Imagine having a resource that tells you all about that yoga pose you were wondering about, shows you sequences involving that pose, recordings that talk you through it, timers, muscle group indicators and more? Well, a quick look through a few applications available for your mobile phone will show you this is a definite reality!
Here’s a round-up of the best yoga apps around for both Android, iOS devices (both iPhone and iPad), Amazon Kindle Fire, Mac and Windows Phone. Some common features that many of them have include:
- The ability to build your own timed sequences (known in different apps as classes, or sessions!)
- A pose dictionary (sometimes with translation between Sanskrit and English)
- The ability to schedule reminders for your yoga practice sessions
- Muscle groups that are used are made visible
1. IYOGA PREMIUM
An incredibly detailed yoga app, showing muscle usage and multiple angles! This app from 3D4Medical for the iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) is quite amazing! Not only does it allow you to see which muscles are being used, it also has a library of poses, built-in sequences, and a sequence builder to create your own.
A cool feature of this app is the ability to see the active muscle groups for each pose. It also provides written and verbal instructions as well as a timer for your practice. Poses and other details can be shared through social media or email.
This app is part of a series using 3D visualization of the human body in action, with a focus on anatomy and muscular/skeletal engagement. iYoga is a well thought-out app, containing everything you need for yoga on the move, or to look at your practice in more detail!
- Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad)
- Price: Comes as a premium version (£4.49) ,with add on advanced pose sets (in-app purchase £1.49)
2. YOGA STUDIO
This app features a clear design that is easy to navigate, with the added advantage of syncing yoga sessions to your calendar! Yoga Studio allows you to build your own yoga sequences, save them as classes, and schedule your practices using the built-in calendar. The library contains 280 poses with detailed instructions and, if you prefer, you can follow one of the 65 classes that come with the app rather than starting from scratch.
- Platform: iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini)
- Price: £2.99
3. YOGA.COM STUDIO
This app is simple and easy to use, and has some great features for beginners to yoga. It contains 300 poses and 45 predefined yoga sequences complete with breathing exercises and 3D muscle images, and the option to create your own sequences. What sets this app apart is the four levels of difficulty you can choose from: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Guru!
You can share your exploits with this app via social media or email and it also has its own community called Inspire that you can join.
- Platform: iOS (iPhone, iPad), Android, Amazon Kindle Fire
- Price: £2.99
4. DAILY YOGA
This app is great for regular use and has a wide range of yoga sessions and sequences. It even has a reminder for you to do your next practice! Daily Yoga has over 300 poses and 40 built-in sessions, combined with 18 background music soundscapes for your yoga class. The videos are high-definition complete with voice over instructions. You can also choose from one of three levels of difficulty. Combine that with customisable class lengths (5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 45 minutes) this app is one of the most versatile on the market.
The pre-installed programmes include “Daily Yoga For Abs,” “Yoga for Weight Loss,” or “Seated Yoga Routine.” The sequences in this app are drawn from various schools, most notably: Ashtanga, Hatha and Vinyasa.
- Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android, Windows Phone
- Price: £2.99
5. POCKET YOGA
Pocket Yoga boasts integration with the Apple Health App, so all data from your sessions can be recorded and logged. This includes calories burned, time spent doing yoga, and even your heartbeat. The app guides you through each pose with voice instruction, including breath work. The poses are illustrated rather than HD video, which allows for a much smaller app in your device.
The app logs your activity, and as you progress you can unlock new environments, a bit like badges of achievement. You can also choose to practice to your own music playlists, which is a nice touch!
- Platform: iOS (iPhone, iPad), Mac, Android, Windows Phone
- Price: £2.29
6. POCKET YOGA PRACTICE BUILDER
Building on the success of the Pocket Yoga, this app takes the idea one step further. On top of all the features available in the basic version, you can also build your own sequences and send them to friends. You can share your sequences in several ways, using email, messaging, AirDrop (iOS) or converting the programme to a PDF. There are 200 poses in the dictionary, and you can set the duration for each pose independently. Even the voice over can be tweaked!
- Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad)
- Price: £2.29
7. MY FIVE-MINUTE YOGA PRACTICE
For the person who needs yoga anywhere and any time! The idea behind this app is to build quick and regular yoga sessions into your schedule. It has 11 five-minute sessions built in, as well as some longer options for when you have more time.
The programs fall under several categories, such as “Energising When Getting Up,” “Meditation Time,” and “Calming Down Before Sleep.” It even gives you the option to categorise your homemade sequences as well.
- Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad)
- Price: £2.29
8. KIDS YOGAVERSE: I AM SUN, I AM MOON
Kids Yogaverse is an amazing series of apps for kids of different age groups. It’s very colourful and attractive with hand painted backdrops and carefully crafted stories that introduce 19 different yoga poses.
There are some built in games as well, such as “Find Ha,” the Sun Warrior character from the main story, who hides among the artwork on the pages! Ha joins Tha, the moon princess, in a story which brings together the sun and moon salutations.
- Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad)
- Price: £3.99
9. FLYING THERAPEUTICS
You’ll enjoy this app if you’re interested in partner yoga or acro-yoga. This app comes in two versions, beginner and advanced, with each forming a complete course.
The beginner’s version comes with three flows: First Steps, Front Flow, and Back Flow. The poses and sequences are illustrated with full HD video, resulting in a hefty 400MB application! Every move is also accompanied by a text description.
- Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad)
- Price: £4.99
10. YOGIFY
This app was developed by Electronic Arts and is completely free! It app contains over 30 hours of yoga classes, which range in difficulty from beginner to advanced. There are over 275 poses built-in with photo illustrations, audio and help tips. You can purchase add-on classes with varying degrees of difficulty, and focusing on particular aspects such as strength or flexibility.
Despite some slight bugs (images cut off on the main screen, sound fading out a little early at times) it has a very clear design and is easy to use for your own home sessions or for mobile sessions at work.
- Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad)
- Price: Free
LET’S GET DOWNLOADING!
As you can see, there’s a diverse and imaginative range of yoga apps to inspire and inform you and that’s just for āsana! Feel free to check out my other article about some great meditation apps. The hardest part is actually looking through the ones available to see which works for you. Keep in mind, some of these apps can be quite high in memory and data usage, especially if using HD video rather than animation. Keep in mind the limits of your mobile device and phone plan while checking out these apps.
Did any of these apps work for you? Did I miss one of your favourites? I’d love to hear about your experiences with yoga apps on your phone in the comments below!
