I built a wellness app that is designed to be closed
Most wellness apps earn more the more often you open them. That one fact explains a lot of their design: the streak you are afraid to break, the 9 pm notification, the red badge, the "you missed yesterday" screen. I wanted the opposite. An app that helps for a minute and then has no reason to pull you back. So I built AsanaPals , an offline Android app where five animal companions help you move,…
In contrast to the usual design of wellness apps that benefit from frequent usage, I created AsanaPals, an offline Android application aimed at providing a brief, focused experience without any recurring prompts or reminders. To achieve this, I devised an engineering strategy that ensures the app never necessitates a connection to the internet, eliminating potential sources of engagement.
By stripping away permissions like INTERNET, ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE, and WAKE_LOCK from the release build, I effectively solidified the app's offline status. The decision to structure the app around a one-time purchase model, free of subscriptions, ads, or in-app purchases, further reinforced the idea that the user's time and attention should hold intrinsic value.
All features, including the five animal companions designed to assist users in various ways, are included at no additional cost. By mapping the app's technical requirements back to this core business model, I ensured each technical choice was aligned with the single principle that the app should never implore the user for their attention.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
