ATHA: Breathing Exercises · iPhone, iPad & Apple Watch
Guided breathing for sleep, stress and focus. Calm in one tap.
For the night your mind won’t switch off, the minute before a big meeting and the afternoon your focus scatters. Tap Breathe now or pick your moment: ATHA chooses the breath and guides it with soft visuals and gentle haptics, so you can close your eyes and follow.
ATHA means now. Free, with nothing locked and nothing to sign up for.
No download for this one. Press Start and follow the square: in up the left side, hold across the top, out down the right, hold along the bottom. Open the full-screen timer →
Box breathing · 4-4-4-4
In 4 · hold 4 · out 4 · hold 4
In 4 s
Hold 4 s
Out 4 s
Hold 4 s
Do this in one tap with the app.
8 boxes done. ATHA’s Box Breathing traces the same square and taps every corner on iPhone and Apple Watch.
Seconds per side: 4 in · 4 hold · 4 out · 4 hold. The square breathes at that pace; turn on JavaScript for the countdown and settings.
Space starts and pauses · Runs in your browser, nothing is saved
Do this in one tap with the app.
ATHA’s Box Breathing traces the same square and taps every corner on iPhone and Apple Watch, so you can close your eyes. Free, nothing locked, no account.
Scan to downloadPoint your iPhone camera here to open ATHA on the App Store.
How it works
Three steps, about a minute
No course to finish and nothing to set up. Open it when you need it.
Pick your moment
Tap Breathe now, tell ATHA how you feel (stressed, tired, anxious, overwhelmed…) or what’s coming up: Before a meeting, Before sleep, After a hard day. It picks the breath for you.
Follow the breath
A calm visual grows and settles with each phase, a haptic tap marks every change, and an optional soft tone can mark each phase too. Prefer the dark? Switch to Eyes closed and the screen dims.
Come back tomorrow, gently
Daily Breath suggests one practice a day, routines send a quiet local reminder, and weekly recaps show your minutes adding up. Missed a day? “A new streak can begin today.”
You don’t need a class. You need the next sixty seconds to go a little better.
Fall asleep without a bright, busy screen
When your body is tired but your mind isn’t, a slow breath with a long exhale gives your attention one quiet job to do.
4-7-8 (in 4, hold 7, out 8), Slow Breathing (6 in, 8 out) and Deep Relaxation (5-2-8) are built in.
Eyes-closed mode dims the screen; haptic taps (and a spoken cue or soft tone, if you turn one on) tell you when to breathe, so you never have to look. The screen stays on while a breath is guided, so the cues keep going.
Fairy Forest is a sleep session: the breath slows from six to four a minute, guidance fades and the screen darkens.
A Live Activity shows the session on your Lock Screen for sessions of 3 minutes or more (iOS 26.1 or later).
In a tense moment, choosing a technique is one decision too many. ATHA keeps it to one tap.
I need a moment: a 3-second “settle in”, then a short guided breath.
Extended Exhale (4 in, 6 out), Quick Reset (3 in, 5 out) and Calming Breath (4-6, then a 2-second pause).
Start from the Quick Breath widget on your Home or Lock Screen (iOS 26.1 or later), or say “Breathe now with ATHA” to Siri.
Why the long exhale? In a 2023 randomized study, five minutes a day of cyclic sighing (two inhales, then a long, slow exhale) lifted mood more than mindfulness meditation over a month (Balban et al., Cell Reports Medicine). ATHA’s long-exhale patterns share the idea, but they were not what the study tested.
On your wrist, your Lock Screen and in Apple Health
Apple Watch
Haptic guidance on your wrist that keeps running with your wrist down. Sessions sync back to your iPhone history.
Widgets & Live Activity
Quick Breath, Streak, Daily Progress and a feeling Check In. Longer sessions show on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Widgets and the Live Activity need iOS 26.1 or later.
Siri & Shortcuts
“Breathe now with ATHA”, “Quick reset with ATHA” or “Start my daily breath in ATHA”.
Apple Health, optional
Save sessions as Mindful Minutes and share reflections as State of Mind. ATHA writes only; it reads nothing.
iPhone and iPad
One free download for both, on iOS 18.6 or later. Works offline.
Seven languages
English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish and Turkish. Switch the app language in Settings, independent of your phone.
Voice, sleep and programs
When you’d rather listen than look
Spoken voice cues
A short cue at each phase, in 7 languages with 5 voices: Calm, Deep, Soft, Warm and Whisper.
Ambient sounds
Forest, Ocean, Rain, Fairy Night or Tone behind your breath.
Fairy Forest sleep session
The breath slows from six to four a minute, guidance fades and the screen darkens.
Forest Paths programs
7-Day Anxiety Reset, Sleep Better in 14 Days and 5-Day Clear Mind. Wellness exercises, not treatment.
SOS
A button on Home, a widget and a “Calm Down Now” shortcut start a two-minute calming breath with no choices to make.
The breathing library
10 built-in breathing patterns, with exact timings
Seconds per phase. A dash means the phase is skipped. Every pattern runs from 1 to 60 minutes.
Built-in patterns in ATHA (inhale / hold / exhale / hold out)
Free. No in-app purchases, no subscription, no ads. Every feature is included.
Works on
iPhone and iPad with iOS 18.6 or later; Apple Watch with watchOS 10.6 or later. Widgets and the Live Activity: iOS 26.1 or later.
Privacy
App Store label: Data Not Collected. No account, no analytics or ad SDKs, no network requests. Your history stays on your device.
Apple Health
Optional and write-only: Mindful Minutes and State of Mind.
Languages
English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish and Turkish, switchable inside the app.
Current version
2.1, released 28 October 2026 (first release: 23 September 2026) · 44.6 MB · rated 4+
Category
Health & Fitness (also listed in Lifestyle)
Developer
Gül Eda Aydemir, independent iOS developer (“Gul Eda Aydemir” on the App Store)
Checked against the App Store listing on 1 November 2026. Not a medical device.
What’s new
Release notes
Version 2.1 · 28 October 2026
Made for iPhone Duo. New voice cues in German and Turkish, new voices to choose from, and onboarding that scrolls smoothly on smaller screens.
Version 2.0 · 12 October 2026
Spoken voice guidance, SOS breathing, a Sleep session, guided programs, a better Apple Watch experience and steadier background audio. Now also in Spanish, German, French, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese.
Version 1.0 · 23 September 2026
The first App Store release. Apple shows no release notes for a first version.
Good to know in 2.1
Haptics need the app open. The screen stays on while a breath is guided, but iOS runs no haptics in the background, so the taps stop if you lock your iPhone yourself or leave ATHA. Apple Watch keeps going with your wrist down.
The Ring/Silent switch doesn’t mute a session. Voice cues, tones and ambient sounds still play on silent. For a quiet room, turn them off in Settings › Sound & voice or lower the volume.
Widgets and the Live Activity need iOS 26.1 or later. The app itself runs on iOS 18.6.
Questions
Questions people ask
Is ATHA really free?
Yes. ATHA is free to download and every feature is unlocked: no subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads and no trial that runs out.
Does ATHA collect my data?
No. ATHA has no account and makes no network requests, and it contains no analytics or advertising SDKs. Your sessions, moods and notes stay on your device. Apple’s App Store privacy label for ATHA reads “Data Not Collected”.
What is the best breathing exercise to fall asleep?
Any slow pattern where the out-breath is longer than the in-breath, done for two to five minutes with the lights off: for example 4-7-8 (in 4, hold 7, out 8) or 4 in and 6–8 out. Start small: four cycles of 4-7-8 take 76 seconds, and Cleveland Clinic suggests three cycles twice a day. In ATHA, use 4-7-8, Slow Breathing (6-8) or Deep Relaxation in Eyes-closed mode. If you have had trouble sleeping for months, the NHS advises seeing a GP.
How do I calm down fast when anxiety hits?
Make your out-breath longer than your in-breath: in through the nose for 4, out slowly for 6, for one to two minutes, with your shoulders down. The NHS describes slow breathing as a calming technique for stress, anxiety and panic. In ATHA, tap “I need a moment” for a 3-second settle-in and a short guided breath, or open Extended Exhale (4-6). If you have chest pain or trouble breathing, call your local emergency number.
How do I do box breathing?
Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4, breathe out for 4 and hold for 4, then repeat for two to five minutes. Many people use it before a meeting or exam because the even rhythm steadies you without pushing you toward sleep. ATHA’s Box Breathing has its own Box visual and phase timeline, and a haptic tap marks each phase.
What is coherent breathing (5-5)?
Breathing in for about 5 seconds and out for about 5, roughly six breaths a minute. The NHS breathing exercise for stress uses the same rhythm (count 1 to 5 in, 1 to 5 out) for at least 5 minutes, ideally every day. In ATHA it is called Coherence.
Can I use ATHA in bed with my eyes closed?
Yes. Eyes-closed mode dims the screen and carries the rhythm with haptic taps and, if you turn them on, spoken voice cues or a soft tone at each phase, so keep at least one of them on. Haptics come in three strengths (Light, Medium, Strong) or off. The screen stays on while a breath is guided, so the cues keep going. For bedtime there is also Fairy Forest, a sleep session where the breath slows, guidance fades and the screen darkens.
Does ATHA work on Apple Watch?
Yes, on watchOS 10.6 or later. After the first sync, the Watch lists I need a moment, today’s Daily Breath and up to five favourites from your iPhone, so mark a practice as a favourite to see it on your wrist. It guides you with haptic taps and keeps running with your wrist down. Watch sessions appear in your iPhone history.
How do I log mindful minutes in Apple Health with ATHA?
Open ATHA’s Settings, go to Apple Health and turn on Save sessions; completed sessions are written as Mindful Minutes. You can also turn on Share reflections to save them as State of Mind. ATHA only writes to Health and reads nothing.
Which devices and iOS versions does ATHA support?
iPhone and iPad with iOS 18.6 or later, and Apple Watch with watchOS 10.6 or later. Widgets and the Live Activity need iOS 26.1 or later. The app is in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish and Turkish. It is not verified for Mac.
Can I create my own breathing pattern?
Yes. In Explore, choose Create your own, set inhale, hold, exhale and hold-out (any phase can be 0), name it and save it. Sessions can run from 1 to 60 minutes.
Is ATHA a medical app?
No. ATHA guides breathing for everyday calm, sleep and focus; it does not diagnose or treat anything. For ongoing anxiety, panic or sleep problems, talk to a doctor. In a crisis, contact your local emergency number.
ATHA is for everyday calm, sleep and focus. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose or treat any condition. If you are struggling, talk to a doctor; in an emergency, call your local emergency number.
Guides
Answers for the moments that matter
Calming down fast, nights you can’t sleep, nerves before a big talk. Free to read, and each one works without the app. Or start right now with the free online box breathing timer.
