Case Study
Turning an 8-week mindfulness course into a monetized, innovative mobile experience.
Hello Now is a cross-platform mobile app Swivel Digital built for Brother Digital, delivering OpenGround's structured mindfulness courses through guided audio practices, reflections and progress tracking.
Overview
A companion app for a cohort-based mindfulness course.
OpenGround is an Australian provider of evidence-based mindfulness meditation and compassion programs, including an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Their programs are structured, multi-week experiences built around guided practice, reflection and gradual habit formation, traditionally delivered in person or through group cohorts.
Brother Digital engaged Swivel Digital to build a mobile companion app that makes that structured, week-by-week course genuinely usable on a phone: guided audio practices that work offline, a way to reflect on each session, and a sense of progress through an 8-week program, without losing the structure of the original course.
Who uses it
People enrolled in one of OpenGround's structured mindfulness courses — including MBSR, Mindful Self-Compassion, Pain to Peace and Finding Peace — who need access to that course's guided practices and reflection tools between sessions.
Swivel Digital's role
Design and development of the mobile app.
Swivel Digital designed and built Hello Now for Brother Digital as a cross-platform mobile app for iOS and Android, using Flutter for a single shared codebase across both platforms. The backend runs on Firebase (authentication, Firestore and Cloud Functions), with RevenueCat handling subscription and paywall management, and a CDN serving OpenGround's guided practice audio so sessions can be downloaded for offline use.
What was built
Offline-first practice audio
Guided practices can be downloaded so participants can complete a session without a live internet connection.
Multi-course content architecture
The app hosts several structured OpenGround programs — including MBSR, Mindful Self-Compassion, Pain to Peace and Finding Peace — inside one codebase, rather than one app per course.
Group enrolment codes
Access to a course is gated behind an enrolment code, so course content is only available to people actually enrolled in that OpenGround program.
Reflection and streak tracking
A reflection/journalling flow and a practice streak sit alongside the audio content, to support the habit-forming side of an 8-week course, not just the listening.
In-app purchases and subscriptions
Course access is managed through in-app purchases and subscriptions via RevenueCat, with a paywall gating premium course content and Apple/Google handling payment processing.
Beyond the course content itself, the app includes account creation with email and Apple Sign-In, a favourites list for practices participants return to often, and a settings area covering notifications, appearance and privacy.
Outcome
How it's landed.
Hello Now shipped successfully and is live on both the App Store and Google Play, giving OpenGround's course participants a mobile companion for their practice wherever they are. It remains available for download today, supporting Brother Digital and OpenGround's ongoing course delivery.
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