Backgrounds, seasons and the time of day
The background changing through the day isn't decoration. How it is worked out, why it asks for no location data, and what appears when.
4 min read
Open the app in the morning and the background is light and open; in the late afternoon it is warm orange; at night it is dark and starry. Snow falls in winter and leaves drift down in spring.
Here is what sits behind that.
Why it exists
Two reasons. The first is that it tells you what time of day it is the moment you open the app — breathing practice is tied to the time of day, and the app already changes its suggestions with the hour. The background is the visible side of that.
The second is simpler: an app you open every day doesn't have to look the same every day.
The sun's hours are worked out on the device
Sunrise and sunset aren't fixed hours; they shift with the season. The app works them out.
It asks for no location permission. The calculation is made from the device's time zone; GPS and location services are never touched. That means giving up a little accuracy — a few minutes of drift is possible — but there is no good reason for a breathing app to ask for your location.
The times of day
Day. From sunrise to sunset, light and open.
Evening. Around sunset, warm orange tones.
Night. A dark background and stars. Some of the stars fade and brighten faster than others, and a few are faintly coloured.
The seasons
Winter. Snowflakes. A background in cold blue tones.
Spring. Falling blossom petals.
Summer. A calm background leaning towards green.
Autumn. Yellow and red leaves.
The season comes from the calendar date, not from the weather — the app doesn't look at the internet.
Special days
A few special days like New Year get their own backgrounds. These come and go by date, by themselves.
Light and dark themes
On top of all this there is a theme choice: Settings → Appearance. It shouldn't be confused with the interface level. You can follow the system setting, or always use the light or dark theme.
In the dark theme the night background stays close to its default; in the light theme the day background stays light even at night.
Reduce motion
If iOS's reduce motion setting is on, the snow, leaves and star movements stop. The background colours stay; the motion goes.
The same setting also affects the animations in the session circle and on this site.
Does it drain the battery
The background animations are drawn only while the app is in the foreground, at a low frame rate, and never in the background. During a session, when the circle is on screen, priority goes to that anyway.