''I feel really positive about it,'' study lead author Jayde Flett said of the research.
''One of the benefits is that [users] can pick it up or put it down when they want,'' she said.
The study involved 208 Otago undergraduate students aged 18-49 who were randomly assigned to use one of three apps: Headspace, Smiling Note, or Evernote, the latter a non-mindfulness control group.
The mindfulness meditation apps provided new opportunities to practice mindfulness, which was associated with many mental health benefits when practised face-to-face.
The two groups who used the mindfulness apps reported at the end of the trial that their anxiety levels had fallen by 14% and 17%.
Mobile phones were often criticised as distracting, but, ''paradoxically, they may serve as a good platform to practise being in the moment and being mindful'', given their wide use, she said.
Ms Flett is a PhD candidate at Otago's department of psychology and department of psychological medicine.
The study, ''Mobile Mindfulness Meditation'', was published in the journal Mindfulness.
People concerned about their mental health should seek advice from their doctor, and the apps should not replace traditional face-to-face mindfulness programmes, she emphasised.
Study participants were asked to use the app for ten minutes a day for the first 10 days of the 40 day trial, and to use the app as desired over the next 30 days.
