APP REVIEW (UPDATE): Meditate - Meditation Timer by SimpleTouch Software

A while back I wrote a review on Meditate - Meditation Timer by SimpleTouch. You can find that review here, but just recently they released an update for the app.

Since my initial review was so glowing, I was very concerned when I saw the added functionality of the app. The App Store page showed that it had new timers, new bell tones, in-app purchases, and more. I immediately feared that they had tried to reach beyond the simplicity of the single purpose app and in so doing feared that they had destroyed it's perfection.

I couldn't have been more wrong!

If there was anything at all wrong with the original, MondoSamu readers seemed to think it was the lack of bell sound variations. For me this wasn't an issue as I very much enjoyed the high, clear Tingshas tone that the app used. A few people said they preferred lower, richer tones. I can certainly understand, but felt it was a minor flaw, if one at all.

However, that is precisely one of the things that SimpleTouch has overcome with the release of the update. Basically, the app still works flawlessly and amazingly as it did before, but they found a nice, subtle way to include the new functionality.

As before, when you tap on the app, you get the main interface (used to be the only interface) for executing your meditation. You have the "Meditation" duration at the top with that button highlighted, the "Preperation", Interval, Cool Down and plus/minus buttons as well as the "Meditate" button that starts the timer. What's different is that you now have a tiny grid, remarkable only for it's subtlety, in the bottom left corner. Thoughtfully, this grid represents which of the four presets you are using. If you tap that grid, the screen recedes to the back, while four buttons merge to the front. This new screen is called "Meditation Presets".

Beneath the "Meditation Presets" header, are four buttons. Meditation 1-4. At the bottom of each button is a duration for that meditation. You can tap on any one of these to get the main interface again, but if you tap and hold on one of the buttons you get a screen that slides up to reveal the settings for that preset timer. It saves them on the fly.

What this does for you is allow you to have different meditations that you use for different times throughout your day. Perhaps, like me, you only have time for a 15 minute meditation in the morning (you can rename this to "Mornings"). If so, then just tap that button and the timer for that meditation comes up. Or maybe at lunch you grab a quick 30 minute meditation…there's a button for that as well. The very meaningful and thoughtful way that SimpleTouch achieved this fairly complex amount of control is by having you tap and hold on whichever of the preset buttons you want to tweak. Once you do this, a screen slides up to reveal the controls for that meditation.

From here you can change the name of the meditation, turn on-off the vibrate, set the sounds on or off, configure your various bells AND this is where you get to set the bell tones. You tap on those and another sliding screen appears with options for how many chimes, which tone (where you can also download tones in-app to suit all your tonal needs) and - and this is another minor thing they have addressed from the original version - you can set the bell to SILENCE!

I had received a couple of comments that people found the bell DURING meditation to be distracting and didn't really see the point. For me, it's great because I have one sound at 5 minutes and use that first five minutes to still my mind, then when it sounds I slide deeper in to my meditation. But, some wanted silence, and now that is a choice!

Anyhow, this is an astonishing amount of control that - while I didn't think it was necessary - SimpleTouch found a way to incorporate all of this intricate detail while still keeping "Meditate" VERY simple, elegant and agile!

I would like to see it go "Universal" so it works full screen on the iPad, but hopefully that's in our future! It does have some great new backgrounds as well, by the way.

So, I say "Whew! Good job, SimpleTouch!"

If you have a need for a meditation timer, I can't recommend any app as being remotely as good as this one for the job, and that's saying a lot because there are plenty of good ones out there!

Now I need to meditate!
MondoSamu

APP REVIEW: Little Buddha by Happy Tapper

And here we are, at the last app I use in my morning routine.  Arguably, this one has little to nothing to do with a weight loss routine, but I include it because I consider it an important part of my morning.  

After my Tai Chi, Meditation, Visualization, Gratitude Journal, LoseIt! Calorie Tracking and such  in the mornings, I finish my routine by reading a few quotes from the Little Buddha app from Happy Tapper.  

Following the usual sleek, simple and positive theme that you will have come to expect from Happy Tapper, Little Buddha allows you to search, read, save, share and enter quotes.  That's it.  There's really not much to say about it except that it works really well, it's cute (like all Happy Tapper apps) and it's elegant.

With a very simple interface (see below), you can rub Little Buddha's belly and get a quote, then close it and repeat.  You can turn it landscape mode and just swipe through them.  You can mark favorites and view those, look at your own quotes, search for terms and edit the settings.  As I prefer in an app…that's it!  Very simple and straight-forward.

The reason I consider this app so important is that I like to end my morning routine with a positive thought…especially one that I might like to share on FaceBook with friends.  

So, go get the app and enjoy!  I'm not sure what apps Happy Tapper has in store for us in the future, but if they're anything like Gratitude Journal, Vision Board and Little Buddha then I know I will own them as well!

So that's it.  I've completed the reviews of the apps I use for my morning routine.  The rest of the day I repeatedly use LoseIt! to track my calorie usage, and then at night when I go walking I utilize a pedometer app that I will review later on.

I hope these reviews have helped you find some tools that will help you on your own quest to lose weight and live well.  The most important thing I can suggest to you though, is read the book Savor, and then find a way to make it work for you…the rest of this stuff is just tools in a tool box.  The ones I reviewed are the ones that I finally put together to work for me.

Be well,
MondoSamu

Ask, and it is given....

...Well...at least five times anyhow....and only if it's a FREE PROMO CODE for an iPhone Meditate - Meditation Timer by SimpleTouch Software!

SimpleTouch Software was kind enough to give me some promo codes (see my "full disclosure" section in the lower right of the blog if you have questions or concerns as to how I handle this sort of thing).  

So, pretty simple here....No contests or crazy rules....simply be one of the first five people to post and ask nicely for a free code, and I will email it to you if you include your email address.  That simple.

I ask for nothing in return, but I would gently suggest that if you like it, be sure you let the developer know and spread the word.  It's a great app deserving of much love!

Enjoy!

MondoSamu

REVIEW: Meditate - Meditation Timer by SimpleTouch

After my morning Tai Chi, and using LoseIt! to enter my exercise on my iPhone, the next step of my morning routine is to use another iPhone app called Meditate - Meditation Timer by SimpleTouch Software.  As this app is about as close to perfection as I can imagine an app being, this review will be much shorter than some others might.


I settle down for a brief meditation.  Actually, a word on that…If you think that meditation is something you don't have time for, please find a way to fit it in.  It doesn't matter if it's an hour, 30 minutes, 15, 10 or even 1 or 2 minutes!  Even just a few breaths can be a meditation.  If you seriously think that's not possible, then use your Tai Chi or other exercise as moving meditation.  Use your walking as walking meditation.  Just find a way to fit it in, because the benefits are great.  Some might say that meditation has no place in a weight loss program.  I would argue strongly that it does.  It helps you calm yourself, think clearly and especially the quick, three breath re-focusing type, will help you live in the moment and focus when you are about to make a food or exercise decision.  If you do this before you order your lunch, you might find yourself eating much healthier.

Anyhow, I settle down, and relax, then hit the Meditate app icon.  Each time you enter the app, you will find a different lush and vibrant background image of a calming scene.  In the foreground you are shown a VERY slick control panel for the app.  What you see, with this app, is ALL you get.  It's designed to do one thing, VERY simply, and VERY well.  At the top is the time you have allowed for meditation.  Beneath that are six buttons:

Preparation (time)
Mediation (time)
Interval (time)
Cool Down (time)
Minus (-)
Plus (+)

The bottom has the "Meditate" button, which starts your timer.  When you tap that, the control panel flips horizontally, and states the item (preparation, meditation, etc) at the top, has a large countdown timer in the middle and a restart and pause button at the bottom.

That's all, folks!  There's no additional screens for setup, about us, website, nothing!  Meditate - Meditation Timer is perfectly stunning visually, perfectly simple in it's layout and operation, requires virtually NO setup and operates flawlessly.  One job, perfectly performed in a beautiful way.  What more could you possibly want in an app!

I've tried countless other options such as the popular Zazen Suite, and the Equanimity app.  All have their pros and cons.  What makes the Meditate app so special, at least to me, is there ARE NO CONS!  It's all PROS!  Just like the designers.  Speaking of whom, I have communicated with SimpleTouch a few times and have found them to be extremely responsive, professional and friendly.  Their professionalism as a developer seems to match their design aesthetic.  Can't say anything nicer than that about them, if you ask me!

So, bottom line - If meditation is a part of your life, and you're an iPhone user, this app is non-optional.  If there's a better mediation timer app out there, I have not seen it!

Til next time,
MondoSamu