Mindful Breaks Support
How can we help?
Quick answers about the app, your privacy, exercises, and progress — plus real crisis resources if you need support right now.
If you need support right now
App questions can wait — you matter more. Free, confidential help is available 24/7 in the United States:
988 Suicide & Crisis LifelineCall or text 98824/7, free & confidential
Crisis Text LineText HOME to 74174124/7 text support
SAMHSA National Helpline1-800-662-4357Treatment referrals & info
These are US-based services, independent of Mindful Breaks. If you're outside the US, please contact your local emergency services or a local crisis line. Mindful Breaks is an educational wellness tool, not a crisis service or a substitute for professional care.
Getting started
Do I need an account to use Mindful Breaks?
No. There's no sign-up, email, or password. On first launch you enter a name so the app can greet you, and you can optionally set a 4-digit passcode (or tap Skip for now). That's it.
Does the app need an internet connection?
No — Mindful Breaks is fully offline. Every exercise, check-in, article, and setting works without any connection, including in airplane mode.
I skipped onboarding — what are my accessibility settings?
Both accessibility options — Audio Descriptions (spoken cues) and Enhanced Visual Cues (big captions plus haptic buzzes) — are on by default, whether or not you finish onboarding. You can change either anytime in Settings → Accessibility.
How do I change my name or the app's appearance?
Open the Settings tab. You can edit your name under Profile, and choose System, Light, or Dark under Appearance.
Privacy & your data
Does my data ever leave my device?
No. Mindful Breaks has no networking, no accounts, no analytics, and no third-party SDKs. Nothing you do in the app is sent anywhere — there's nowhere for it to go.
Is my check-in history saved forever?
No, and that's by design. Your preferences (name, appearance, accessibility, passcode settings) are saved on your device, but check-in and exercise logs live in memory only — they reset when the app is fully quit or your device restarts. Within a session, the app keeps up to your 180 most recent entries. Think of it as a scratchpad for noticing patterns, not a permanent diary.
Can I export or back up my data?
Not in version 1.0 — there's no export, sync, or backup feature.
Does the app connect to Apple Health?
No. Mindful Breaks doesn't read or write HealthKit data, and it doesn't use any sensors — the Apple Watch app uses haptics for pacing only.
Passcode & lock
I forgot my passcode. How do I get back in?
There's no passcode recovery — that's part of keeping the app account-free. On the lock screen, tap Forgot passcode? → Reset and start over. This deletes your saved name and passcode and turns off the lock, then takes you back to setup. Your appearance and accessibility preferences are kept.
Why does the app ask for my passcode so often?
By design, the lock engages on every launch and whenever the app goes to the background — there's no grace period. If that's more security than you want, turn off Require Passcode in Settings.
Can I unlock with Face ID or Touch ID?
No — the lock is a 4-digit in-app passcode only. Face ID / Touch ID support doesn't exist in version 1.0.
How is my passcode stored?
Never as plain text. The app stores only a salted SHA-256 hash (100,000 iterations with a random 16-byte salt) on your device, and checks it with a constant-time comparison.
How do I change my passcode?
Go to Settings → Change Passcode. You'll need to enter your current passcode first. Turning on Require Passcode for the first time will walk you through creating one.
I turned Require Passcode off and back on — why didn't it ask for a new code?
Turning off Require Passcode disables the lock but keeps your old passcode saved. Switching it back on re-arms that same passcode without asking again. If you're not sure you still remember it, use Settings → Change Passcode before you re-enable the lock.
Exercises
4-7-8 Breathing started by itself — is that a bug?
No, it's intentional: 4-7-8 Breathing auto-starts the moment you open it (you'll see "Auto-started · 4 cycles"), so you can drop straight into breathing when you're stressed. Tap End Session to stop; ended sessions aren't recorded.
I quit an exercise early — why didn't it count?
Only fully completed exercises count toward your stats. Leaving Box Breathing or Alternate Nostril mid-session also resets that session's progress. Stopping early is always okay — sometimes a few breaths are all you need — it just won't add to your totals.
How do I turn the spoken voice on or off?
Toggle Settings → Accessibility → Audio Descriptions. This controls the spoken phase cues in exercises and the read-aloud narration in Resources articles. When it's on, narration starts about a second after you open an article — tap Stop in the article to end it.
Why is there no voice during Body Scan, 5-4-3-2-1, or Grounding Affirmations?
Those three exercises are designed to be silent — Body Scan uses timed visual prompts, the 5-4-3-2-1 Technique is a tap-through checklist of your senses, and Grounding Affirmations uses swipeable cards. The other exercises speak phase cues when Audio Descriptions is on.
How do I turn off vibrations and screen flashes?
Toggle Settings → Accessibility → Enhanced Visual Cues. One switch controls the caption banner, the screen flash, and the haptic buzzes together.
Mindful Observation moved to the next step without me.
Each observation step auto-advances after 30 seconds (you'll see the countdown ring). You can also tap Next to move on sooner. The final step doesn't auto-complete — tap Complete there to finish and record the exercise.
My "Minutes" total doesn't match a stopwatch.
Minutes are logged as a fixed amount per exercise (Box Breathing logs 4 minutes, Body Scan logs 5, 4-7-8 Breathing logs 3, and so on) rather than a stopwatch of your actual session time.
Progress & streaks
Why did my streak reset?
A day counts toward your streak if it has at least one check-in or completed exercise. Miss one day and your streak survives; go two or more days in a row without either and it resets to 0. Also worth knowing: because check-ins and exercise logs live in memory only, your streak — like all Progress stats — starts fresh whenever the app is fully quit or your device restarts.
The Stress Trend chart shows the same weekday twice.
The chart plots your last 7 check-ins, not the last 7 calendar days — if you checked in three times on Tuesday, you'll see three Tuesday bars. Average stress and the trend arrow are also based on recent entries.
Can I edit or delete a check-in?
Not in version 1.0. Recent Check-Ins shows your last five entries, view-only. (And remember: check-in history resets when the app fully restarts.)
How do achievements work?
There are four: First Step (complete 1 exercise), On Fire (7-day streak), Self-Care Pro (20 exercises), and Mindful Master (30 logged check-ins). They light up automatically on the Progress tab as your stats reach them — there are no notifications.
Apple Watch
Why don't my Watch stats match my iPhone?
The Watch app is fully standalone — it doesn't sync with the iPhone app in version 1.0. Its "Today" counts (check-ins, sessions, last mood) also reset whenever the Watch app relaunches.
What can the Watch app do?
Three things: guided breathing (three patterns — 4-7-8 "Calming", Box "Focus", and Calm "Simple" — each running 4 cycles with haptic pacing), one-tap mood check-ins (Calm, Anxious, Focused, Overwhelmed), and a Today summary.
Can I change the number of breathing cycles?
No — every Watch breathing session is exactly 4 cycles in version 1.0. Quitting early doesn't count as a session.
Troubleshooting
The crisis buttons don't do anything on my device.
The buttons open your device's Phone or Messages app, so they need a device that can call or text (on an iPad or some iPods they may not respond). You can always dial 988 or text HOME to 741741 directly from any phone. On some iOS versions the "HOME" message may not pre-fill — just type it.
My check-in note got cut off.
Notes are limited to 280 characters — the counter turns red when you go past, and saved notes are trimmed to 280.
The "Building Resilience" article is empty.
That one is a placeholder marked "More Coming Soon." The other three articles — Understanding Anxiety, Managing Stress, and Sleep & Mental Health — are complete.
Something else isn't working.
Try fully closing and reopening the app first (note this clears in-session check-in history). If the problem persists, email us — include your iOS version and what you were doing when it happened.
Contact
Still stuck? Say hi.
Mindful Breaks is built by a student developer, and every email gets read. Questions, bug reports, and ideas are all welcome — tell us your iOS or watchOS version and what you were doing, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Version 1.0
iPhone & Apple Watch
100% offline
Swift Student Challenge 2025