Questions and answers

AtemTape is a cassette player for your breath. You pick a tape, press START and breathe along. The wave on the display shows you when to breathe in (INHALE) and out (EXHALE), Maria guides you with her voice, and the phone vibrates in time if you like.

At the end the device prints a receipt with your breathing time, your breaths and a line from Maria.

• Calm: In and out for the same length. For in between, when you simply want to calm down.
• Unwind: First a few sighs, then breathing out twice as long as in. Good after stress or an argument.
• Focus: Four equal sides. For a clear head before an exam or a conversation.
• Sleep: First settle in, then your out-breath gets long and soft, without holding. For drifting off to sleep.
• Awake: Longer in than out, a short hold at the top. For the morning or the afternoon dip.

If you’re unsure, start with Calm.

Some tapes have two sides. Side A picks you up, for example with a few sighs on Unwind. Then the device turns the tape to side B by itself, you’ll hear a soft click. You don’t have to do anything.

Yes. In AtemTape, pull up the flap with the mixing desk at the bottom and tap OWN. There you set how long you breathe in, hold and breathe out. In the AtemSender use the TUNE knob or press and hold a programme key.

Your rhythm applies to both devices. The MARIA key (ORIGINAL in the AtemSender) takes you back to Maria’s rhythm at any time.

Yes. Maria’s voice, the music and the closing gong keep going with the screen locked. The lock screen shows INHALE, HOLD or EXHALE. So you can close your eyes and put the phone down.

Yes, if you want. In the menu under “Reminders” you can set one reminder in the morning and one in the evening. They are off by default. When you tap the reminder, the right tape is already in the device: Awake in the morning, Sleep in the evening.

Even a few minutes do you good. You can choose between 1 and 45 minutes. Many people start with 3 to 5 minutes and stay longer once it feels good.

The AtemSender is a second device inside AtemTape: an old TV set that only broadcasts breath. You’ll find it in the menu. You can try three broadcasts for free.

No. AtemTape is free, with no ads and no subscription. If you’d like to give something back, you can drop something into the tip jar in the menu. Any amount: as a thank-you, it unlocks the Petrol Edition, the AtemSender and the image pack.

Open the tip jar in the menu and tap “Restore purchases”. Make sure you’re signed in with the same Apple or Google account you used for the tip.

Tips go through Apple’s App Store or Google Play. The receipt comes from them by email, and you request a refund directly there too: at Apple via reportaproblem.apple.com, at Google in your Google Play order history. We never see any payment details.

No. AtemTape works without signing up and without internet. Everything the app remembers stays on your phone.

Delete the app. That removes your breathing minutes, receipts and settings too, because they aren’t stored anywhere else. More in our privacy policy.