# Zendō — Improve Mental Fitness + HRV > Meditation app with HRV biofeedback for mental fitness and nervous system health. (iPhone/iPad app by Sunyata Tools, Inc.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zendo/id1401032490 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Sunyata Tools, Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1401032489) - Category: Health & Fitness, Medical - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 5.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings · 7 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 12+ - Requires: iOS 15.0 · 40 MB - Languages: English - Released: 2018-07-28 - Data updated: 2026-06-10 - Monetization: subscription - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zendo/id1401032490/reviews.md ## What is Zendō? Did you know that our nervous system provides insight into our mental fitness and emotional health? Heart rate variability (HRV) is a key measure of the health of our nervous system and how it responds to daily stressors and emotions in our environment. Research has demonstrated that consistent meditation can help increase HRV. Zendō assists you with your training to improve your mental fitness by providing real-time biofeedback and meditation techniques. Track how your meditation experience is altering your physiology and improving your mental fitness over time. Zendō requires permission to Apple Health app to measure your HRV and other health indicators during meditation. The app creates a Mind & Body workout for each meditation session, working in concert with Apple Activity app and other developer apps that work with HealthKit. HRV recording requires Apple Watch. Read more about our terms and conditions here: Terms of service: http://zendo.tools/terms Privacy policy: http://zendo.tools/privacy ## Key features - HRV tracking for nervous system health - Real-time biofeedback during meditation - Guided meditation techniques - Track physiological changes - Integrates with Apple Health & Activity - Mind & Body workout creation ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **Subscriptions** | Subscription | Price | Period | | --- | --- | --- | | Monthly Subscription | $2.99 | per month | ## Recent user reviews (7 of 7) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zendo/id1401032490/reviews.md ### 4/5 — Best meditation app but missing the key timer feature *2021-08-13, version 7.0* This app has nearly everything I was looking for: 1. Logs mindfulness minutes to Apple Health 2. Monitors heart rate 3. Monitors HRV too! 4. Monitors movements 5. Automatically turns on “do not disturb” during use 6. Live feedback 7. Stats and time-series graphs The only thing missing, and this is a big one, is a timer alert. I often like to meditate for X minutes. I can’t do that with the app. My workaround is to start Apple Timer first, then jump back to this app. It would be nice if I don’t have to switch app. **Developer response:** Thanks for your feedback. We will look at adding an option for a set period of meditation to a future release. For context, the intent of no timer is due to usage in an actual Zendō where the timer is controlled by the Doan. ### 5/5 — Simple *2021-06-01, version 6.7* Your app is uncomplicated and straight forward. It focuses on HRV and gives simple guidance to to measure, record, and improve. I’m experimenting with it to see if I can see a difference in my HRV when I listen different entrainment recordings while meditation to your app. It would be nice if there were a way to add comments to a particular recorded activity. Loved the breathing guidance. **Developer response:** Thanks for using the app and the feedback! ### 1/5 — It used to be good *2020-02-24, version 5.3* I was appalled by this app forcing you to give it full access to write on your Heath app. If you don’t, the app crashes on your watch and fails to work. This change occurred after an update. It’s been months without a fix. I finally deleted it. **Developer response:** we are sorry. we were trying to ask for a new permission in that release -- and messed it up some people. we just touched up those lines of code. maybe try again? be well. ### 2/5 — Brilliant but Flawed *2019-10-15, version 5.2* I was delighted to find this program that measures HRV whilst meditating but found that it also records exercise minutes during the most passive of all exercises. The result is that “real” exercise minutes are now rendered inconsequential. Please fix this chaps. **Developer response:** We managed to *finally* solve this issue in the latest release. ### 1/5 — Haven’t been able to use it *2019-06-08, version 5.0* I loved using this, but since the last update I can’t open it on my watch ### 5/5 — Simple! *2019-04-08, version 4.7* It does exactly what I want! It’s fantastic! Syncing was super easy and correlates with apple’s HRV. It gives me all the HRV info I want, when I want! Thank you!! ### 1/5 — Frustrated *2019-03-27, version 4.7* This is an app I would love to love, but . . . The instructions seem sketchy at best. Zendō’s support hasn’t gotten back to explain several issues. If the watch app is supposed to record HRV through the day per the onscreen instructions, it’s not working. I don’t understand HRV expressed as X(ms) and Support doesn’t either. When I meditate the iPhone app doesn’t show HRV over the length of the meditation (20+ minutes). It shows heart rate, and movement though. If this is an app to record HRV, it seems it should track that instead of a single number for the entire meditation with the abbreviation “ms” after it (with no interpretation). The quest goes on for an app that works and that is explained probably. **Developer response:** Sorry that you are having a poor experience. We’ll go back to the support team to see where we dropped the ball answering your questions. Based on what you have written here, let me clarify a few things. 1: Apple Watch records HRV through the day, Zendō only records HRV when you explicitly start a session. 2: HRV is a computed property from heart rate. As your heart rate varies, the HRV increases. It is the variation in the heart rate that matters. When engaging in mindful breathing, you will see the heart rate graph develop a nice sine wave in sync with your inhale + exhale with an associated rise in HRV. 3: For this reason, the charts in the current version focus on displaying things that feed into the HRV calculation (heart/breath + movement) for each meditation. These are available in the Activity tab. 4: Once you complete your meditation session, we report back the SDNN in milliseconds and then add that to the Health app. 5: With this data in the Health app, Zendō provides a number of charts over the HRV dataset that can show you how you are progressing over time. If you only have one datapoint for HRV for a given time period in those chart, that is because you aren’t wearing your watch enough or correctly for it to take HRV readings when not using Zendō. Hope that helps. We appreciate the feedback and will see what we can do to make how we display information more intuitive and our support process better. ## Frequently asked questions about Zendō ### What is Zendō? Zendō is a health and fitness app designed to improve mental fitness and nervous system health. It uses heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback during meditation sessions to help users track their physiological responses and emotional well-being. ### How does Zendō measure HRV? Zendō requires permission to access the Apple Health app to measure your HRV and other health indicators. For HRV recording specifically, an Apple Watch is necessary. ### What are the subscription options for Zendō? Zendō offers a Monthly Subscription priced at $2.99 per month. This subscription provides access to all features for improving mental fitness and tracking HRV. ### Does Zendō work with Apple Activity? Yes, Zendō creates a Mind & Body workout for each meditation session that works in concert with the Apple Activity app and other developer apps that utilize HealthKit. ### What is the age rating for Zendō? Zendō has an age rating of 12+, making it suitable for teenagers and adults looking to enhance their mental fitness and understand their nervous system's response to stress. ### How often is Zendō updated? The latest version of Zendō is 8.0, and it was last updated on December 13, 2023. This indicates a commitment to regular updates and improvements for the app. ### What devices support Zendō? Zendō is supported on iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Apple Watch, allowing users to track their mental fitness across multiple Apple devices. ### What do users like about Zendō? Based on the available rating of 5.0 stars from 2 ratings, users likely appreciate the app's focus on mental fitness through HRV biofeedback and its integration with the Apple ecosystem. ## Version history (last 2 releases) ### 8.0 — 2023-12-13 Introducing Background Sounds: immerse your meditation in the sounds of rain, streams and chirping birds. ### 7.6 — 2022-02-13 Fixed title bar on iOS 13. ## Apps similar to Zendō | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Optimal HRV](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/optimal-hrv/id1501292206) | 3.1 (23) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [BrainBit Neurofeedback](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/brainbit-neurofeedback/id1537953008) | 4.0 (1) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [Healium Biofeedback Meditation](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/healium-biofeedback-meditation/id1403144098) | 4.0 (67) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [SelfLoops HRV](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/selfloops-hrv/id921130546) | 5.0 (2) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [StressEraser Pro](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stresseraser-pro/id1170487348) | 5.0 (1) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [Stress Guide: HRV & Meditation](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stress-guide-hrv-and-meditation/id1105883821) | 4.5 (261) | Free | Health & Fitness | ## More apps by Sunyata Tools, Inc - [emoteen](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/emoteen/id1518443185) All apps by Sunyata Tools, Inc: https://appshunter.io/developer/1401032489 --- *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 2026-06-10.*