Today’s interview is with Miriama Young of Hushabye Apps. Please visit her website, Facebook and Twitter pages.
Thank you for participating in our interview. Please tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a mother, composer, and musicologist. As a composer I have a special interest in the beneficial and curative aspects of sound. As a mother – like most parents – I like to dream up ways to make life easier for parent and child. Hushabye is the manifestation of one these dreams.
How did the idea for your app come about?
My own baby suffered from colic and constant crying. For the first three months of life, he would cry inconsolably from 3-9pm, every day. After literally trying everything, I discovered the only way to calm my little boy was through a combination of placing his ear against my chest to hear my heartbeat, gently singing to him, softly patting his back, and turning up the white noise. I soon realised that these sounds were the closest thing to his secure womb environment, and this was comforting to him. This solution made life bearable for all of us. Hushabye App was created to change the experience of parenthood for others, too.
What we found, when searching for white noise online, was that the typical sounds of hair dryer or vacuum cleaner were very unpleasant to adult ears.
That’s when I set on the idea of making original recordings of natural rivers and tides, from some of the purest and most beautiful locations in the world. The flowing water from these recordings create the white noise effect, but also transport the listener to the calming natural environment.
And how long was the process from the original idea to the release of the app?
This was a gradual process, which began with an initial idea 2.5 years ago. 18 months ago I released my recordings of natural flowing water as a digital download and physical CD, and these are still available at TheSecretToSleep.com
The App offered a platform for combining my natural recordings with beautiful photographic imagery, the sound of real heartbeat, while also giving the user the option to record their own voice for baby. Once all the material was created, the App went into production for about 3 months.
Did you hire a developer or do it yourself?
The brilliant guys at Open Planet Software developed the App for me. I recommend them highly!
What has been the hardest obstacle you have had to overcome in the development process?
Regardless of the actual coding, creating everything for the App was a more time consuming process than I had anticipated. But, its a super fun process, too!
Have you had much support during the development process (from family, peers, Apple Inc.)?
Heaps of support from my family, bless them!
What are your plans for the future? Will you be developing any more apps?
Yes, this is the first in what I hope will be many!
What sort of feedback has your app been receiving so far?
Parents are just so thankful and appreciative, and that is the biggest reward of all. It makes my day when a young mother who had been struggling with her newborn’s sleep writes to tell me that they had their best night of sleep yet by playing the sounds of natural water to their little baby on loop through the night. Hurray! To me, that’s a triumph. Good sleep = happy mother.
And finally, what advice would you give to anyone considering creating their own app?
Don’t underestimate the amount of time, and also financial resources, necessary to make your App happen. However, it’s a very rewarding process, and I recommend it!
Hushabye – Heartbeat, Lullaby, and Natural Water White Noise for Baby Sleepby Miriama Young |
$1.99 USD |
iTunes Ratings:  (5 ratings)AppStore Category: Lifestyle, Health & Fitness Languages: Rated 4+ Size: 58.31 MB Requirements: iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch (4. Gen.), iPadThirdGen4G, iPodTouchFifthGen, iPad WiFi, iPod Touch (3. Gen.), iPhone 4, iPadThirdGen, iPhone5, iPadFourthGen, iPadMini4G, iPadMini, iPadFourthGen4G, iPad 3G, iPad 2 WiFI, iPad 2 3G, iPhone4S |
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Brief Description
"Beautifully simple, and it really works" - iLoveAppStore Independent Review. Hushabye, designed by a mum, is the essential app to calm baby into blissful slumber. The app enables you to create your a mix of heartbeat and natural flowing water sounds... [Read More] |
Alison
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Alison, Amanda, Grace and Mary are four mothers from different parts of the world dedicated to educating parents about the best digital stories, educational apps, fun games and technology products available for their children. We also offer the latest news in apps for kids, interesting articles, developer interviews, free apps and regular giveaways!
The app does not work. I have a big problem paying for something that will run for 5- 10 seconds then exit the app and return to the home screen. Not happy!