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Oak Meditation
p/oak-meditationMeditation and breathing exercises, founded by Kevin Rose.
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Kevin Rose

Oak - Meditation and breathing exercises for geeks

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Oak is a community-driven guided meditation and breathing exercise app. Our meditations were built from data gathered in-app as beta testers completed their sessions (or ended them early). This led to hundreds of adjustments in pace, tone, and verbiage. We're geeks: Support for pre/post heart rate tracking (and variability) soon.

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Ryan Hoover
It's been fun watching you build Oak in public on your Facebook Group, @kevinrose. 👍🏼 Would you build your next product this way? While there's no "right way" to build products, we've always been proponents of involving a community in the building process.
Kevin Rose
Maker
@rrhoover 100%, for most apps, the sooner you can get the community involved the better. We learned so much from the feedback.
Adam DePasqua
@rrhoover @kevinrose Agreed! We're doing the same with our product. The product has transformed completely because of our users.
Kevin Rose
Maker
Hi all, looking forward to answering any questions you might have. Here are some more details on how Oak is different: https://medium.com/@kevinrose/oa...
Seth Louey
@kevinrose just downloaded. Going to use it for my afternoon meditation.
Ian Mikutel
I’ve been beta testing Oak and it helped me finally create a morning meditation routine (on day 59 in a row!) after previous attempts with other apps failed. Oak is simple, beautiful & effective. It’s split into 3 areas (meditate, breathe and wisdom) and has awesome community stats that show you how many other Oakers? (Kevin we need a name for our community haha) have meditated so far that day. Your Oak tree on the home screen grows as you continue to meditate as well. Overall, it’s been super fun to see this app develop over the past few months and help provide feedback in the FB group. Kevin as talked about how he hasn’t seen a meditation app that continues to evolve with user data and usage, and I hope they continue that approach as time goes on to keep pushing the limits of how great a meditation app can be. Can’t wait for them to introduce TM too! 🙏
Kevin Rose
Maker
@ianmikutel TM style (mantra) and loving kindness next up! Thanks for your support, Ian!
Andreea Nastase
@ianmikutel I love it for the exact same reasons you described. It makes it super accessible and easy to meditate or just take a moment. I tried all the other apps (Calm, Headspace, etc.) but could never get into a routine, or found their rhythm jarred with my learning curve. This app helped me find a peaceful place inside my busy mind, and see the things that had been stressing me in a different light - all from day one. For that I am very grateful! I particularly like the wisdom section too, and knowing how many people are active. Though I can't see them, it creates a sense of connection. There's something that Oak users have in common but can't quite put my finger on it, but it'd be great to meet more of them.
Daniel Samuels
Do you have any plans for an Android version?
Kevin Rose
Maker
@danielsamuels Yes, our hope is to prove this model/style is working, then expand quickly to android!
cacarr
@danielsamuels @kevinrose Can I safely assume, UI-wise, that the Android app will not feel like an iOS app on Android? :-)
Skylar Challand
Always loved the name Oak
Ludo De Angelis
Awesome work - really love that it has the goal of weening you off guided meditations. As Kevin said “Monks don’t use meditation apps” And it’s free! Totally expecting to pay for this.
Sam Wilson

Not only is this product amazing, it's free - and I've never seen another app developer open up (and manage!) the process so effectively to a wider community. This needs to be case study material, on so many levels, of how to do things right. Nice job Kevin and team!

Pros:

Everything - dev process, community, UX, this team absolutely crushed it

Cons:

Not available yet on Android - but it's in the roadmap!

Arin Basu

Excellent app for meditation. if I were to choose among insight timer, headspace, calm, and oak, I'd choose Oak. This app beats every other app in terms of its balance between simplicity and unobtrusiveness. The best app for meditation is here, and you do not need to waste money on anything else.

Pros:

The best meditation app out there! Two different styles, & helpful.

Cons:

Would be nice if the timer stayed on when the screen goes blank.

Richard MaaĂźen
Looks amazing! When is this coming to Android? Can I leave my email somewhere to be notified please? :)
Sagiv Ofek
I don't get it. It's 207 and companies still release apps only for one platform (usually IOS). people, learn react-native!
Eivind LindbrĂĄten

Been beta testing this for some time, and I have replaced my Headspace subscription with Oak. Beautiful design, and just the right features.

Pros:

- Well designed

- Intuitive

- Well executed feature set

- Free (at least for the moment)

- Integrates with healt kit

Cons:

- Could maybe have something that motivates continued use. E.g. track unbroken chains of meditation or something similar (x method)

Kevin Rose
Maker
Thanks, Eivind. You read our minds, the next feature we're slated to build is "streak" tracking. More soon!
Corbett Magotra
Any plan to include a feedback mechanism? I've tried a ton of apps, but so far the only one I've made progress with has been Muse (http://www.choosemuse.com/). It's pricey, but it works. Is that the intent with the integrations?
Kevin Rose
Maker
@lilredcorbett Yes, we hope to gather passive feedback via heart rate and other factors. Early days...we have a lot of experimenting to do
JoĂŁo Oliveira
I've also been part of the beta testing group from the beginning and can't wait to try out the final version. Great job team.
Kevin Rose
Maker
@joao_oliveira Thanks for testing/feedback! :)
Marcus Karoumi
Love the transparency behind this project. That's how you build something in 2017! Good job, Kevin đź‘Ź
Andreas Kambanis
Been looking forward to seeing this launch! Perfect timing just as I'm getting back in to meditation.
Kevin Rose
Maker
@andreaskam I hope you enjoy it, Andreas. Thanks for checking it out.
Tangerine
Awesome Application @kevinrose thanks for letting me be a part of this journey!
Kevin Rose
Maker
@dominik_kugelmann Thanks for trying it out!
Jordan Jackson

More stats ... keep up the sounds and customizable aspect .. it is awesome. Maybe some syndicated guided mediations from tara brach if possible?

Pros:

Awesome sounds, nice voices, customizable ...

Cons:

mm maybe more stats and metrics to improve on ...

Nolan McCoy
As with everything you put your time and energy to, @kevinrose you've built another sleek, well-rounded product that will help many people. It's been a treat to see you and the team navigate this idea from UI sketches to now a finished product. Also steller job on the instructional video, very well done. Looking forward to the future!
Kevin Rose
Maker
@nolanmccoy Thanks, Nolan. Appreciate that :)
Rose Dust
Hey @Kevin, super clean design and the inhale-hold-exhale exercise is a nice idea! So, are you really the maker/founder of this app or just invested?
Kevin Rose
Maker
@rosedust I'm really the maker/founder. This is a fun/free project :)
Adam DePasqua
Congrats @KevinRose! đź‘Ź
Kevin Rose
Maker
@adamdepasqua Thanks, Adam!