Zenisounds — making a $300,000 app in 3 months
Starting with the intention to develop our own application that combines relaxing ambient sounds — that’s how we got to Zenisounds.
First Steps
The idea sounded great, as great as the environment created by the sounds in the app, but until achieving that was a long way.
There are times when we need to detach ourselves from the daily noise, crowded by so many sounds that we no longer perceive, sounds that only make us tired and make focusing difficult.
The main goal of Zenisounds is to open an imaginary gate that will lure you into any forest, near any river, under the water of any ocean and among the birds singing.
How did we get started?
A very big challenge for us was to start thinking like designers do, trying to put our technical thinking in the background and to focus our attention on what a user would like to see, feel and hear when using our app. The beginning was quite difficult, but from the point where we managed to model ideas into sketches, things started to flow pretty naturally. The sketches have become wireframes, and these have been shaped in different styles and versions of Zenisounds design phase.
Here’s the main screen of the app, where you can find all the playlists you have created. We really wanted to design a calm and pleasant ambience that resonates with the atmosphere around the person using the app, therefore the background is formed according to the weather conditions outside. Isn’t that cool?
Another aspect that makes Zenisounds something special is the big blue button that we call MOOD BOOSTER.
There is also an explanation behind it, that with its help, the app creates a special playlist, custom made, that will help to increase your spirit and turn a dull day into a special one.
Consider the weather conditions, for example, to be very cloudy, it is raining, it’s also quite cold and everything seems damp. Zenisounds will create a playlist that is antithetical to these conditions, possibly creating an environment in which to hear the waves of the sea, on a beach near a campfire at sunset. Everything becomes a dream, attracting you into a new world created to relax and calm you.
Now you become a full-time environment creator. Each sound you choose offers a unique atmosphere in the scene you are preparing. 15 sounds taken from nature and daily life, are pleasantly arranged so that the final product is one to meet expectations. The process of simply hold — drag — drop the item into the playlist, makes the overall experience more enjoyable so you can play around with the sounds.
The combination of pleasing sounds was the thing that was on our mind all the time, to make Zenisounds special in this regard. You can get the impression that you work in the office, and a little behind you is a farm on the riverbed.
From the beginning, we tried to bring the innovation in the app, for users to feel something different when using it, to feel that they have control and the application comes to their benefit from any point of view. The chosen sounds have special importance in the creation of the show which is then found in each playlist, uniquely created.
The increased attention to detail and the continuous desire to improve both the user experience and the visual experience, helped us to make a choice that would increase the feeling of control and relaxation within the application.
Thus, with the help of mathematical formulas, we managed to create a sound wave that would complement the environment offered by the application sounds. It is an additional detail, which creates a special experience and which we hope that will help the continuity and flow of the sounds chosen by the user.
Each playlist can be modified individually. Whether we are referring to the intensity of each sound or we want to reinvent the atmosphere created previously, everything is done as your feelings lead you at that moment. The importance we give to modelling the playlists according to the user’s pleasure is because sounds from so many different environments can give birth to an ambient unheard of by man (the sound of wood burning in the fireplace in the middle of a crowded office).
A timer was a must in the app and we thought that would be truly helpful in many situations, so we integrated this feature.
We did this with the attention to people meditating for a certain period so that they could follow the time carefully. Or, if you use Zenisounds to send you to sleep surrounded by beautiful ambient noises, you can set the timer that will automatically stop the playlist from playing when it’s done.
With each hour spent developing the application, we’re trying to offer a different, simple and impactful experience to users eager to improve their condition, according to their needs.
Zenisounds was designed with a friendly, almost childlike design to provide an ambience that expresses peace. From the beginning we wanted the application to define an environment conducive to meditation, which would increase productivity and attention.
Being inspired in the first place by the well-known apps of Noisli and Spotify, we tried to render, in a short period of time, the functionalities of these giants in a form that we considered to be friendly and suitable for the needs of different types of users. Combining the calm of the ambient sounds with the idea of creating playlists to the desire of the users, we believe that we have reached the main points that have made the apps mentioned above become so popular.
What makes Zenisounds a complex and special app is the availability throughout the Apple ecosystem. We are a team of iOS developers who are passionate about the products and technologies that are offered by Apple, therefore Zenisounds is the fruit of the native functionalities that Apple offers us.
We worked hard to make the application offer the same unique experience on your own Macbook, so here is the link you can download the app.
Thank you!
We hope that this article also gave you the power to create app ideas worth hundred of thousands of dollars and we also hope that, maybe, by using our app your life to become better!
You can download the iOS app from here📱 and also the MacOS app from here 💻 !
Visit our website and follow us on social media! See ya there! 🙌🏼