An app for anyone who would like to improve their personal well-being and learn more about positive psychology.
What does the app do?
This app aims at making you feel happier. The core of the app is following different ‘tracks’ where you complete activities to reach a goal such as conquering negative thoughts, controlling anger, improving sleep etc. It uses ‘gamification’ with the ability to ‘level up’ and increase different ‘stats’ namely Savor, Thank, Aspire, Give and Empathise. The app is highly interactive, and there are many mini-games. You can take a positive psychology personality test to discover your strengths and then try and use these strengths in your daily life to increase wellbeing. For the complete app description, go to the App website , Google Play or iTunes and for a detailed review, see Reviews.
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CONS |
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✔ One trial published showing improvement in well-being with use, but there was no control group, so you can’t make any conclusions.
✔ Activities are extensively explained, referenced and based on proven psychological therapies.
✔ Community section, but I couldn’t see any evidence of it being extensively monitored.
✔ Complete a validated personal character strengths questionnaire.
✔ Paired website, can complete activities on all devices.
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✘ Some mini games felt gimmicky and forced
✘ Free version is very limited
✘ Navigation was very slow
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Privacy and security
Has a privacy policy, no concerns. Read more about things you can do to improve your safety and security when using apps.
Review details
Date of review: April 2018
Platform reviewed: Android
Download size: 72 M
Updated on: 13/4/2018
References
Clinical review
Free version:
Paid version:
Reviewer: Jeremy Steinberg, GP Registrar, RNZCGP
Date of review: April 2018
Comments: " This app mainly uses positive psychology to improve psychological well-being, which is an approach that has good research supporting it. There are also elements of other therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness. The text throughout the app is extensively referenced to supporting research which is fantastic to see and something very uncommon for medical apps. The app itself has had one poorly done trial published which showed improvements in well-being (but there was no control group)
The core of the app is following different ‘tracks’ where you complete activities to reach a goal such as conquering negative thoughts, controlling anger, improving sleep etc. It uses ‘gamification’ with the ability to ‘level up’ and increase different ‘stats’ namely Savor, Thank, Aspire, Give and Empathise. The app is highly interactive, and there are many mini-games but I found some of these gimmicky.
You can take a positive psychology personality test to discover your strengths and then try and use these strengths in your daily life to increase wellbeing. This is a standard positive psychology approach and is well validated. The free version only gives you your top three strengths which I found in poor taste given that it is a completely free online test.
I would not recommend the free version as it is extremely limited. The subscription price for the paid version is similar to its competitors such as headspace and pacifica. I would only recommend this app if this type of approach interests you and you would like to try ‘gamification’ of your goals."
Safety concerns: " None"
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