Apps · A Deep Breath
Breathe a book. Page by page.
A breathing app that isn't a circle. Open the paperback. The right page lifts on your inhale, suspends on the hold, settles on the exhale. Every third breath turns a page. The pages contain the actual text of a real public-domain book: Thoreau's Walden by default, or Laozi's Tao Te Ching if you'd prefer. A few minutes, a few pages, a calmer day.
What it does
- Open the app. A paperback sits on screen, opened to where you left off.
- Tap the cover. It opens. A soft haptic, a small amber circle, the word inhale, and you begin to breathe.
- Every third breath turns a page. Real corner-curl, timed to the inhale.
- Pick your pattern (box 4-4-4-4 or relaxation 4-7-8) and the number of breaths (5, 10, 15, or 20).
- Switch between Walden and the Tao Te Ching in Settings; each book keeps its own place.
- Progress syncs across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud.
What it doesn't do
- No voice, no chime, no "well done."
- No mindfulness course, no coach, no subscription.
- No streak, no graphs, no "days since you meditated."
- No account, no tracking, no ads.
- No push notifications.
Quiet mode
If the text is too much, switch to Quiet mode in Settings. A small paperback sits in the middle of the screen: two blank pages with abstract line-patterns that read as prose from a distance. Same breath pacing. Same page-turn on every third breath. No text to chase. Just you and the book, breathing together.
About the books
Both texts are fully in the public domain and sourced from Project Gutenberg. They are embedded in the app; nothing is downloaded.
- Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854): the default. Eighteen long essays from the cabin by the pond. At a few pages per session, a year of daily practice carries you through the whole book.
- Laozi, Tao Te Ching, translated by James Legge (1891): the shorter alternative. Eighty-one short verse-like chapters. A week or two of daily sessions reads the entire classic, and then again, because it rewards a second and third pass.
Get it
$2.99. Requires iOS 17 or later.