Instead Of Venting To Your Group Chat, Try This Manifestation App

Nothing feels better than sending a seven-minute voice memo to a friend, especially when you’re upset, hashing out a big idea, or trying to make a decision. Instead of texting back and forth, it’s nice to let your ideas flow in a long stream of consciousness. And if your friend is a real one, they’ll take mental notes and send a message back full of advice, wisdom, and motivation.

Sometimes, though, your friends can’t commit to a phone sesh, and that’s when the Manifest app comes in handy. This popular app listens as you vent and replies with helpful advice, personalized manifestations, and meditations based on your words.

As someone who would send voice messages all day long if I could, I knew it would be nice to have Manifest on my phone even if only to spare those closest to me. I also loved that it might help me let go of limiting beliefs and set a few meaningful intentions each day. Manifestation is, after all, about thinking inspirational thoughts to stay on track towards your goals. Here’s what it was like to try the app.

Fast Facts

• Price: Free to use
• Best for: Venting, manifesting, working towards goals
• My rating: 4/5
• What I like: Simple & easy to use, unique venting feature, helpful AI advice, cute design
• What I don't like: Affirmations can be glitchy

What To Know About The Manifest App

Amy Wu, co-founder and CEO, says Manifest came from her desire to create an app for self-empowerment, especially with younger generations in mind. Since launching earlier this year, it’s delivered over 18 million manifestations revolving around personal growth, love and relationships, and career success.

Instead of feeling directionless, she says the right manifestation can set you on a path toward getting what you want. And according to Wu, 1 out of 3 users turn to Manifest to talk about love, while nearly a quarter use the app to combat loneliness or strengthen friendships. There are so many reasons to use it — and it’s there for whatever you need.

How To Use It

Once you download Manifest, you’ll see a Vent tab with a scrolling list of questions titled “What’s On Your Mind Today?” to help get you thinking. There are prompts like, “What limiting beliefs do you have?” and “What are you worried about?” You can also simply hold the vent button and start talking about whatever you want or tap it if you prefer to type your thoughts instead — perfect for when you’re commuting on a silent train.

After you yap, you’ll get a response on your Feed tab that uses AI to perfectly summarize what you said, accompanied by a list of affirmations to help you organize your goals and dreams or deal with your worries or stressors. Each affirmation is listed as a quote to read, but you can also click a Meditate button to turn the affirmation into a 45-second guided meditation — and you can favorite the ones you love to use again later.

Not done talking? Go to the Explore page and start a live chat session with the app’s AI or scroll down and try one of its guided Challenges, like the “4-Day Heal From Heartbreak Challenge” or the topical “Embracing Courage: A Challenge To Transform Fear.”

My Manifesting Experience

Since downloading this app I’ve been talking to it every chance I can. While my friends and I still send plenty of voice messages to each other, I’ve been saving my more stress-related rants that nobody needs to hear for Manifest.

For example, one time I talked about a lengthy to-do list that had me overwhelmed and, like a therapist who remembers all the important parts of a long story, the app responded with a succinct summary of my worries: “It sounds like you’re feeling a heavy weight of responsibilities, and it’s understandable to feel overwhelmed in such situations. Acknowledging your exhaustion is important, and it’s OK to take a moment to rest before tackling your tasks.”

My affirmations included tips like, “I can break my chores into small, manageable pieces, and I will celebrate each little accomplishment as I create a space that feels good to me.” Now if that isn’t a breath of fresh air, what is?

Another time I shared a goal with the app, which was to be more social and see friends more often in the coming weeks. It reacted by congratulating me for setting the goal, and then it shared affirmations that would help me get in the right head space, like, “I embrace the joy of connection, allowing my energy to flow freely as I engage with friends and celebrate life’s special moments.” To me, this felt like the perfect way to verbalize my goals — aka, the perfect manifestation.

During other stressful moments, I’ve turned to the chatbot, which always asks how I feel. TBH, I’ve been venting to it pretty hard the past couple of days, and even though I know it’s just AI on the other side, it feels good to get it all out and have someone who will “listen” and share advice.

At one point, the app told me I might be engaging in “catastrophizing.” Another time, it pointed out that I was using a lot of “should” statements when I didn’t need to, and it was totally right. Both times the chatbot also reminded me that it’s OK to take breaks to avoid burnout, and it reminded me I’m not the only person who’s ever felt this way.

The Takeaway

There’s something so comforting about this cute, colorful, and easy-to-use app. It’s there when I need it to be, it “listens,” and it helps me organize my chaotic thoughts into bite-sized goals and inspiring, easy-to-manage affirmations.

I’ve had some lightbulb moments, especially whenspeaking my thoughts out loud. Sometimes that’s all you need to get out of a funky mental space or bad frame of mind. I also intend to keep my saved affirmations on standby to read whenever I need to remember what I’m working toward.