Gentle Start vs Doably

Starting is the hardest part. Gentle Start makes it one tap. Completely free: no ads, no subscription, no in-app purchases. Every theme, every sound, every companion is included - nothing is locked, and there's nothing to unlock. When a task feels too big to begin, this is the smallest possible push. Open the app, tap once, and a calm focus timer counts up from zero. That's it - you've started, and starting was the whole battle. There's no goal unless you set one, and nothing happens if you sail straight past it. No streak to keep alive. Gentle Start counts UP, not down - so there's nothing to fail and no way to fall behind. Stay thirty seconds or thirty minutes. Both count. Both are real. HOW IT WORKS - Tap to begin: one button, no setup, no plan, no account. - The timer counts up quietly inside a living, animated scene. Nothing on screen pressures you - it's just proof that you're doing it. - Stop whenever it feels right. You showed up, and that's enough. - Want a goal? Dial one in - hours and minutes, whatever suits the task. A quiet ring drains toward it, a chime you chose marks it, and the timer keeps going, because stopping stays your call. A soft landing, not a deadline. WHY IT'S DIFFERENT Most focus timers and productivity apps are built around finishing - streaks, daily quotas assigned to you, charts, pomodoro countdowns, reminders that nag. For a brain that already feels behind, that pressure is the very thing that makes starting feel impossible. So Gentle Start leaves it out. No metrics staring back at you. No guilt. No catching up. Just a gentle way across the one line that actually matters: from not-started to started. WHO IT'S FOR Made for procrastinators, people with ADHD and executive dysfunction, students facing down an assignment or a long study session, writers staring at a blank page, and anyone who knows the strange, heavy weight of simply beginning. Whether you call it procrastination, task paralysis, or "I just can't start" - if "just start" has never once worked as advice, this was built for you. EVERYTHING INCLUDED - ALL FREE - 28 living themes: drifting clouds, falling snow, rising bubbles, a quiet night sky, and more - soft animated scenes that are easy on the eyes while you work. Or pick random and come back to a fresh space each session. - 18 ambient soundscapes: rain, a crackling fireplace, ocean waves, a forest stream, and more - or play your own music from your library. - Six end chimes: a soft bell, wind chimes, a singing bowl, glass, harp, a low gong - or none at all. Whichever you pick rings once when you reach your goal, even if your phone is face down. - 17 companions: a tiny animated animal - a samoyed, a red panda, a little dragon and more - keeps you company in the Dynamic Island and on your Lock Screen while you work. You can even name yours. - Home Screen widgets and Live Activities keep your session calm and glanceable without opening the app. - Works with Siri and the Action Button, so you can start without even looking. WHAT GENTLE START WILL NEVER DO - No ads - No subscriptions - No in-app purchases - No streaks - No goals you didn't set yourself - No guilt, no shame - No account or sign-up - No tracking Your sessions stay on your device. There's nothing to log into, nothing to pay for, and nothing watching you work. Gentle Start isn't here to make you do more. It's here to make starting feel possible, especially on the days it doesn't. Tap once. Start small. That counts. Gentle Start is free on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Wherever you are, make your next start a gentle one.

You already know what you should be doing. That is the problem. Knowing was never the hard part. Starting is. Doably is built for the sixty seconds between "I should do this" and actually beginning. Type the thing you have been avoiding. It becomes a ladder of steps so small they feel silly to skip, and then Doably shows you exactly one of them at a time. ONE STEP ON THE SCREEN No list. No due dates. No projects, tags or priorities. Just the step you are on, a quiet countdown, and a button that says Done. The next step slides in only when the last one is finished. TELL IT HOW MUCH YOU HAVE Fried, Low, or Okay. Your answer does not change the steps. It changes how many you are asked to commit to right now. On a bad day, Doably asks for exactly one. IT STAYS WITH YOU The current step lives in the Dynamic Island and on your Lock Screen, so it is still in front of you while you are in another app, or in the kitchen, or halfway out the door. 80 LADDERS ALREADY WRITTEN The dishes. The tax return. The message you have not answered. Getting out of bed. Every one hand-written, starting with a step you can do without deciding anything. TOO BIG? CUT IT SMALLER If a step still feels like too much, one tap splits it in half. Again, if you need to. WRITTEN ON YOUR DEVICE For anything the library does not cover, Doably writes the ladder using Apple Intelligence, entirely on your iPhone. Nothing you type is ever sent anywhere, because there is nowhere to send it. No account. No sync. No analytics. No network. FREE AND PREMIUM Free: three new ladders a week, twenty of the written ladders, the full focus session, and the Live Activity. Premium: unlimited ladders, all 80 written ladders, ladders written on your device for anything else, cutting any step smaller, saving your own ladders to reuse, full history and streaks, and the Home Screen widgets. Premium is $29.99 a year with 7 days free, or $69.99 once and it is yours. Writing your own steps is always free, and never counts against anything. Doably is a focus tool. It does not diagnose or treat anything, and it is not medical advice. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://ofolabs.net/doably/privacypolicy App Terms: https://ofolabs.net/doably/terms