Zen Pomodoro — Mac · Windows · iPhone · Android
A tool for
savoring each day,
fully.
A Zen-inspired focus timer and daily plan. Look over the work and life ahead of you, turn to the one thing you've chosen, and let go at the bell.
App Store (iPhone) Google Play (Android) Download for Mac Download for Windows
ichigyō zanmai
一行三昧
心
What is Ichigyō Zanmai?
To be wholly absorbed
in one thing, body and mind.
Not glancing elsewhere, not thinking of what comes next — doing only what you are doing. It comes to everyone, now and then. It's the time when you look up and the day has gone. And if your mind wanders, you simply come back from wherever you notice it.
This app tries to do just one thing: give you more of that time in your day. Not more tasks checked off, and not every empty minute filled.
A day savored to the full
is not the same as
a day of tasks cleared.
This is not an app for Zen training itself. It borrows how Zen treats time and action, and translates it into everyday work and life, along with what well-being research has found to help. You don't need to know anything about Zen to use it.
頁
Four pages lead you there
-
作務Samu
Decide what you'll turn to
In a Zen temple, samu is the work of each day — cleaning and cooking are practice too. Tasks here aren't a pile of chores to clear, but what you've decided to face.
-
行持Gyōji
Decide what you'll return to
From a chapter of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō. Keep what you do every day apart from what isn't daily but never ends (helping a child study, keeping the house). Streaks aren't counted.
-
一日Ichijitsu
Bring it into today
Set an intention in the morning, look back at dusk. Between them, what you planned and what you actually did sit side by side. The gap between "I meant to" and "I did" is right there.
-
只管Shikan
And then, turn to it
Just this, one thing. Settle body, breath and mind, then sit while a stick of incense burns as your clock. The time spent here is the time of Ichigyō Zanmai.
務
Samu & Gyōji
What you face, and what you return to.
Writing down what to do isn't about building a heap of chores. It's about keeping what you've decided to face within reach.
When you'll turn to it, and when it's due, are kept apart
Tap a task to choose the day you'll turn to it and when it's due. Something due Friday that you'll do on Wednesday shouldn't wear Friday's face. Place it on as many days as you like; each shows up on that day's Ichijitsu page.
Past due, today, coming up, no date
Tasks fall into these four groups. For anything past due, only the date turns vermilion — nothing is counted to push you. Tasks with no date stay folded while you choose, and open with a tap.
What repeats goes in Gyōji
What you keep every day goes under Daily; what isn't daily but never ends goes under Now and then. Tap the circle once today's share is done. Streaks aren't counted — only the last day you did it is shown.
What you finish, and what you set down, stays
Finished tasks and tasks you've decided to set down aren't erased. They stay, and can be brought back any time. What you decided is itself the record.
帯
Ichijitsu
Morning and dusk, plan and practice.
On the Ichijitsu page, what you planned and what you actually did share one timeline. The gap between "I meant to" and "I did" becomes visible.
Today's events are already there
The app reads your device calendar and places events on the timeline. Google Calendar shows up too, if that account is added to your device (iPhone: Settings → Calendar; Mac: Calendar.app; Android: device accounts). You choose which calendars appear. It loads on its own — nothing to tap.
Place a task in an open slot
Tap an open slot to place a task there. Give it a start and an end, and a two-hour plan draws a two-hour line. If you finish early, shorten it with a tap and pull the rest of the day forward.
The time you sat goes back to your calendar
If you turn it on, your sits in Shikan can be written to your calendar — only to a calendar you pick. They're written as "free", not "busy", so they never block anyone on a shared calendar. Show the task's title, or just "◯ Savor".
Intend in the morning, reflect at dusk
Above the timeline is a line for the morning, below it one for dusk: "What matters to you today?" and "What stayed with you today?". One line is enough, and skipping a day is fine. You can have the question arrive at a set time.
坐
Shikan
Just this, one thing.
The heart of the app — you can use it on its own. There are only three steps: write what you'll turn to, choose how you'll go, and begin.
Lengths have names
Shōza, 10 min (one reply, one tidy-up). Ichiza, 30 min (sit 25, then 5 min of kinhin). Itchū, 1 hour (one stick of incense: sit 50, walk 10). On days you'd rather not set a time, Ninnun runs until you stop. To follow the clock, Jōjū sits 25 min from :00 and :30. When small tasks pile up, Junkō goes round them, 10 min each. The length always sits beside the name, so you can choose without knowing the words.
Three things to settle before you begin
After you choose, there are a few seconds before it starts: Chōshin, Chōsoku, Chōshin — straighten your back, take one deep breath in and out, turn your mind to what's ahead. Nothing to tap; it flows on its own. Those few seconds change how you enter. (Tap once to skip on a busy day. Going straight on from a finished sit, it doesn't appear.)
The incense is the clock
While you sit, a single stick of incense stands on the screen. The ember creeps down and ash gathers in the bowl. The minutes are there too, but what catches your eye is the incense. Watched numbers make time drag; something burning at the edge of your sight doesn't.
A bell tells you it's over
At the end, a bell rings and lingers a moment before the next part. With Ichiza or Itchū, the sit is followed by kinhin — standing and walking slowly. Not a break, but sitting in the form of walking. The time left is only a small note; how far you've come is shown by where the walking figure is. Big numbers make people watch the screen.
You decide how it ends
If the task is finished, Mark done. If it isn't, but you'll step away for now, Let go. Either way, the time you sat is kept. Stopping partway is never counted as a failure.
払
Shikunichi
The 4th and 9th days — for tidying what you carry, your surroundings and yourself.
Things to do grow if left alone. Try to pick a day to cut them back and that day rarely comes. So it's built into the calendar instead.
On days ending in 4 or 9, it comes to you
In Zen monasteries, days ending in 4 or 9 (the 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th…) are for shaving heads, heating the bath and washing robes — days for tidying up. On those days, a small mark lights on the Samu page. Leave it, and it quietly goes away.
Before clearing, look at how you spent your time
Since the last clearing, what you turned to, and for how long, is listed from most to least. No judgment — these aren't numbers to blame you with. Below them, the words you left each morning and dusk appear day by day. Seeing time and words together makes it a looking back, not an audit.
One question, two answers
Tasks you haven't touched in a while come up one at a time. "Is this still yours to carry?" The only answers are Keep and Set down. No reason is asked — making you explain why you let go is a way to stop you letting go. What you set down isn't erased; it stays as "set down" and can be brought back any time.
Your surroundings, and yourself
After the tasks, you're offered one thing for your surroundings and one for yourself: "Tidy one thing on your desk." "Take a long bath." Not everything — just one. You can swap it for another. Nothing is counted, and no one asks if you did it.
Last, raise a guidepost until next time
Choose one shirube, a guidepost, to keep until the next Shikunichi. It stays at the top of the Ichijitsu page beside the date. When the next Shikunichi comes, it comes down, and you're gently invited to tidy again.
Mac·Windows·iPhone·Android
All four run the same app and stay in sync. Place a task at your desk, start it on the train, and see the record back at your desk later. Mac or Windows at the desk, iPhone or Android in hand — the same tool either way. Four text sizes, and both light and dark.
守
Privacy policy
This app doesn't collect your data. Nothing reaches the developer. No analytics, no ads, no account to create.
Where your data lives
Your sits, your tasks and the lines you write at morning and dusk stay on your device. Only if you choose to sync across devices is a copy also kept in your own Google Drive. The only permission requested is drive.appdata — a hidden folder for this app alone. It can't see any of your other files.
What leaves the app only when you choose
These leave the app only when you choose: writing to your calendar (your sits are written to the calendar you pick; if it syncs with Google or others, they go there too). The request and data you copy with "Ask an AI" (handled by whichever service you paste them into). Files you save with "Take your data with you". Calendars and reminders are read or written only if you allow it. The app works without any of these.
What goes over the network
Exchanges with your Google Drive, once connected. And once when the app opens, a check with happytech.co.jp for a newer version (nothing you've recorded or written is sent). Notifications stay entirely on your device.
How to delete
Deleting the app removes everything on the device. You can disconnect Google Drive any time with "Disconnect" in Settings. To remove the copy in Drive: Google Drive settings → Manage apps → 一行三昧 (Zen Pomodoro) → Delete hidden app data. Events written to your calendar can be deleted from the calendar.
便
Contact
Something not working, something gone missing, something you wish it did — write to us about any of it. English is fine.
If records have gone missing or appear twice, please first save a copy with "Take your data with you" in Settings. Importing merges rather than replaces, so reading an old copy never erases what you have now.
Get the app
App Store (iPhone) Google Play (Android) Download for Mac Download for Windows
The Windows version is not yet code-signed. Windows will show “Windows protected your PC” — choose “More info” then “Run anyway”. Signing is on the way.
No ads. Free, with every feature.
If it serves you well, take a look at "Fuse (a gift)" in Settings.