Shine: Calm Anxiety & Stress Reviews

by AingeR15

Why the sudden charge for everything I am sure you made enough off of what you were charging for before but now you take the little bit of you had of happy that you weren’t charging for and put a charge on it! You know for wanting to help people in need or desire to be a better them or out of a ruff spot in life and it being the purpose of your app to help bring people to peaceful, relaxation, and away from stress as well as struggling to find themselves!! It sure seems that the making money part is all you care about! I mean I get it you have and need to make some money but you already charge crazy amounts for everything and now you feel you have to charge for everything I mean there are apps out there and maybe charge 2-10 one time fee and they still make a huge profit! I guess I am saying is I am one of those who needs a good meditation app right now with loosing my mom and everything and finally even your monthly fees I can’t afford having everything thrown at me that those little morning talks use to give me some happiness but now I have to look elsewhere makes me so sad!

by Jakwolfie

I loved the daily this app on Facebook messenger. I just downloaded Shine because I felt in need of those daily advice and articles. But to my dismay basically everything is behind a pay wall that is not something I can afford right now. Which isn’t the real problem. The real problem is that they took away a perfect option for people like me. A simple message in the morning with an article. Which is something I can’t even find on Shine . There is a daily check in and even the intention option is locked. I don’t understand why a company that prides its self on inclusion would take away the one thing that made them great in the first place.

If a dev ends up reading please please please bring back the daily shines on Facebook Messenger. It’s still on your about page. You click it and it opens messenger. It was such a great thing to read with my morning coffee. Something positive to start my day and even after a bad a would go back and re read that this app. It was comforting to know that every morning I had a message waiting for me. Please consider bring it back or incorporating into Shine for free.

by A.RNTR

I really enjoyed this app when I first started using it about 1.5 - 2 years ago, they even gave me a reduced rate when I couldn’t pay the full cost! However, recently I haven’t been connecting to all of Shine updates they’ve been making. This morning I opened Shine and saw meditations sponsored by GrubHub and it just felt cheap and tasteless (no pun intended). I don’t want to use a platform that I value for my mental health to see sponsored content. If you’re new to meditation this might be a great entry point, but I find myself using Liberate or Calm more than I do this app. this app was my to go to and I would recommend it to friends all the time, now I just don’t get the same support I used to from it anymore. The daily check-in isn’t what it used to be and I miss that. In my opinion, it’s become too hip trying to please it’s rise in popularity, but for folks who deal with mental health issues it can be a little challenging to adjust to when you’re looking for helpful meditation guides. If you’re BIPOC, I highly recommend Liberate app to go along with the this app. I’m not affiliated with them, just found them to be the next level up from this app. I’m invested in my mental health and found meditation to help me tremendously so I’m hoping I can offer some helpful tips.

by Balloondogspop

Like another reviewer, I decided to give this app Premium a try. About 3 months in, I cancelled the auto-new option both through Shine Store. I received an email asking to update my payment information- I logged into my account for the first time in 6 months and there was nothing on there that indicated I was a Premium member. I woke up today to find they charged me for another year of Premium. I’m frustrated because I do not like Shine because I find their texts and exercises both patronizing and superficial. I’ve already reached out via email several times (no response), so I’m hoping this review will catch someone’s attention.

I feel older teenagers and women in their young 20s miiiiiiiiight benefit from Shine. I really did not like their approach- it always felt patronizing and superficial to me. For example, I don’t want to be told to yell, “I AM WORTHY.” I also didn’t like how slow the narrator spoke- I often played it double speed and still would find myself rolling my eyes at the “message.” Overtime, it felt like lip-service feminism and would give me the same sensation as nails on a chalkboard do.

All in all, Shine is like a cupcake: pretty to look at, but lacks real substance.

by Newmediatracy

Words can’t describe how much I love Shine! I love the content, and I love the voice and tone of the motivational speakers on the tracks. There are a few enhancements I would really like to see in the future: 1) An indicator to let me know that I have already listened to a track. That is “Visibility of the system status.” 2) The ability to easily filter tracks by a specific speaker/narrator. That is “User control and freedom.” 3) A way to mark tracks as favorites. In real life, if I like something, I bookmark it or highlight it for the future. That is “Mirror what happens in the real world.” Those are just a few things most users look for in apps like this. These are things we value and these things meet our needs.

You may not be allowing these things because you don’t want users to feel like they have gone through all of the content. No worries on that even if we did. I like Shine , and I don’t mind listening to a favorite a few times. Not having the features I mentioned above reminds me of those blog posts that are missing the date, and that is a bad user experience hiding the date. Give us more control over the content by adding those enhancements. If those features are on your roadmap for the future, great! If not, you should definitely put those in your next sprint instead of in the backlog :)

by DMears5177

I have to say Shine is amazing. Other apps have said to help with anxiety, depression and mindfulness but fell short in one way or the other. I love Shine because they covered all angles honestly. It reminds me daily to check in. It encourages me to take short moments to reflect and be mindful. It’s bright and plenty of the topics it has for the “podcasts” or “talks” are things that are scientifically proven to improve happiness. There are four things I would improve so far: the space given to “talk it out” when you are doing daily check ins., offer more free content so users can get a full feel of Shine before buying in., allow users to look back through the data that we enter in so we can better reflect on overall moods and see if we are improving., and during check-ins be able to do more than one option for reflecting, like talk it out and read articles instead of just one. Other than those things I absolutely love Shine and plan on purchasing the full app after I’ve used it for a full week. It is definitely something I will be using everyday and will be recommending to friends and telling my physicians and psychologists to recommend to patients. Thank you so so much.

by Sagwah_

A friend of mine has collaborated with this app often and got me into it. I listen to the Daily this app on my way to work and the sleep stories when I go to sleep, and enjoy the check-ins every day. For someone with a lot of anxiety, and high doubtfulness when it comes to mindfulness and meditation in general, this is a great stepping stone to help me achieve the goals I want to meet. I am more incentivized to sleep earlier and be more focused, as well as look deeper into my relationships and boundaries. I think that I would advise other users to “drink the kool-aid” and buy into the things that you might think are BS, because it’s better for you in the end.

This rating would be higher if Shine itself could be improved. Sometimes Shine thinks I’ve restarted a challenge when I have just accidentally just played the first meditation of a set I’ve already finished. Sometimes I get the white screen of death when I open my daily this app or if I want to check in on my mood. If Shine wouldn’t be so buggy, this would be a 5-star app. Usability and reliability are the biggest downfalls. Otherwise, this is a great app! I don’t usually write reviews but I really do like this app and wanted to tell others about it.

by Mia Nic

I absolutely love the this app app. It’s so thoughtfully and intentionally curated with targeted daily meditations and so much more. It is extremely user-friendly and simple to navigate. I have had the free version for years and while it is lovely, I recently upgraded to the premium version as they were offering a sale. I purchased the premium version as a gift for a friend as well and she is loving it - my other friends I’ve introduced are hooked now too.

The only changes I would like to see: while I love the sleep meditations (they’ve helped me ease into slumber the past several nights when I was feeling restless), I would love to see a longer one, around 10-15 minutes. Sort of an in-between of the 5 min. meditations and the longer, ~30 minute stories as sometimes I want something that falls in the middle. Lastly, they offer so many other wonderful, external resources/readings. I would love the ability to be able to save certain readings to refer back to when I need them without forgetting. Other than that, Shine is perfect and I tell everyone and anyone about it - highly recommend whether you are just trying out meditation for the first time or you are a seasoned professional: there’s something for everyone.

by Melissa Annie

Every day, at my best with routines of course) I just want to share this message of thankfulness. this app speakers and healing, diverse voices of each and every one of you: you light up my hope and lift my heart and mind. Shine - so much more than an application, but a mindful exploration and empowering new vision, has changed my whole life. By your grace, mighty strength, example and guidance, I’ve become a better (at least a more integrated and self-aware and loving!) leader of a Baltimore Women’s group called the Hampden Hive. Incorporating lessons learned here, I finally believe, I, you, WE can truly thrive. All the stars. Big love, Melissa Ann Parker.
••P.S. any help needed or talks/meditations in Charm City? We love you, and goodness knows our city and all individuals need it, a way to look deeply with courage clarity into the world and the self - and let it resonate when challenges, blessings and the rest whisper to us, saying : Be brave. Live your truth. Be well. Be YOU.

by Andyesse57

I can’t get over how much I love this app. I used to use headspace but I found the meditations repetitive and I didn’t feel like they did much more than tell me to breathe. this app has so many different kids of meditations, one of my favorites being the daily rituals that go along with activities like drinking coffee, doing makeup, commuting, doing dishes, and even waiting. And the daily this app always feels tailored to me, like they know exactly what I need to hear that day. And I love the encouragement to reflect and jot down a few notes, which I like looking back on. I just love Shine so much!!!

(If a developer is reading this, I do have two minor requests. When I finish the meditation, the quiet music continues for a moment but then stops during the reflection. Is there a way for it to keep going while I type and reflect? Two — it always seems to miscount my streak, I think that might be a bug. Love you!)

by Averyemma

I’m so grateful for Shine and I only have the free version and it’s helped me so much! I’ve been though so much in my life and had no clue that all this hard times were affecting my brain and mental health, until one day it was the last straw and years and years of pain came to the surface (hard times came from the profession I was in for 11 years). I came upon Shine and I can say, it’s worth every single minute it takes to become familiar with its workings. It’s easy, positive, so incredibly helpful in my healing but even better turning that pain into something to empower me and make me better because of how Shine just knows what to send you to educate you and change the old way of thinking.

I’m so grateful for Shine! Keep up the amazing work and I can’t wait Till I can afford to get the whole package someday as I know it has to be even better than words can describe. Mental Health is really so painful sometimes but thanks to Shine, I’m making it to the other side with all the great advice and education- and I will always have Shine to thank and the Good Lord for helping me fall upon it.

Keep up the amazing work. YOU’RE NOT ONLY SAVING LIFES, LITERALLY, but you’re helping people really live with purpose, presence and being mindful. Great job!!!!!

by Brandonactor

I can’t say enough how important this app is to my daily regiment, now. It’s the best motivator in the morning to jumpstart my day with positivity and confidence, and also one of the best ways to release my mind from itself at night while listening to the great nightcaps they have to offer, one thing I will say is I would love to see more sleep meditations for those nights when I’m working through something mentally and can’t get my mind off of it, maybe some trauma-informed meditations as well, but the selection really is amazing and I highly recommend subscribing for the year because it’s one of the lowest costs for a subscription of its kind and I got a free journal out of it as well, which I use to further enhance and reinforce my gratitude in the mornings and journal my progress and goals throughout each day! Thank you so much, this app team, for being such a great anchor and support system! I recommend it to everyone I talk to!

by Nellllzzzz

this app has really helped keep me grounded over the last few years. I remember when I began using this app, I received a daily text message I text back like a friend. This text message grew into an app where I have access to daily articles, meditations, a community writing posts to support each other, I write at least one thing I’m grateful for and one thing I’ll do for myself daily. The messages I receive daily, how relevant each has been to my personal challenges…so grateful. Things like “face your front,” personifying my emotion to understand what it’s telling me, triangle breathing…the list goes on. Happy to have recently upgraded to a premium member, with the change in my finances, but even pre-premium user, this app has so much to offer. Thank you to the this app team and community for the tools and Shine . Beautiful app and concept. I cannot stress how important Shine has been in my life. Forever grateful.

by RayoDiSolo87

I thought I would just this app a bit brighting, but I’m radiating with gratitude, positivity, and joy. How I heard about it: I was going through some things one week and I shared with a friend that I would like to stop crowd sourcing my decisions. The next day, she sent me a this app article discussing items to consider when crowd sourcing YOUR decisions. That moment I decided to check out Shine and do the a trial. The rest is history.

Shine has become part of my morning routine. I wake up, shower and do my daily check-ins before I walk out of my place. It has significantly helped with establishing a positive mindset for my day. I consider myself generally positive and optimistic; with Shine by my side I feel more Resilient than I have been in a long time. The content of the articles, meditations and challenges are spot on and not very lengthy. I like having bite size information that I can digest and implement in my day. I highly recommend this to anyone who needs a daily reminder and strategies to maintain a sense of balance in their lives.

by Melissanicoleexo

I started using this app about a month and a half ago on the recommendation from a friend. I had tried other apps similar to this app and assumed it would be like the rest, but I still gave it an honest effort because I was in such a deep hole at that point in my life that I was willing to reach for anything to pull me out. Within 24 hours, I bought the annual subscription and have not gone a day without a meditation or reading an article. I never realized the impact Shine had made on me until I was speaking to my therapist and he asked me what it is that made me change my outlook on so many things. I realized it was the 10-15 minutes I spent being present and focusing on myself everyday that changed those feelings. I see things in a new light now and the work that the this app team does along with collaboration from the community has changed my life and quite possibly could have saved it. Thank you to Naomi, Marah, and the rest of the this app Squad for all that you do!

by Breeskoo

I had friends that always raved about meditating, but I could never get into it. I recently started my journey with self-care and self-love and decided to give meditating a try. I downloaded a few apps, tried a few free trials, but nothing compared to Shine!!! A premium (subscription also) free trial reveals a daily check-in where you can rate your mood, describe why you’re feeling this way and work through it by reading a relevant article, listening to a meditation, talking it out, or free writing—(You can also check-in with your gratitude)—Shine responds with positive feedback and support regardless of how you’re feeling! There is a free daily this app meditation and free morning, mid-day, and evening meditations to listen to with the free app—but honestly the premium is so worth it. There are different challenges and meditations to follow to build you up without breaking you down. I truly cannot talk enough about this amazing app. It’s become a part of my daily routine. Download now and become a more mindful you!!!

by Athenafknrayne

this app has helped me to persevere through my depression and the rough times. I found this app when my partner left me, I found out I was pregnant, and I was about to lose my home. I was devastated and suicidal and felt there was nothing I was ever going to succeed in. this app helped me keep my head high and taught me how to manifest the things I want: and ditch the things I don’t. Since my mindset changed I feel like a new door has opened up; the father is now ready to be in his child’s life, I’ve made friends with someone who helped me get a new place and my social media that I had been working on for years seemed to pop off overnight: I found my love for music again and was able to keep my dog with me. I got offered a major career deal and found friends I never would have if this app hadn’t encouraged me to seek out a group who loves me. Maybe my results are extreme: but I absolutely believe in the live and positivity Shine has brought into my life, and will be making it a daily routine not only for myself; but now for my daughter

by Transformation Grrl

I absolutely love Shine! So much valuable content to explore...talks and mindfulness meditations for #allthethings. From productivity, focus, to gearing up for change & inspiring talks on authentically being yourself, deserving your dreams, master focus, etc. It’s so good! Having the freedom to choose the meditations by topic gives me the flexibility to explore what I’m particularly needing that day. I’m so grateful to the creators of Shine, and I love that with my Premium Membership I’m able to bookmark my favorites. I love the range of topics and meditations... especially those for morning and productivity. I’d like to see more geared towards checking in with your body, stretches and navigating through toxic relationships. Also more about morning and evening routines. I love the 7 day challenges. Currently I’m working on confidence, self esteem & better mornings. I also really like that you can have a daily check in and journal what you are feeling and experiencing, being mindful of gratitude with recommendations for articles focused on one’s exact needs based on what you write. Keep up the good work! Premium membership is totally worth it!

by LiveSpontaneous

it’s great to use an app made by and supportive of BIPOC, women, people with mental illnesses/nerurodivergence, and the LGBTQ+ community. it acknowledges our specific issues and gives us specific tools to cope with them. i love the sense of kindness, nonjudgement, and inclusivity it exudes, and i love that it has acknowledged BLM, covid-19, and BIPOC mental health month, and provided resources specific to these issues and the people they affect most — while also including those who are affected in a more subtle way. it gives me encouragement to be kind to myself and accept my feelings while reflecting on what i could work on in myself and my life and how i can better support others. it gives me space to be myself, in the moment. and the free version doesn’t give you everything, as is expected, but it gives you enough to be genuinely helpful. it also uses money from premium accounts to give back to organizations helping communities in need, like BIPOC and LGBTQ+ orgs. most other self care and meditation apps don’t do all these things — i’ve tried a few others and this one is my favorite. thank you everyone at this app!

by Carried_away

Shine is improving how I interact with my phone and bringing a ray of sunshine to my morning. After realizing I was slightly addicted to a game app (okay who am I kidding I was addicted and wasting a big part of my day), I decided I needed to curate my apps. I came across this app on Shine Store recommendations and thought I would give it a try. Not many apps have made it past my curating process, but this one did. I listen weekdays to the daily this app. When I have extra time and am looking for a pick me up or motivator, there are challenges and other content. The newly added weekly newsletter gives me quick, positive news stories to read or watch. My sense is that the this app team is passionate about what they do, and thinking about them following their dream makes me happy. My one request would be to allow users to set the time for the daily this app notification. I get up early and listen to the daily this app before I get the notification. I did not see where I could change the time. Keep up the good work this app team. One more shout out... I also like that the daily this app is just on weekdays. We all need work life balance so you are being role models for keeping the weekends sacred.

by Fake_cannibal_venom

Three years ago I had this app on my kik so I got texts everyday, and that really helped me. But after I deleted my kik, I started to notice over the years how depressed I felt because I had no one to tell me living is worth it— and hell, not many of us can tell ourselves that either. I looked everywhere for messenger bots just to tell me I’m alright, and I seriously got bummed realizing that I was writing myself messages from pretend people. But then I remembered this app and I downloaded it immediately! Right after, I opened it up to the audio for evening vibes and it calmed me down. I’d never felt so serene. And then just hearing the speaker say “You are valuable, you are good,” actually made me tear up. I’ve just been waiting forever to finally feel like I’ve done something right and that everything will be okay. I’ve only just downloaded this app, but I know it’ll become a huge part of my life in the future, and I’m so thankful for it. THANK YOU 💕

by Ultramaureen

Yeah I luv ur quotes I luv ur articles I enjoy it first thing in the morning but for some reason it won’t let me get it. It offers me Shine for 50% off I go to it it tells me I’m already a member then I finally get to the paying part everything goes in and bam nothing I’ve texted and emailed u guys I get no response don’t get me wrong I luv and want Shine but it says it having difficulty and they say go here and I did what it asks still nothing I give up please help me get Shine 😜I’m going a little crazy I miss it I guess I can do the free trial but no I want this app Premium need help is there some way I can pay for it on ur side well I mean I’ll send the $ and u give me Shine . 😐 but I’m frustrated something I enjoy and can’t have it. !!!! Yeah I still to this day haven’t able but I sent a message to someone finally on ur side sent me so yeah hopefully I’ll get the whole app soon but this was very easy to do so thank u

by I Like Games . Com

Look, I’m sorry for the dumb name I chose for this account a decade ago, but I can’t change it. Apple, please stop deleting my reviews; you’re making me look insane. Anyway! this app is my favorite app. I’ve never sought “positivity,” which probably contributed to my permanent state of semi-melancholy. I’ve never been a morning person. Shine changed me. I look forward to getting up in the morning, I drool over the dailies (and they’re so relevant to my life), I love the check-in, and am now hooked on the sleep stories too. It’s allowed me to wake up in a better, more stable mood and then I go to bed without any screens on. I sleep better now! Then, it jumpstarts my morning so I eat breakfast, smile at my husband more, and have a clear head. I would never have made these changes on my own and I’m healthier because of it. Thank you, this app!