In a previous blogpost, we summarized the benefits and risks of breathing exercises as a treatment for Long COVID. If the exercises are carefully adapted to an individual’s needs, breathwork can significantly improve lung capacity, respiratory muscle strength and have a positive impact on physical and mental wellbeing.
Breathing apps can support the integration of breathing exercises into everyday life, give insights into potential exercise types and guide patients during exercises. We have identified a small set of breathwork apps and assessed their potential use for people affected by Long COVID based on their features, the general user experience and user feedback.
Today, we want to present the first three breathwork apps. These apps are all free of charge. In an upcoming blog we will present apps that run on a subscription plan.
iBreathe for iOS
The iBreathe app offers simple breathing exercises with customizable inhale, hold, and exhale times. Unlike many other breathing apps, iBreathe does not recommend specific exercises for certain uses, e.g., exercises against anxiety, to calm down or to improve sleep quality.
There are no background music or visual effects, which might make the app appear less attractive but could be a great benefit for people who are sensitive to sound and moving images. The setup is very easy to use, also due to limited options.
The possibility to easily customize exercises can be very beneficial for people who already know which exercises they want to do and need support for scheduling and execution. iBreath can help to establish a regular breathing practice, which can enhance respiratory recovery.
Additionally, the app includes information on the benefits of breathing techniques, including links to scientific publications and books.
The app is free, although it may display advertisements. For a one-time fee of CHF 3, the app can be used ad-free. The iBreathe app is only available for iOS in English.
The Breathing App for iOS
The Breathing App has been developed by breathing and meditation experts and offers basic guided breathing exercises focusing on stress reduction and relaxation. Similar to iBreathe, the app does not include specific exercises aiming towards different outcomes.
Breathing exercises are customizable, but the options are limited. The user can choose between a visual or sound-based signal indicating when to inhale and exhale. The duration of each exercise can be adjusted between 1-30 minutes. There are 6 different setups for breathing interval ratios that the user can choose from (inhale:exhale ratio in seconds; 2:3, 4:4, 4:6, 5:5, 5:6, 5:7).
While the variety of breathing exercises is very limited, the app could be a low-stimulus alternative for people who are stimulus-sensitive due to PEM and who want to use breathing exercises to relax.
The Breathing App is free and is available in English and Russian for iOS only.
Awesome Breathing
Similar to iBreathe and The Breathing App, Awesome Breathing offers easily customizable breathing exercises. Awesome Breathing facilitates deep, regular breathing practices to enhance lung function and reduce difficulty in breathing (dyspnea).
Besides five predesigned breathing programs, the user can create their own programs and save them (up to 15 programs). The app allows granular intervals of inhaling, holding after inhaling, exhaling, and holding after exhaling, with individual duration and various options for audio signals. Reminder notifications can help integrate the custom breathing exercises into daily practice.
Awesome Breathing is easy to navigate and does not use animated visuals or sounds. Users can choose if they want an audio signal or visual signals for guidance. Therefore, stimulating outputs can be limited to a minimum, making the app a possible good choice for people who are sensitive to sounds or moving images.
The language of the app is English, it is free of charge and available for iOS and Android. Awesome Breathing can be synced with Apple Health to allow tracking of your breathing exercises in the Apple Health app.
If you have already had good experiences with breathing training apps, please share them in the Altea forum with other people affected by Long COVID and discuss which app brings the most benefits.
