One Deep Breath: Breathing Exercises for Wellbeing - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

One Deep Breath was my first experience building a mobile app.

Prior to One Deep Breath, I had built a stock investing website using Ruby on Rails and a handful of Javascript side-projects.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

The largest challenge I faced was self-imposed: the mental barrier of feeling like One Deep Breath was “done” and ready to be released to the public.

We had tested the app thoroughly and the results of our beta test were great, but I still had that nagging feeling that it wasn’t quite ready – that we should add more features, more content, more options before launching.

This happened for months, and I ultimately regret the decision to delay the launch due to these self-imposed restrictions.

In the end, I learned that there will always be more features/content/bug fixes that you can add, and you can “launch” several times.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

I’m a big fan of Flutter, so naturally, some of my favorite apps are those that are built using Flutter, including Betterment (finance / investing app) and Rive (animation tool).

I’m also a really big fan of how Duolingo has turned language learning into such an engaging and game-like activity.

How long have you been working on this app?

I began working on One Deep Breath in September of 2019.

Originally, One Deep Breath was a much different concept, focused on a broader range of wellness practices, including meditation and yoga.

Ultimately, we made the decision to focus on doing one thing, and doing it well: breathing and breathwork.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

We had two main groups in mind: First, the plethora of people out there who struggle with stress, anxiety, or sleep issues and find it challenging to carve out 10, 15, or 20 minutes a day for a meditation or yoga routine. A lot of these folks also find meditation and yoga mystical or confusing – we wanted to strip back these wellness practices and focus on simple, science-based breathing exercises that don’t require tons of time or a quiet, isolated location.

The second group is what we call “Pulmonauts” – individuals who love delving into the growing world of conscious breathing and the science behind it. These are the hard-core enthusiasts and biohackers who love to push the limits of their practice and explore new areas.

I started One Deep Breath as an everyday individual looking for relief from stress and anxiety, but over the years I’ve grown into quite the pulmonaut, and we find a lot of our users doing the same – as they take control of their mental health, they begin to explore the world of breathwork with great interest.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

What makes One Deep Breath special is what we don’t do: we don’t offer a library of meditations, yoga videos, or workout routines – instead, we focus on doing one thing to the absolute best of our ability: helping our users take back control of their health with the breath.

We do our best to make sure that each exercise is on the app for a specific reason: it is either grounded in the latest available scientific research or has been used for thousands of years in various breathwork practices.

Additionally, we strive to educate our users on the science behind the content, so that they can grow their own practice and expand their knowledge. We’re not afraid that our users will “out-grow” One Deep Breath – our goal is to empower people, even if that means that they no longer need One Deep Breath to help improve their mental and physical health.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

A wide array of new content from every facet of breathwork: Ancient Pranayama exercises, a full collection of content Buteyko Method, and dozens of techniques that are emerging from the latest peer-reviewed scientific literature.

We have a few more massive features coming to the app, but we have to keep them under wraps, for now :)

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

If you know someone who might struggle with stress, anxiety, insomnia, or issues focusing, send One Deep Breath their way.

Additionally, if you ever have any questions, feedback, or just want to say hi, shoot me an email at [email protected].