Reimagining the Examen

Before the update (last year?) this was a very favorite prayer app and I recommended it to many people and used it often. It appreciated the elegant simplicity of design & clarity of communication with each page being different steps in examine. I *really* liked that it would randomly select a new examen each time I opened the app. I very much miss that functionality. I love having the contents available to me, but use the app less this year than I did before the update.

I have been using this app regularly for the past 6-7 months, and it’s contributed a lot to my relationship with the Lord to have this regular time of prayer and reflection each day. The questions get me to think about things that I wouldn’t otherwise, and I love the wide variety of options and how you can either do the Examen that automatically pops up or choose one from the list. It’s a meaningful and rich way to end my day, as opposed to scrolling through the news or social media before bed, which is what I was in the habit of doing before. There are two technical aspects of the app that I’d love to see tweaked. First, since most people likely use the app at night before going to sleep, it would be fantastic to have a night mode with a darker background and light text. The background is really bright, even with the brightness on my screen turned as low as it can go. Second, as others have said, if you spend too long thinking or praying through any one question, your phone will probably go to sleep, and the app doesn’t keep your place. When I wake my phone up to continue, the app has moved on to another Examen and I have to remember the name of the one I was on, find it in the list, and swipe through to the page I was on. It would be great if the app would stay on the same Examen until closed out or you push an option to have it select a new one. Overall, though, I love this app! Thank you for making it and making it available!

Really like the content, and have used it with my son to help guide him through daily life struggles together. Also very beneficial to use as journal prompt guides. That being said, I gave it 3 for two reasons. The main one is that I cannot get any audio sounds to play on my iPhone 8 while in the App. Would love to hear the Ocean/Beach sounds that I chose in “Settings” while I read & Journal in the App. If someone can get this figured out, I’ll gladly change my rating to a 5. The last reason for the 3 is because I wish all the Examens could be sorted/organized by various categories or topics. Reading them all in one long random list isn’t user-friendly to my categorical-minded brain.