# Empty Boat - Before You React — Taoist parables for hard days

> Taoist parables for hard days (iPhone/iPad app by Nguyen Manh.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/empty-boat-before-you-react/id6798670163 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Nguyen Manh](https://appshunter.io/developer/1500937406)
- Category: Lifestyle, Health & Fitness
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 17+
- Requires: iOS 16.0 · 44 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-08-20
- Data updated: 2026-09-05
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/empty-boat-before-you-react/id6798670163/reviews.md

## What is Empty Boat?

Something happened. You're about to do something about it.

Empty Boat is what you open in that gap.

You write what happened. You get one story from Zhuangzi - a Taoist text from the 4th century BC - set against your situation, a question, and one thing to stop doing. Not "do this instead." One subtraction.

Want another angle, you ask for it. Most people stop at one.

Some nights there is nothing to reframe. You are tired and you are reading it correctly. When that is the case the app says so, and tries to name what you are carrying instead of handing you a parable that would only argue with you.

Seven days later it asks one question about what you wrote. That is what makes the log worth keeping - not a diary, a record of which things still mattered a week on.

WHAT IT ISN'T

A chatbot. There is nothing here to have a conversation with.
A meditation app. No timers, no breathing, no sounds.
A course in Taoism. It will not explain wu wei.
A streak. There is nothing to keep up.

WHAT IT WON'T DO

It will not tell you what to do. It will not comfort you. It will not say everything happens for a reason. It has nothing to say about your body, your eating, or your drinking, and it will tell you that rather than guess.

Your log stays on your phone.

Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EmptyBoat_Monthly | $14.99 | per month |
| EmptyBoat_yearly | $69.99 | per year |



## Version history (last 2 releases)

### 1.1.0 — 2026-08-31

New weekly plan with a 3-day free trial.
Faster, clearer waiting states throughout the app.

### 1.0.0 — 2026-08-20

No release notes.

## More apps by Nguyen Manh

- [PPShape](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ppshape/id6503336280)
- [Asset Journal - TradeTracker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/asset-journal-tradetracker/id6511229139)
- [Parenting Made Simple : Baby6P](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/parenting-made-simple-baby6p/id6737749513)
- [SoulTalk & Reflect - Stillr](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soultalk-and-reflect-stillr/id6739864962)
- [Chat with Seneca - StoicPath](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chat-with-seneca-stoicpath/id6748212636)
- [SnapX-Solve fast, learn deeper](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/snapx-solve-fast-learn-deeper/id6752465352)

All apps by Nguyen Manh: https://appshunter.io/developer/1500937406

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-05.*