# Zen: Habits & Accountability — Build good ones, quit bad ones

> Offline habit tracker and accountability tool with flexible goal setting. (iPhone/iPad app by Donado Labs.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zen-habits-and-accountability/id6760182618 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Donado Labs](https://appshunter.io/developer/1883010815)
- Category: Productivity, Lifestyle
- Price: Free (on sale, was $9.99)
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 14 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-06-17
- Data updated: 2026-10-28
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zen-habits-and-accountability/id6760182618/reviews.md

## What is Zen?

Build the habits you want. Quit the ones you don't. Shared only when you say so.

Zen works offline. No accounts, no ads, no tracking, no subscriptions. Every habit, day, and note lives in a local database on your iPhone, and the app reads and writes it without a network.

Start from 238 habits that are already worded, across 16 categories, or write your own. Pick the days it repeats, a start and end date, a reminder, an icon, and a color.

Four kinds of goal. Run a timer, count reps, or work through a checklist whose items are checks, counts or timers, and the day completes when the work does. Or name something you are quitting: there is no target to hit, the day is yours unless you say you slipped, and every urge you let pass is one tap to record. A day that fell short keeps what it recorded, because four items of seven is not the same as never starting.

A running timer keeps going on the Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island, and from the app icon. On iOS 26, allow alarms and it rings when the time is up. On earlier iOS versions, or when alarms are off, it uses a local notification.

Time away does not count against you. Set yourself to Vacation, Sick or Break: reminders stop, and the days you are away are skipped rather than missed, so a streak waits for you instead of ending.

Habit strength turns your recorded history into a 0-100 estimate. Gains slow over time, misses lower it gradually, partial work counts for part of a day, and skipped days stay neutral. Read it beside your current streak and a full year of completions.

Complete a habit wherever you are. Six Home Screen widgets carry today, weekly progress, strength, streak, history, and your running Challenges. Apple Watch runs the work itself: a timer that counts down, a counter with its tally, and a checklist worked one item at a time, with today's tally on the watch face. Ask Siri to mark a habit done. On iPad the calendar lists every habit on each day with how it went, and the wider screen shows more at once rather than bigger.

Challenges are optional. Share a habit over iCloud with the people you invite. Everyone keeps their own habit, nothing is public, and there are no profiles.

There is no Donado Labs server to hold your data, so the device is where it is. Optional sync passes it between your own Apple devices through your iCloud account, a new device offers to restore it the first time it opens, and you can take a copy of everything as a JSONL file whenever you want it, once, or kept up to date in your iCloud Drive.

## Key features

- Offline habit tracking
- Customizable habit creation
- Multiple goal types (timer, reps, checklist, quitting)
- Vacation/Sick/Break modes
- Habit strength estimation
- Home Screen widgets & Apple Watch support
- Optional iCloud sharing

## Is Zen safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess Zen.

## Is Zen legit?

Zen: Habits & Accountability has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Zen is 58 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.

## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zen-habits-and-accountability/id6760182618/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Everything you need to track your habits, for free!

*2026-10-14*

I've been using this app for a week now, and I find it very intuitive and fast. The Watch companion is very convenient for days when I don't want to use my phone but still want to log habits

## Frequently asked questions about Zen

### Does Zen have ads?

No, Zen is completely ad-free. The app emphasizes privacy and does not include any advertisements.

### What is the pricing for Zen?

Zen is available for free. There are no in-app purchases or subscription fees required to use its features.

### What devices does Zen support?

Zen is designed for Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. It also offers Home Screen widgets for iOS.

### How does Zen handle data privacy?

Zen prioritizes user privacy by storing all data locally on your device. It does not require accounts, track users, or use network connectivity for core functionality.

### Can I share my progress with others in Zen?

Yes, Zen offers optional iCloud sharing for specific habits with invited individuals. This sharing is controlled by you and is not public.

### How often is Zen updated?

The latest version of Zen is 1.6.0, last updated on October 13, 2026. Updates are released by Donado Labs to improve functionality and reliability.

### What age rating does Zen have?

Zen has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a wide range of users looking to build positive habits.

### Can I export my data from Zen?

Yes, you can export a copy of all your habit data as a JSONL file whenever you wish. This allows for local backups and data portability.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.6.0 — 2026-10-13

Regular updates to Zen fix bugs, improve performance, and enhance your experience.

### 1.5.0 — 2026-09-28

Regular updates to Zen fix bugs, improve performance, and enhance your experience.

### 1.4.1 — 2026-09-15

Regular updates to Zen fix bugs, improve performance, and enhance your experience.

### 1.4.0 — 2026-09-08

Regular updates to Zen fix bugs, improve performance, and enhance your experience.

### 1.3.2 — 2026-08-26

- Get a notification when someone in a Challenge completes their day, even when the app is closed.
- Onboarding now explains what notifications are for before asking permission.
- Joining a Challenge creates a habit that matches the original: same goal, same schedule.
- Start a Challenge straight from a habit, without picking the habit again.
- Challenge hosts can rename a Challenge or change when it ends.
- A running habit timer now continues on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, and keeps counting when you leave the screen.
- Use the timer and counter on past days, so a day you forgot to log can still be filled in.
- Set a start date while creating a habit.
- Creating a habit moves step by step, and you can swipe back to change an answer.
- Adjust goals, Challenge targets, and Challenge duration with plus and minus, and hold either to move in bigger jumps.
- Tap a marked day again to clear it.
- Every habit action now lives in one menu on the habit screen.
- Swipe a progress card to look back through earlier weeks and months.
- The streak strip ends on today instead of starting on Monday, so a fresh week is no longer empty.
- Progress charts show every day, with a diagonal line marking the ones you skipped.
- Expanding rows like the date picker now open and close with the same motion.
- The inline calendar matches the app's colors instead of system blue.
- Empty screens are plain text instead of placeholder cards that looked like loading.
- Reorder your habits by holding a card and dragging it where you want.
- Hold a habit card for quick actions without opening the habit.
- Today's card shows how far along a running timer or counter is.
- Control a running timer from the app icon.
- The Lock Screen timer is built around a progress ring, and a session can be restarted from the habit screen.
- A Challenge now charts every participant's streak across the whole challenge, so you can see the runs, the breaks, and how much time is left.
- Each participant keeps one color across the Challenge chart and the standings.
- Open a Challenge's habit from the Challenge, and the Challenge from the habit.
- Challenge activity shows timer and counter progress, with a burst of taps kept to a single line.
- Challenge notifications name who completed, and no longer say it is your turn when you already finished your day.
- Reorder your Challenges the same way as habits.
- Fixed: joining a Challenge now keeps the original habit's goal.
- Fixed: editing a Challenge opens with its current settings.
- Fixed: a habit that fails to be created when joining a Challenge now says so instead of failing quietly.

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## More apps by Donado Labs

- [Dictate: Private Voice Notes](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dictate-private-voice-notes/id6816413633)

All apps by Donado Labs: https://appshunter.io/developer/1883010815

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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 2026-10-28.*