It is very nice that it is so simple to assemble, because I plan to remove it at times. I taped the holes before using but i don’t think it mattered. I cannot recommend these shoes any more than I already do! Wide variety of exercises possible - comes with suggested exercise, but you can make your own variations, too. I cant speak to other applications - havent tried them yet. The touch controls were also fiddly with a long delay after pressing so that I was never sure if I pressed it or not. I hope you find this helpful if you have painful feet! Worse come worse I will add a support in the middle. My boyfriend complimented me and told me how great they look on me, and let me tell you, this dude does not give compliments! Id like to hear from anyone who has done what Im proposing to see if it works, or even any other setups that dont require buying anything else.