Ftrain, by Paul Ford

Kevin Barrett on Building an iOS App That Helps You Meditate

Kevin Barrett is Senior Software Engineer, Postlight, and he recently wrote up the work he did building an app for INSCAPE, a new meditation start-up in NYC. He writes:

When INSCAPE reached out to us at Postlight with an offer to work together on a new way to practice meditation at home and in New York City, we were excited (but remained calm). INSCAPE creates immersive guided meditation and relaxation experiences — via its app and studio — for people to find balance and calm in a fast-paced, always-on world. Our response: “Yes, please!” Then we were like: “So how soon can we get to the being mindful part, it’s 2016 and nothing sounds better than a little inward escape right now.”

It turns out that helping people be mindful is a real engineering challenge. It involves a wide range of technologies, integration with Apple’s Health App (did you know that Apple offers built-in “mindfulness tracking” in iOS 10?). Plus there’s integration with a backend API. As with everything that looks really simple and minimal, it’s surprising how much is there when you look under the hood.

Congrats to INSCAPE on their very successful launch—covered thoroughly in Vogue, New York Magazine, and elsewhere. We loved the challenge—how can you make an app that helps people focus on things other than apps? It’s unusual to work on a project that so rewards taking a deliberate, meditative approach.