Everyone deals with stress, and it is a normal part of life. But when you constantly react to stressful situations, the effects can threaten your inner peace and healthy sleep.
Thankfully, global mental health awareness is evolving, and increasingly more people strive to rid themselves of constant stress and anxiety. Our team is no exception.
Our team knows that one of the best ways to come up with a great startup idea is to find a pain point that you constantly deal with and would like to solve. So, in mid-2022, we started developing a Lavender mobile app. The app helps people reduce stress, relax their minds, and fall asleep better with an extensive collection of ambient and nature sounds, including streams for meditation and techniques to calm your mind.
Also, Sweetcode’s extensive portfolio includes numerous mobile application and software development projects we have launched over the years. In this article on relaxation app development, we’ll share our experienced-based advice and suggestions for creating a product. Based on an example – the Lavender app.
In the course of the pandemic and unstable situation in the world over the past year, interest in digital mental healthcare rose among multiple demographics. According to Statista, in 2020, global consumer spending for mental wellness apps reached almost 270 million U.S. dollars, up by 32.5 percent compared to the previous year. By 2022, mobile mental wellness apps are expected to generate 491 million U.S. dollars in consumer spending, up by 82.5 percent compared to 2020. In 2020, the increase in popularity of mental wellness apps, as well as meditation apps, was fueled by the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and its repercussions on the mental health of global users.
How to Create a Relaxation App?
It’s best to go through the stages described below to succeed in app development.
1. Decide and evaluate your business idea
It all starts with an idea. So, deciding what you will offer your users would be best. We covered the topic of finding ideas in detail in one of our latest articles – 5 Pro Tips for Finding a Good Idea for a Startup. This article will help you find an idea for your business and better understand startups.
We also found the idea for the Lavender application, guided by one of the tips we present in this article. So click to find your unique idea.
Once you have found ideas, it is worth validating the idea before investing in them.
A typical idea validation process consists of these steps:
– Defining your target audience
– Define the user problem that your application will solve and how your app will solve the problem
– Make competitive analysis
– Deciding on your app’s unique value proposition ( what makes your app unique)
– Come up with app features ( must-have and optional with you can add with updates)
– Choosing a monetization model and metrics for performance monitoring
– Choosing the platform on which to launch your app ( Android, iOS, or both)
Talking about the Lavender app it is cross-platform. We support iOS and Android. Lavender is always up to date. The app has sleeping sounds, nature sounds, rain sounds, meditation sounds, white noise, and many more. Don’t forget to turn the sleep timer to fall asleep without worries. Also, we have tea recipes for even better mornings and nights.
The must-have Lavender’s features are:
– Saving to favorites your streams and sounds
– Playing the sound in the background or cast it to any device ( for sounds, no network is required)
– Sleep timer to stop the sound automatically
– High-quality sounds and streams
2. Minimum viable product (MVP)
To save on the cost of developing an application, we recommended first launching an MVP. An MVP is a version of your app with just the minimum of features but still works and represents ideas and goals.
Also, MVP determines whether or not the product has the potential. Moreover, users can leave comments and feedback about their experience with your app, telling what functionality they would like you to add to your product.
You can save not only money but also analyze user behavior. And then add the most demanding features during the second development stage.
Our project manager can help you choose your company’s best option depending on the budget, market situation, and your needs and ideas.
3. Application design
The correct UI/UX approach is pivotal in developing a relaxation app that helps reduce stress and sleep better. The purpose of the application already gives you the answer to what the design should be because users who suffer from anxiety or sleep disorders can quickly get irritated and leave because of poor navigation, overload screens, or annoying colors.
For example – the Lavender app is all about making you calm and concentrated. So, our goal was to create a design that contributes to this goal. We don’t use too bright colors; our choice is purple, which also matches the app name.
Our team created a specific mood for the app and a sense of relaxation that will help catch the right vibe and get the best after-effect from using the Lavender app. Also, we avoided creating overloaded patterns to distract app users from their initial goal – to get rid of stress.
We have also created some color palettes for your future relaxation application:
4. Testing your application
Testing will help ensure that all app features work correctly and that there are no significant bugs. Also, before publishing your app, it’s essential to test its performance in terms of speed, response time, scalability, and compatibility on the universal platforms. Another essential part of testing is usability testing– ensuring that the mobile app is easy to use and provides a satisfactory user experience to the customers.
5. Submit app to Play Store/App Store
Once satisfied with the app’s performance, you can submit your app to Android or iOS app stores. But remember that you need to comply with Apple’s and Google’s developer guidelines, and align your monetization model with their requirements. So please read the article further to learn more about monetization models.
But even though the application has to meet requirements to end up there, it’s worth it. By adding your application to the App Store and Google Play, you can reach a global audience and millions of potential users.
Another essential part of submitting your app to the Play Store/App Store is designing screenshots. “First impressions count,” and the same applies to your mobile app listing, which is why the quality of your screenshots is critical. Screenshots comprise almost 75% of your app listing, so you must ensure that your screenshots immediately showcase your app’s primary function and purpose. After all, it takes an average of 7 seconds for a user to decide whether they want to download your app or not.
So, how can you ensure that your app screenshots help you get the edge over your competitors, rank on the app stores, and increase downloads? Here are our top tips.
– Use the right image dimensions
For App Store:
Previously, Apple forced mobile app developers to upload different size screenshots for each product (think: iPhone 7 plus, iPhone 5, iPhone 4, etc.). Thankfully, they announced their Simplified Screenshot Submission Process, allowing developers to upload just three screenshots – 6.5″ (the size of an iPhone XS Max/XR), 5.5″ (the size of an iPhone 8 Plus), and 12.9″ (optional for apps that run on iPad). In addition, for any models that require a different size, Apple’s platform will automatically downsize to match its requirements.
For Google Play:
Google Play’s screenshot dimension requirements are pretty standard and are outlined in this set of simple guidelines:
If you have an app for different devices (think: Tablet, Android Wear, etc.), you must upload screenshots specific to each device
– Images must be in JPEG or 24-bit PNG
– A minimum of 2 screenshots is required
– Minimum dimension: 320px Maximum dimension: 3840px
– Upload multiple images and videos that showcase your app’s value
Depending on the app store, you will have a maximum of 10 screenshots to upload. For the App Store, you can now display up to 10 screenshots on your product page” to “show customers more of your app’s experience.” And The iOS app preview video is a full 30-second clip that shows users what your app is about. You can have up to 3 videos, but it’s best practice to have one great video.
You can add up to 8 screenshots for each supported device type for the Google Play Store. Supported devices include phones, tablets (7-inch and 10-inch), Android TVs, and Wear OS watches.
Choose screens users will frequently use in your app to show what the experience will be like. Then, include a copy above those screenshots to give users a high-level overview of what they’re looking at and any key functionality. Remember best to explain the essential part of your app in the first two screenshots.
Here are examples of the Lavender app’s screens that our graphic designer developed:
Also, don’t forget to update screenshots if you have some significant app updates. It will not only entice new users to download, but it could also attract users who have churned back to your app.
6. Performance analysis
To successfully launch a full version of your meditation app, it’s crucial to analyze its performance as an MVP.
Armed with analysis results, the development& design team can fine-tune the road maps for development, better prioritize future features, and assess where the app should proceed.
Some important user experience traits include:
– What are the most popular paths that users take inside the app?
– Are there any roadblocks that prevent them from taking action?
– How long does it take them to reach a goal?
Key relaxation app features to include:
– User profiles
– Sign-in/ sign-up
– Player and favorite tracks with offline playback
– Personal Statistics
– Push notifications/remainders
– Support/Chat Support
– Content library
– Sleep Stories
– Payments and Settings
How much does an app like Lavender cost?
Unfortunately, there is no single answer to this question since the app costs consist of the number of features and OS platforms. However, we can estimate how much time our design& development team needs to make an app MVP.
Please, contact us to get a detailed estimate on your future project and discuss all the details. Also, you can read one of our articles – How the Project Estimation Looks From the Inside, to learn more about the process.
Ways to make your relaxation App profitable:
Of course, you have launched your application and would like to make it profitable. So, there are a few ways to monetize your app. However, not all monetization models will work for a relaxation App.
Let’s take a look closer at each monetization model:
– Subscription
Subscriptions are the most widely used monetization model in such apps. Users receive unlimited access to all of the app’s content by paying a monthly, yearly, or lifetime fee. Apps that use this type of monetization also offer free trials.
Lavender also employs a subscription model.
– In-App Purchases
With this model, your app users will pay you to unlock premium content, such as a specific blog post or sounds, or paid features like video streaming with instructors.
– Pay to download
The rules are simple – to download your app, users should buy it first. Here you need to consider that the App Store and PlayMarket charge transaction fees from 25 to 30% of the app’s cost.
Also, this model is slightly outdated because users want to see what they’re purchasing and try an app before paying.
– Ads
Remember that an app for relaxation is a stress- and irritation-free space, and an ad suddenly showing up on the screen will irritate your users. So in-app ads are not recommended in such apps.
But still, if we are talking about ads, you can charge other businesses cost-per-click or cost-per-mile for running ads on your platform.
Final thoughts,
Mobile apps may be used as a guide to a more happy and mindful life.
Our team wants to make the world happier, helping people avoid stress and anxiety with our unique music service, which we show you as an example of a relaxation app.
More and more people are discovering the benefits of healthy apps every day. It means the market will only grow.
With our extensive experience and comprehensive knowledge of software development and product design, we can build a top-notch app and bring your dream to life.
We know how crucial an eye for detail is in such valuable projects. Connect with our team now by email – hello@sweetcode.pro
