Apps
8 mindfulness apps to help you cope in this time of uncertainty
Take some time for your mental health
Caring for your health goes beyond eating more whole foods instead of processed foods. Getting good sleep, working out, and practicing mindfulness are just as important for your overall well-being.
Taking a brief moment for your mental health is necessary especially at a time like this when stress and anxiety levels are high for a lot of people. Here are some mindfulness apps that can help you cope during this time of uncertainty, whether it’s guided meditation, breathing exercises, or looking for help to relieve stress.
Breathe
The Breathe app on your Apple Watch encourages you to set aside a few minutes a day to relax and focus on your breathing. Taking moments throughout the day to stop, relax, and practice mindfulness can help reduce stress and improve overall health. It’s also available as a watch face, so you can bring focus to your day just by raising your wrist.
3 Minute Mindfulness
If meditating for 20 minutes feels like too much, 3 Minute Mindfulness is the perfect introduction. 3 Minute Mindfulness helps you stop, pause and reset in just 3 minutes so you can remain calm and relaxed throughout the day. You can choose from a 7 Days of Mindfulness course to a range of breathing exercise that each have different benefits. In addition, 3 Minute Mindfulness connects with the Health app to save all the time you spend being mindful.
Ten Percent Happier
Want to sleep better, be more mindful, improve your relationships, and become just about ten percent happier? This is the app for you. The guided meditations, videos, talks, and sleep content will help you build (or boost) your meditation practice, and stick with it. Ten Percent Happier also integrates with the Health app.
Simple Habit
Wellness & sleep therapy sessions offer guided mindfulness & meditation, daily motivation, guided sleep sessions and coaching by world-renowned experts, personalized for the way you live your life. Whether you have 5 minutes in the morning or need to fall asleep quickly, start your Simple Habit today and live better every day. Optionally integrate your meditations with Apple Health by connecting your meditations with Mindful Minutes.
Headspace
Get happy. Stress less. Sleep soundly. Headspace is your guide to everyday mindfulness in just a few minutes a day. Choose from hundreds of guided meditations on everything from managing stress and anxiety to sleep, productivity, exercise, and physical health — including short SOS meditations for when you’re on the go. And to help you find some space during tough times, Headspace is here for you with the new Weathering the storm pack. Track your progress and time spent meditating while adding Mindful Minutes to your Health app.
Timeless
Multi-day courses, guided meditations, and a beautiful personal practice timer. Timeless is made by meditators, for meditators. The app provides high-quality guided instruction with practicing meditators, multi-day immersions for learning new techniques, and a personal practice timer that is elegant, easy-to-use, and fully customizable. Timeless is fully integrated with the Health app, making it easy to track Mindful Minutes.The app is also beautifully designed for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, honoring each device and its unique features while Cloud Sync and handoff ensure seamless experiences across devices.
Zen
If you want to live a happier, healthier and more balanced emotional life, Zen is the perfect app for you. On Apple’s list of ‘Best apps of 2016’, Zen offers a diverse and ever-growing amount of content and features such as HealthKit compatibility to save all health data on your Health app.
Stop, Breathe & Think Kids
Stop, Breathe & Think Kids is a mindful games app designed specifically for kids ages 5 – 10. Kids can check into how they are feeling using fun emojis and try recommended mindful missions and meditations tuned to those emotions. Stickers reward their progress and keep the mindful activities engaging. The kids meditation and mindful missions in Stop, Breathe & Think Kids were developed in collaboration with activity-based mindfulness expert Susan Kaiser Greenland, creator of the Inner Kids program and author of Mindful Games and The Mindful Child.
Apps
iOS 26.5 will support end-to-end encryption RCS messaging
The final update should come out within the month.
Back in 2023, Apple finally adopted the RCS messaging standard, ensuring that iOS and Android users could communicate more seamlessly despite being on different platforms. This year, the platform is adding an improvement to the feature: end-to-end encryption.
Starting with the upcoming launch of iOS 26.5, Apple will now support end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging between iOS and Android users (via 9to5Mac). Besides the seamless communication, users on both platforms can start enjoying secure messaging with one another.
Apple has been testing the feature since February. Now, the company is confident enough to release the encryption technology in a new build for iOS 26.5 meant for developers. At this point, it’s just waiting for an actual release.
Why is this a big deal? Encryption adds an extra layer of security for your messages. Plus, end-to-end encryption means that messages is encrypted and decrypted only by the sender and the receiver. Third parties, which includes Apple, cannot intercept and access your information.
With the feature on, both messaging platforms on Android and iOS will show a lock icon to signify that, yes, your messages are encrypted.
Though the current build isn’t meant for end users just yet, it’s expected that iOS 26.5 will launch within the month, if not by next week.
SEE ALSO: Apple iPhone 17e review
Apps
YouTube makes picture-in-picture mode free for everyone globally
The update is rolling out globally now.
Picture-in-picture (or PiP) mode is a godsend for multitaskers. The feature lets users watch videos in a tiny floating window while doing other tasks. However, the feature isn’t readily available for all users. Or wasn’t, at least. YouTube is now rolling out PiP mode for free globally.
Previously, PiP mode was exclusive to YouTube users who pay for Premium or Premium Lite. It was also exclusive to the United States.
Now, YouTube is making the feature completely free for users all over the globe. It will be available for both iOS and Android versions of the app.
There’s still a catch, though. The free version is available only for “longform, non-music content.” The same goes for Premium Lite subscribers. Music is still an exclusive feature for those who pay for the regular version of Premium. Basically, there is no change for paying users or users in the United States.
Using PiP mode is simple. All you need to do is load up a video you want to watch in the background. Then, just exit the YouTube app and go about your other tasks. The video will be inside a floating, resizable window while you look at other things.
There’s no timeline on when the update will reach your device. However, YouTube has promised that it will roll out globally within the coming months.
SEE ALSO: YouTube remains top PH video platform; advertisers urged to continue investing
It’s time to kindly shove off, flat design. After over a decade of Google’s Material Design, Android is finally showing signs of ditching flat, monotonous colors. In a series of logo redesigns, Google is reportedly trying out gradients as its latest reinvention.
As spotted by 9to5Google, Google is moving forward with incorporating gradients into its designs. Previously, the company started changing the icons of a few first-party apps including Photos and Maps. Now, it seems that the new design philosophy will reach the rest of Google’s suite.
In the obtained designs, the rest of Google’s plethora of apps will no longer look static. The splash of gradient adds the feeling of layering without losing the company’s roots in flat design. Docs and Sheets, for example, look like a light shining on pieces of paper.
It’s unknown when Google plans to incorporate the new philosophy. However, with Google I/O coming fast, it’s fair to bet that an update might come out around that time, especially since that event’s logo already has gradients.
Google’s evolution is not without its precedent. Besides the company’s small trial previously, Apple’s iOS has also made inroads into more three-dimensional designs with the new Liquid Glass. However, unlike Apple, Google’s newest design is a far cry from the former’s return to Windows Vista aesthetics.
Personally, I don’t mind the transition to 3D, as long as it’s done well. Though still visually pleasing, flat design has started overstaying its welcome. It’s time to try something new.
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