Neaptide: Settle or Surface

Neaptide opens to one thing: a circle. Hold it for a few seconds and a session starts. That is the whole interface. Most calming apps open with a menu, a questionnaire, or a sign-up. That is a reasonable design right up until the moment you actually need one — because when you are overwhelmed, deciding is the first thing that stops working. Forty exercises in a list are useless exactly when it matters. So Neaptide decides, and lets you overrule it in one tap. TWO DIRECTIONS Not everyone who feels bad needs to slow down. Some people are running fast: racing thoughts, clenched jaw, cannot sit still. Others are running slow: flat, foggy, numb, stuck. Telling someone who is already shut down to breathe more slowly points them further down. Neaptide reads which way you are going from how you held the screen, then picks accordingly. Settle — for wired. Long exhales, the physiological sigh,…