The sound engine which emulate the reverberation of the bells is impressive. Multiple strikes overlap, even the sounds of different bells can overlap as well.
You choose the bell, when the bell should play, how many times the bell should repeat, the volume by % and optionally you can give the event a name. Set it and forget it.
For the devout meditator, you can elect to wake up to bells. Two choices are available. The Golden Ratio alarm starts with distantly spaced bell strikes and over time the interval becomes shorter and shorter. Continuous Chimes which is in a fixed interval of your choosing defaulting at 10 seconds between bell strikes.
The main screen features a clock that only shows the quarter marks like the cardinal directions, largely useless for actually telling time. At the bottom are the links to playing with the bells, wake up alarm, meditation session presets, and settings. The meditation presets should be the main screen as that is the primary function for the app. Minor gripe/ con.
This app does not feature an explicitly stated "reminder" feature to do meditation session, but the wake-up alarm serves the same function. You can set multiple alarms for throughout the day if you wish.
The app is simple enough that frequent updates are not necessary. However, the fact remains that the developer is not aggressive about improving the app. This is a blessing and a curse.
A zen instrument comprised of a thick wooden board that is struck by a wooden mallet. It is struck at dawn, dusk and the end of the day. It is used to summon participants to the zendo (meditation hall) for daily zazen (meditation). The pattern of strikes always includes three roll downs.
It can be harmful to compare or compete in racking up meditation time, or only doing guided meditation. Or fiddling too much with different features and browsing all the teachers, meditators, etc.
A meditation practice is not complex and the app should match. I love the ability to design my own time length and notifications and have this all sync to the watch.
Apple Watch app works without any need for having the iPhone nearby. It also works well with Apple Shortcuts - so you can design a shortcut that turns on Do Not Disturb, logs the meditation session and opens up Timefully. Plenty of options as well.
Almost entirely functional without iPhone. The only thing that requires the iPhone is renaming the labels for the alarms. This comes in really handy for situations where phones are confiscated or frowned upon in monasteries or temples, retreats etc.
Timer App: Select from several preset timers, or set a custom amount of time before the timer goes off.
Alarm App: Click Add alarm, pick a time you want the alarm to go off and you're done. Optionally you can go back into the alarm if you want it to persist, give it a name (provided an iPhone is connected), or if you want to disable the snooze function or to delete the alarm. From the main screen all you can do is toggle alarms on or off.
With the Phone on Airplane Mode the Apple Watch will easily last all day leaving plenty of buffer room to charge, but still, it will require recharging on a daily basis. For many, the most convenient time to do this is as part of their bedtime or wake-up routine. Sometimes both if the watch is used as a wake-up alarm or sleep tracker.
No sounds of bells, no warm up periods, no statistics, no homekit integration. It's the equivalent of a kitchen egg timer except it's strapped to your wrist and it's silent.