stress and anxiety relief. One user specifically inquires about Apple Watch integration. Another user praises the product as a game-changer and expresses gratitude to the team behind it. The general sentiment is one of excitement and anticipation for the app's benefits.

Avatar
76
3
33.3%
3
76
33.3%
Relevance

Interactive exercises for stress and anxiety that respond to breathing

30 Nov 2023 Health & Fitness

Hey HN!I’m an NHS doctor and the founder of Pia (https://www.piahealth.co) which developed Lungy (https://www.lungy.app). Lungy is an app (iOS only for now) that responds to breathing in real-time and was designed to make breathing exercises more engaging and beneficial to do. It’s been one year since Lungy launched (here’s the original ShowHN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34534615) - I was absolutely delighted with the response. One year on, we have re-designed and rebuilt the whole app, and added a real-time, 3D soft body solver which gives some really cool interactions like blobs / objects that inflate as you breathe.My background is as a junior surgical trainee and I started building Lungy in 2020 during the first COVID lockdown in London. During COVID, there were huge numbers of patients coming off ventilators and patients are often given breathing exercises on a worksheet and disposable plastic devices called incentive spirometers to encourage deep breathing. This is intended to prevent chest infections and strengthen breathing muscles that have weakened. I noticed often the incentive spirometer would sit by the bedside, whilst the patient would be on their phone – this was the spark that lead to Lungy!Since making the first version we’ve made exercises fully customisable (you can dial in exact timings for each breath phase), added new breathing indicators, learning modules, e.g. self-care for anxiety symptoms, and lots of new visuals. The UI is now much nicer and is AA-compliant. The free version gives you access to a new breathing exercise each day, whilst premium ($14.99 per year, $39.99 unlimited) unlocks the full library of exercises.The visuals are mostly built using Metal (a couple use SpriteKit) and there are lots to choose from - boids, cloth sims, fluid sims, a hacky DLA implementation, rigid body + soft body sims - each one reacts to breath and touch. The audio uses AudioKit with a polyphonic synth and a sequencer plays generated notes from a chosen scale (you can mess around with the sequencer and synth in Settings/Create Music). The nice thing about the visuals + audio being generative is that the download size is very small (~ 50MB) with no other downloads. We’re still working on improving the breath detection, using ML - currently, it uses microphone input, with optional camera input to guide positioning.We’re also close to finishing the medical device version - “Lungy Health” - designed as a pulmonary rehab platform for patients with asthma and COPD, it should hopefully be released in the UK early next year.Thanks for reading - would love to hear any feedback!Version 2.0 here: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1545223887

Users are excited about the app's innovation and have questions regarding its medical device registration. There is also interest in using the Polar H10 for HRV measurement to aid relaxation.

Users are concerned that the regulation may favor established players, potentially stifling competition and innovation from new entrants.

Avatar
31
2
50.0%
2
31
50.0%
Relevance

I'm a doctor and made a breathing app for stress and anxiety- Lungy 2.0

24 Jan 2024 Health & Fitness

Hey HN!I’m an NHS doctor and the founder of Pia (https://www.piahealth.co) which developed Lungy (https://www.lungy.app). Lungy is a mindful breathing app that uses the camera +/- microphone to respond to breathing, generating real-time visuals and tracking your breathing progress over the exercise. It’s initially a wellness app (for stress & anxiety), but we’re very close to having a medical device version ready for asthma & COPD - the two most common lung conditions.It’s been one year since Lungy launched (here’s the original ShowHN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34534615) - I was delighted with the response. One year on, we have re-designed and rebuilt the whole interface, and added a real-time, 3D soft body solver which gives some really cool interactions like blobs / objects that expand and inflate as you breathe.My background is as a junior surgical trainee and I started building Lungy in 2020 during the first COVID lockdown in London. During COVID, there were huge numbers of patients coming off ventilators and patients are often given breathing exercises on a worksheet and disposable plastic devices called incentive spirometers to encourage deep breathing. This is intended to prevent chest infections and strengthen breathing muscles that have weakened. I noticed often the incentive spirometer would sit by the bedside, whilst the patient would be on their phone – this was the spark that lead to Lungy!Since making the first version we’ve made exercises fully customisable (you can dial in exact timings for each breath phase), added new breathing indicators, learning modules, e.g. self-care for anxiety symptoms, and lots of new visuals. The UI is now much nicer. The free version gives you access to a new breathing exercise each day, whilst premium ($14.99 per year, $39.99 unlimited) unlocks the full library of exercises.Thanks for reading - would love to hear any feedback!Version 2.0 here: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1545223887

A curious user uninstalled the app due to concerns over legal language and typos. An NHS doctor introduced Lungy, a mindful breathing app.

Users found the content exhausting due to excessive legal jargon and also pointed out the presence of typos.

Avatar
6
2
-50.0%
-50.0%
2
6
Relevance

An interactive breathing meditation game using microphone and camera

05 Sep 2024 Health & Fitness

Hey HN! I wanted to share a project that combines two of my passions: programming and breathwork.For those unfamiliar with breathwork, it's a powerful technique that involves controlling your breathing patterns to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being. It's been an absolute game-changer for my meditation practice and general levels of focus.However, when I introduced breathwork to friends, many struggled to stay focused or weren't sure if they were doing it correctly. I realized there might be a need for a tool that could guide people through breathwork while providing real-time feedback.I decided to take matters into my own hands and built BreathQuest- an iOS app that gamifies breathwork using computer vision and audio processing (all done locally using AVKit). The app detects when you're inhaling, exhaling, or holding your breath using your device's microphone and camera. As an object moves across the screen, you collect tokens by inhaling to move the ball upward and exhaling to move it downward. The tokens are strategically placed to guide you through specific breathing patterns to improve physical and mental health.Some of the challenges I faced:1. Accurately detecting breathing patterns using audio and video data in real-time2. Balancing engaging gameplay with the relaxing nature of breathwork3. Providing meaningful biofeedback to help users track their progress and improve their practice4. Enabling users to listen to session audio through Bluetooth headphones while the device microphone processed data (Apple made this extremely unwieldy)Here’s a demo video of it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzhtRT4rV-gThere are still some questions moving forward, but I'm excited to continue improving the app.Thanks for reading - would love to hear any feedback!BreathQuest - https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/id6505010583

Avatar
1
1
Relevance

Unwind – A Mindful Breathing App for Relaxation and Better Sleep

16 Oct 2024 Meditation Health & Fitness

Hi HN!I’m excited to share Unwind with you, an app designed to help people reduce stress, ease anxiety, and sleep better through deep breathing exercises. It includes features like ambient sounds, progress tracking, mood journaling, and a variety of breathing techniques.I built Unwind to offer a quick way to pause, reset, and calm the mind in under 5 minutes. I’m especially focused on a calming, delightful, and beautiful UI to make the experience as seamless as possible.One of the key features Unwind has is that the watchOS app shows the change in heart rate after you finish a breathing exercise. It's a great way to validate the efficacy of breathing exercises. For me, the sleep breathing exercise typically brings my heart rate down to 60 from 70-80.Would love any feedback, questions, or suggestions you may have. Thanks for checking it out!

Avatar
2
2
Relevance

Title not found - Subtitle not found

10 Jan 2025

Pascora is an application designed to help users perform breathing exercises. Its focus is on the practice of mindful breathing, which can contribute to improving mental and physical health.

Avatar
0
0
Relevance

Lungy - Spatial computing app for stress & relaxation

05 Feb 2024 Virtual Reality Augmented Reality Health & Fitness

Lungy: Spaces is a new spatial computing app that guides the user through interactive breathing exercises and sound-based, active meditation. It is fully native and available at launch for Apple Vision Pro!

The Product Hunt launch received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with users praising the product's potential for creating calm and peaceful experiences, particularly through spatial computing. Several users expressed a strong desire to try the product, some citing specific use cases like stress management and breathing exercises. Suggestions included integration with exercise apps to enhance focus during workouts. Multiple comments congratulated the launch team and expressed excitement, with some inquiries about pricing models. Some users feel that this would be an amazing product.

The primary criticism is the app's reliance on Apple's Vision Pro, limiting accessibility. Additionally, a suggestion was made to explore a subscription model for potentially increased revenue generation.

Avatar
146
22
36.4%
9.1%
22
146
36.4%
9.1%
Relevance

Breathwork App for Endurance Athletes

20 Sep 2023 Apple Watch Health & Fitness

Hi,I had a problem of how to get into a proper shape again after quitting smoking after 17 years, where lungs of mine were the main bottleneck. I was therefore inclined to find a solution that would help me to systematically improve my breathing pace, but since I couldn't find anything related to it, I therefore decided to solve it myself. Being a designer while also having skills of a full-stack developer, I decided to learn Swift and use Apple Watch to design one.In essence, the app is rather similar to how Strava works on Apple Watch: you start your workout session, go through with it, and then have it saved for further analysis. The real difference is that you also set your breathing pace, which will translate your heart rate to breath rate and give relevant haptic cues when to breath in and out.Since I had to build a sampler to WatchOS, I also experimented with trying the app to generate background music that would be synced to both heart and breathing rates. After scraping on domain audio samples reaching over 300GB, I then used Jupyter/Python and the process of dynamic time warping to group similar sounds to eventually create an audible journey when doing workouts. Currently it only has one track/genre for ambient, but I'm thinking of adding more styles to it soon.The app also allows for fetching all your workout data in CSV though Cloudflare's Workers, if need be.I have been mostly using it when doing my runs. I recently also went through my first half-marathon, where lungs were not the bottleneck anymore, so it seems the app seems to have some merit for people to improve their breathwork.Cheers, Andrus

Avatar
2
2
Relevance

Lungy – transform breathing into real-time generative graphics

21 Jan 2023 Health & Fitness

Hey HN!I'm a doctor working in London UK and Lungy is my first app. I started working on it during COVID, and it has just launched on the app store. Lungy (https://www.lungy.app) is designed to make breathing exercises much more engaging and fun, initially for stress and anxiety, and then eventually, hopefully for people with breathing problems such as asthma, COPD and long COVID. Lungy includes real-time cloth, fluid and softbody sims running on the phone's GPU and also generates music with a sequencer and polyphonic synth. Everything is generative, so the whole download is < 50MB.Would love to know what you think and very happy to answer other questions. Thank you!

Avatar
2
2
Relevance

Soft-Body Musical Instruments and Breathing Exercises on Vision Pro

08 Feb 2024 Virtual Reality

Hey HN!I’m an NHS Doctor and founder of Pia (https://www.piahealth.co), which developed Lungy (https://www.lungy.app), and now an extension / partner app for Apple Vision Pro – ‘Lungy: Spaces’Lungy: Spaces is designed to be a relaxing instrument you can play in space, as well as a calming, immersive environment to perform breathing exercises. This was inspired by ancient meditation practices, such as Tibetan singing bowls, encouraging the user to focus on the present moment and their surroundings, an active, sound-based meditation.Lungy: Spaces uses a combination of Metal + RealityKit for the visuals - combined with a soft body solver. It combines full environments, which fully surround the user in a virtual space, and the Apple Vision Pro’s mixed spaces, which blend the user’s surroundings with interactive 3D objects. The UI is fully native for Apple Vision Pro - we rebuilt it from the ground up.The app is free to download, with full access to all visuals / spaces costing $4.99 (one-off, no subscription). It’s available here: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6470201263Would love to hear feedback!

Avatar
2
2
Top