MINDAPPS - Digital Psych

About MIND

MINDapps is a free app library available as both online database and mobile app that helps users’ find mental health apps tailored to their needs. While mental health apps are quickly gaining traction in everyday life — it can be difficult to know which one to use. Thats why MIND helps you source apps and understand exactly what they offer. Whether you are looking for an app for yourself, a patient, or a client — MIND is designed to equip individuals with the information they need to assess digital health tools on their own and in the context of a therapeutic relationship.

App Evaluation

The MIND team has evaluated over 500 mental health apps with a rigorous evaluation framework developed in conjunction with the American Psychiatric Association. Apps are not only assessed by their features ie. if they offer mindfulness or exercise tracking — but on whether or not the app developer posted a privacy policy, and the discrete ways in which the app claims to handle your personal health information. To ensure the ratings are relevant and keep pace with the ever-changing state of the app marketplace, each evaluation is updated every six months. Our app evaluation team is comprised of both current and aspiring healthcare workers, ranging from pre-medical undergraduate students, medical students, to practicing clinicians. Each member undergoes a rigorous training process upon joining the team and meet on a bi-weekly basis to uphold inter-rater reliability.

Online Database vs. Mobile App

www.mindapps.org

Designed for computer/laptop use
Indicate app criteria through filter selection
Great for a clinical visit

pwa.mindapps.org

Designed for smartphone use (download to home screen)
Indicate app criteria by answering 7 quick questions
Great for bedside recommendation

How can you or your organization use MIND?

Find an app for yourself, a friend, or a patient/client
Build a toolkit of apps for yourself or others
Recommend it as a resource for your staff/students
Check an app that you are already using
Suggest a new app to be evaluated
The options are endless!

Email [email protected] to share this resource at your organization.

Video Resources

Who has been talking about MIND?

Relevant Publications

2025
-Herpertz, J., Dwyer, B., Taylor, J. et al. Developing a standardized framework for evaluating health apps using natural language processing. Sci Rep 15, 11775 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-96369-w
2024
-Alon, N., Perret, S., Cohen, A., Partiquin, M., LeMelle, S., Boyd, C., ... & Torous, J. (2024). Digital navigator training to increase access to mental health care in community-based organizations. Psychiatric services, 75(6), 608-611.
2023
- Stoeckl, S. E., Torres-Hernandez, E., Camacho, E., & Torous, J. (2023). Assessing the dynamics of the mental health apple and android app marketplaces. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 8(4), 465-472. Kopka, M.,
- Camacho, E., Kwon, S., & Torous, J. (2023). Exploring how informed mental health app selection may impact user engagement and satisfaction. PLOS Digital Health, 2(3), e0000219.
- Alon, N., & Torous, J. (2023). Current challenges for evaluating mobile health applications. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 30(3), 617-
2022
- Camacho, E., Cohen, A., & Torous, J. (2022). Assessment of mental health services available through smartphone apps. JAMA Network Open, 5(12), e2248784-e2248784.
- 624. Emerson, M., & Torous, J. (2022, July 6). How to choose a mental health app that can actually help. Psyche. https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-choose-a-mental-health-app-that-can-actually-help
2021
- Kahane, K., François, J., & Torous, J. (2021). PERSPECTIVE: The Digital Health App Policy Landscape: Regulatory Gaps and Choices Through the Lens of Mental Health. The journal of mental health policy and economics, 24(3), 101-108.
- Lagan, S., Emerson, M. R., King, D., Matwin, S., Chan, S. R., Proctor, S., ... & Torous, J. (2021). Mental health app evaluation: updating the American Psychiatric Association’s framework through a stakeholder-engaged workshop. Psychiatric Services, 72(9), 1095-1098.
2019
- Henson, P., David, G., Albright, K., & Torous, J. (2019). Deriving a practical framework for the evaluation of health apps. The Lancet Digital Health, 1(2), e52–e54. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30013-5 Mental Health Apps. American Psychiatric Association. https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/mental-health-apps
- Wisniewski, H., Liu, G., Henson, P., Vaidyam, A., Hajratalli, N. K., Onnela, J.-P., & Torous, J. (2019). Understanding the quality, effectiveness and attributes of top-rated smartphone health apps. Evidence-Based Mental Health, 22(1), 4–9. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebmental-2018-300069
- Rodriguez-Villa, E., Torous, J. (2019). Regulating digital health technologies with transparency: the case for dynamic and multi-stakeholder evaluation. BMC Medicine, 17. https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-019-1447-x
2018
- Torous, J., Firth, J., Huckvale, K., Larsen, M. E., Cosco, T. D., Carney, R., ... & Christensen, H. (2018). The emerging imperative for a consensus approach toward the rating and clinical recommendation of mental health apps. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 206(8), 662-666.