Whether you’re a beginner looking for a good yoga app or an advanced practitioner looking for something to challenge you, you deserve the best when it comes to a yoga app.
But because the popularity of yoga has exploded in the past couple of decades, there’s an over-saturation of options. Not all of them are created equally, either.
As a yoga teacher and practitioner who has been practicing for more than a decade, here are my recommendations for the best apps on iOS, watchOS, and beyond.
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Apps that integrate with Apple Watch
There are many yoga-related apps that either sport Apple Watch companion apps or have some other sort of syncing capability for watchOS. Here are some of my picks.
Apple’s Workout App & Apple Fitness Plus
One of the simplest ways to track your yoga workouts is to use the built-in Workout app on watchOS.
This, of course, won’t give you a yoga sequence to follow — it’ll only allow you to keep tabs on the amount of time you practice and the calories you burn.
If you don’t have your own sequences to fall back on, then it’s worth looking into Apple Fitness+. This $9.99-a-month platform has a range of workout options — including yoga — taught by excellent instructors. Plus, you can share your subscription with your Apple family group at no additional cost.
And now, anyone with an iPhone you enjoy Apple Fitness+.
Pocket Yoga
Pocket Yoga is an excellent option if you’re looking for a barebones and affordable way to practice yoga sequences.
For one, it’s a single purchase and doesn’t rely on a subscription. It also sports an Apple Watch app that lets you see the current pose and how long you’ll be holding it.
At its core, the app is quite simple. There are no celebrity yoga teachers or visuals here — just a VoiceOver and an animated person doing yoga with whom you can follow. Pocket Yoga is a solid choice if you don’t need anything fancy.
Asana Rebel
Asana Rebel is a yoga and fitness app that includes an iPhone app and a companion Apple Watch app that can record your practices and save them to the Health app.
As far as the content, Asana Rebel is very goal-focused. When you first sign up for the platform, you’ll input some personal details and what you want to get from practicing yoga. It’ll then create a workout/yoga plan based on those goals.
If you’re looking to get into yoga primarily for fitness, then Asana Rebel is a solid choice. It’s also affordable at $35.99 a year if purchased annually. Otherwise, it’s $15.99 a month.
Apps with great Yoga content
The following apps don’t have dedicated watchOS companion apps but are still excellent options because of the quality of their platforms.
Down Dog
Down Dog is an excellent yoga app for those interested in other forms of fitness beyond yogic Asana. For a single subscription fee, you’ll get access to the flagship yoga app and separate apps dedicated to barre, HIIT, running, and meditation.
As far as the yoga app itself, Down Dog is unique because it intelligently creates a new sequence each time you practice. This has the added benefit of staving off boredom with prerecorded yoga flows.
The yoga cues are simple, concise, and effective. As a bonus, Down Dog also sources its own music and creates unique playlists across genres like alternative, dance, spiritual, and more. Like the flows, these playlists change each time you use the app!
Yoga Studio: Mind & Body
One of the “original” yoga apps for iPhone and iPad, Yoga Studio is an all-in-one digital platform that can help you practice yoga anywhere you have access to an iOS device.
There are various practices to choose from across various categories, including flexibility, strength, and balance. You’ll also find well-known yoga teachers offering tailored sequences on the app.
You can also create your own yoga practices in the app from a vast library of poses. This makes it an app that can grow with your practice over time.
YouTube
It’s hard to overstate YouTube’s usefulness to the budding yoga practitioner. On the app, you’ll find a wealth of yoga flows, sequences, helpful tutorials, and videos detailing anatomy and yogic philosophy.
If you don’t mind ads running during your practice, YouTube is also free to use. Those who hate intrusive ads can get a more peaceful experience by paying $11.99 monthly for YouTube Premium.
The vastness of YouTube’s catalog is also its main downside: you must know where to look for good sequences. However, you can’t go wrong with Yoga with Adriene or Yoga with Kassandra.
Unique offerings
It can seem like yoga apps are a saturated category, with many options being a dime a dozen. Here are some unique yoga-related applications that could be worth your time if you want something different.
O-P-E-N
O-P-E-N is this yoga teacher’s favorite yoga app because of the quality of the teachers and the instruction. You’ll also find much more focus on yogic breathing exercises (Pranayama) and meditation than on other yoga apps.
Each sequence is beautifully designed and shot, and the yoga teachers are some of the best in the business. It’s not a celebrity-filled yoga app like Alo Yoga, but the teachers are well-known for designing great yoga flows and being compassionate and knowledgeable.
The meditation and breathwork exercises are also some of the best you’ll find. If you’re curious about aspects of yoga and mindfulness beyond the poses, then definitely look into O-P-E-N.
Zenia App
Zenia app is about the closest you can get to a yoga studio without leaving the comfort of your home. This app is tailor-made for beginners with plenty of support, instruction, and interactivity.
For example, you’ll receive a workout plan crafted for your fitness levels. You can also get real-time feedback on your poses because the app uses your iPhone’s camera to track your asanas.
As far as the catalog, it’s jam-packed with both yoga and fitness classes. This app may be especially helpful for those concerned that they aren’t in proper alignment in a yoga pose or aren’t doing a practice “correctly.”
Insight Timer
Insight Timer is a unique mindfulness and meditation app because it’s free to use. While there’s a premium subscription option, the vast majority of the content on the app comes without a price tag.
You can find mindfulness talks, meditations, and more on this app. Quite uniquely, there’s also live yoga taught by expert instructors worldwide. While you have the option to donate to these teachers, actually taking their live classes is completely free!
The app also has a companion Apple Watch app that tracks meditation or yoga practices. From there, the companion app saves the data as activity or Mindful Minutes in your Health app.
An Apple Watch is a great boon to a yoga practice.
As a yoga teacher, I firmly believe that you don’t need anything to practice yoga except your body, your breath, and just a bit of your time — no fancy clothes, mats, or gear required.
With that being said, the Apple Watch can be a great boon to your practice as an optional add-on. Between the ability to monitor your heart rate, create mindfulness rituals, and track how much time you spend on your mat, the Apple Watch is the perfect optional companion for any student of the practice!
