Comparison

UCLA Mindful vs UCLA Recreation

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

UCLA Mindful

Practice mindfulness meditation with guided sessions and educational content from UCLA Health. Learn to manage stress, reduce anxiety, and cultivate positive emotions through regular practice. Explore various meditation types, informative videos, and weekly recordings to enhance your well-being.

Highlights
  • Guided basic meditations
  • Wellness meditations for health conditions
  • Informative videos on mindfulness
  • Weekly live/virtual meditation recordings
  • Talks on mindfulness topics
  • Customizable meditation timer
Features
Read full description

With this easy-to-use app, you can practice mindfulness meditation anywhere, anytime with the guidance of UCLA Mindful, the mindfulness education center of UCLA Health. Scientific research shows mindfulness can help manage stress-related physical conditions, reduce anxiety and depression, and cultivate positive emotions. Mindfulness is paying attention to our present moment experiences with openness and curiosity and a willingness to be with our experience. Through regular practice, taught through this app, you can develop a meditation practice and learn to bring more mindfulness into your daily life. This app offers: • Basic Meditations for getting started in multiple languages. Languages include Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Mixteco, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, American Sign Language • Wellness Meditations for people suffering from challenging health conditions • Informative videos exploring how to get started, supportive meditation postures, and the science of mindfulness • Weekly recordings from our live and virtual drop-in meditations -- a 30-minute meditation on different themes you can search for and bookmark • Talks on mindfulness-related topics • A timer to meditate on your own • A list of our current events and classes that you can add to your calendar UCLA Mindful, the mindfulness education center of UCLA Health, is dedicated to advancing mindfulness education to promote individual and cultural well-being and resilience world-wide. Our mission is to provide innovative, evidence-based mindfulness programs that empower individuals and institutions to manage stress, enhance health, and cultivate inner and outer peace. Through educational programs, we strive to inspire transformative growth and contribute to a culture of compassion and wellness for all. Due to UCLA Mindful’s mission of radical accessibility, this app is entirely free to use. Disclaimer: These meditations are for educational purposes and are not clinical treatments.

About

UCLA Recreation

Connect with UCLA Recreation's programs, services, and facilities. Register for classes, reserve workout times, and scan into facilities using your mobile device. Stay updated on schedules and important notices.

Highlights
  • Program registration
  • Workout time reservations
  • Mobile facility scanning
  • Group fitness schedules
  • Personalized class calendar
  • Activity updates and notifications
Features
Read full description

The official app for UCLA Recreation connecting you to all programs, services, and facilities. Through the UCLA Rec app, you will be able to: - Register for programs, classes and activities offered through UCLA Rec - NEW – Reserve your workout and activity time - Scan in to facilities using your mobile device - Up-to-date Group Fitness Class schedules - Create a calendar of all your favorite classes and programs - Opt into updates from areas and/or activities of interest for notifications on registration deadlines, special facility hours, and other notices.

Screenshots

UCLA Mindful4 screens
UCLA Recreation4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: UCLA Mindful at 4.5 against UCLA Recreation's 3.7. UCLA Mindful also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 17 months) and ratings volume (172 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

UCLA Mindful holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: UCLA Mindful has 172 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UCLA Mindful ships an update every 3 months, UCLA Recreation every 17 months. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
UCLA Mindful versus UCLA Recreation: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUCLA MindfulUCLA Recreation
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (172 ratings) — better3.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews78.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings172 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 17 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB43 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperUCLA HealthInnoSoft Canada Inc.

Customer experience

UCLA Mindful

All ratings172 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral0.6%
Negative9.3%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral5.1%
Negative16.9%

UCLA Recreation

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

UCLA Mindful

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • 🐛 Loop repeat did not replay when screen is locked
  • 🐛 Audio stops when iPhone screen locks/turns off
  • 🐛 Back button disappears on search podcast tab
  • 🐛 Search in previous podcast is slow to respond
  • 🐛 Custom timer doesn't work as intended
Show 1 more
  • 🐛 Meditations won't load (show 0 time)

Requested features

6 requests
  • Offline access/downloadable sessions
  • More voice diversity (ethnicity and gender)
  • Add to Apple Health for tracking mindful minutes
  • Improve pausing points for Vietnamese meditations
  • Remove the ding at the end of tracks
Show 1 more
  • Wider selection of UCLA courses/Diana Winston meditations

UCLA Recreation

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

UCLA Mindful

No in-app purchases

None

UCLA Recreation

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UCLA Mindful free?
UCLA Mindful is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is UCLA Recreation free?
UCLA Recreation is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, UCLA Mindful or UCLA Recreation?
UCLA Mindful is rated higher. UCLA Mindful averages 4.5 out of 5 from 172 ratings, while UCLA Recreation averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do UCLA Mindful or UCLA Recreation have ads?
Neither UCLA Mindful nor UCLA Recreation shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UCLA Mindful or UCLA Recreation?
UCLA Mindful ships an update every 3 months, and UCLA Recreation every 17 months. Most recently, UCLA Mindful was updated on September 19, 2026 and UCLA Recreation on June 10, 2026.

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