Show HN: Mindset – Self-Improvement Hypnosis
itunes.apple.com
itunes.apple.com
Very nice job with the "Sneak Peak" and I think your pricing is good, but I am still very annoyed by needing to give you my email after I downloaded the app.
Yeah we wanted to give people a chance to experience hypnosis first hand before making them commit to signing up. Sorry you feel that way, we believe having user accounts is integral for successfully using the app because it allows progression, stats, personalization etc.These help develop it as a habit which is fundamental for fully changing your deeply ingrained attitudes and perceptions.
No offline option, I live in a poor service area so that's a long term deal breaker for me. I tend to queue up everything when I'm at uni. (Coursera, Lynda, Pluralsite, LinuxAcademy, Podcasts, Headspace all offer offline downloads).
The app crashed on my ipod touch, and of course it crashed at a pause in the narration so it took me a minute to notice, then I had to restart.
No seek option that I could find, so I had to start from the start.
I would prefer a one month free trial than a curated foundation set.
I also vote for a webapp (again with offline).
An offline option is definitely something we will be implementing in the future, hope to see you back when we do.
Sorry, it crashed! We're working on a bug fix atm so hopefully it won't keep happening, has only happened to a couple of users so I'm not sure why... We don't have a scrub/seek option due to the fact that being interrupted in the middle of a session would effectively mean you are brought out of the state and would need to re-enter but we could consider adding it in cases of early interruptions etc.
We actually do have a one-month-free trial of the premium service, if you tap the subscribe button it will tell you about it. However, I definitely see how it can be confusing without tapping 'Subscribe', and we'll make it clearer in the new version.
Really appreciate your frank feedback, we're still-relatively-new developers and the app is quite fresh so ironing out these bugs/improvements is really important to us.
I have no problem shouting you guys a couple of cups of coffee for the service (assuming I like it).
Cheers, I hope you like it as well!
Cheers We’re still working on the download and save function but it will be our next update!
(It's better to email us at hn@ycombinator.com with this kind of request. We don't see most comments on the site and I only ran across this one randomly.)
(I'm in Adelaide.)
It'd be great if I could chose limited number of packs for a lower amount. Just my two cents.
We overall prefer the subscription model that gives you unlimited access to the entire library, like Netflix and Headspace, then the pick and choose method of traditional cable companies.
I appreciate the idea tho, we will continually add more packs to hopefully provide greater and greater value. You are also able to suggest new packs and we'll add the most popular!
And yeah, I did suggest couple of packs I thought I could use. Good luck. :)
Awesome, thanks for taking the time to check it out :)
That's from the press release on the website. Yet there are only 8 ratings in the app store and no reviews. Seems odd.
I just read every single piece of text in that page and didn't get any useful information. Even reading the information in the "Science" page (linked at the top menu) doesn't clarifies anything. Considering the current stage of the landing page, it would be better to simply redirect the user to the iTunes page (since there is no Android app yet) and let the user try the app immediately rather than confusing them with irrelevant information.
Ask one of the moderators; @dang for example.
> What sort of information would you think would help explain it better?
Considering how much skepticism people have towards Hypnosis in general, I would prefer to read a clear explanation of what the app actually does. Your comments here [1] and here [2] are on point. I would prefer to read that explanation more than trying to decipher what the website is trying to promote.
On our site we've compiled some of the latest research into hypnosis and it's effectiveness. http://www.themindsetapp.com/science/
The research field is still quite young but the evidence is coming in fast. Once we reach a certain scale and funding we will also conduct research specifically into the effectiveness of app-based hypnosis but we believe it would be aligned with the effectiveness of hypnosis in general.
We think of meditation as cardio for the mind, improving your overall mental health and well-being through mindfulness. Hypnosis is more like strength training, where you focus on retraining the thought patterns relating a single behavioral area.
Hypnosis doesn't involve being mindful of your thoughts like meditation, instead you become hyper-focused on what the hypnotist is saying, so its actually quite different.
- Really like the voices used; slight scottish accent is quite pleasant
- Helped dissuade me of some of my more immediate concerns about hypnosis
- Was a bit longer than i'd like, will be a tougher to fit in to my schedule than 10 min Headspace sessions
-Overall great looking app and I'll keep trying the rest of the sessions
That’s one of the reasons we put that introductory session in; to help get rid of some of the misconceptions surrounding hypnosis.
We know it can be a bit difficult to fit in but think of it as the same amount of time as short tv ep but instead of draining your productivity you’re actually improving yourself.
Cheers! We believe that in order for hypnosis to be successful it needs to be packaged beautifully and intuitively (have you seen any of he other apps out there)
We think of meditation as cardio for the mind, improving your overall mental health and well-being through mindfulness. Hypnosis is more like strength training, where you focus on retraining the thought patterns relating a single behavioural area.
Hypnosis doesn't involve being mindful of your thoughts like meditation, instead, you become hyper-focused on what the hypnotist is suggesting and taking it on board. Meditation helps you be aware of your thoughts and feelings and try to change them actively, while hypnosis is retraining the subconscious attitudes and perceptions that are instigating those thoughts and feelings in the first place.
We believe that Headspace and Mindset solve different problems and are actually quite complementary.
Regarding side effects, there isn't any unless you have a psychological disorder but thats in rare cases. Our tracks simply provide positive suggestions to your subconscious regarding a specific topic.
On a personal note, I've been using it every day and can honestly say its really helped me especially with my public speaking and procrastination and has helped me sleep better (a massive help for my daily productivity). I would recommend giving it a go if you have an iPhone and would be really happy if you could provide an honest review of your experience.
How do you know this? It seems to me to be quite difficult to test properly.
Additionally, I have done two presentations and my performance was commented on by my colleagues as a lot more confident and self-assured (I definitely felt that way).
Sleep is easy to quantify: I used to struggle to fall asleep until 1-2am and now I am falling sleep before 12 every single night.
And other studies have shown that placebo cannot account for the majority of effects of hypnosis: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4812013/
>https://med.stanford.edu/news/ ... This shows that the brain is altered during hypnosis. This is also true of sleep and many other activities and not too surprising.
>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ ... Not very cited. The question isn't so much "how much of hypnosis is placebo?" but more "how did you account for placebo in your testing?".
What we want is documentation that your specific device / method has lasting effects in double blind trials. If you can't provide that, how can you sell the product?
https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/hypnosis-for-ptsd-ev... A placebo-controlled study found that it was effective as a treatment for PTSD and had significant and durable effects weeks after. As well as trials in treating IBS https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11151439 showing similar levels of long-term effectiveness. These trials are only a subset and only show the effects removing the effects of placebo in double-blind trials and the ability for long-term effects; not evidence that our app works.
There is also evidence that hypnosis is highly effective in conjunction with CBT in treating psychological disorders, but similarly, the research is still early and not immediately transferable to Mindset https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/doi/ab.... Additionally, a (small) study found hypnosis had a significant ability to enhance self-efficacy, affect, and sports performance in soccer players https://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/pdf/10.1123/jcsp.2.2.....
Currently, we're relying on the evidence supporting hypnosis itself rather than research conducted into the efficacy of Mindset. Considering the stage we're at we think that's reasonable, especially considering we provide a significant opportunity for users to experience the effects themselves in the app.
In the future, however, we definitely will conduct double-blind trials into the effectiveness of Mindset but it is just not possible at this time.
Thanks for taking such a considered look at the app, appreciate the interest!
This is wrong way to go about your business, in my expert opinion. I just don't care, this might be the most brilliant thing ever, you just made yourself obsolete by this in my view.
If they went with PWA, which clearly their 'app' can easily be, they could develop business instead of fishing people.
Native apps are a lot better in my opinion; i can really notice the difference between PWA vs native.
Why may I ask is it obsolete?
srsly?
This app provides for the same amount an App with audio files which content or amount doesn't reflect at all the value it might and probably not provide.
And it is a subscription model. WTF. Wtf do you need an subscription model for that? I tell you, because people forget to unsubscribe and thats how they plan on making more money...
Mindset is designed to be used on a daily basis and we have been and will continue to add value throughout the lifetime of the product.
If anyone accidentally renews the subscription we'd be more than happy to refund it because it's not worth destroying a consumer relationship forever for $6.99 :)
The reason why subscription won, was money. Its like every other gym membership out there.
One day, you will be able to sit in front of the numbers and you will not do the right thing. You will see exactly how many people paid for a year subscription and stopped using the app after 1-3 month.
And yo uwill have the number later on on who is having an on going subscription and who is not using it. And you won't stop the subscription for the customer.
If they accidentally renew we will. It makes business sense to keep customers happy and we want our users to really be getting the benefits of the app.
I feel that you may have a negative view of the entire subscription model not our application of it :)