Sound themes
Choosing the breathing and countdown sounds that play in a session and the notification sounds separately: the themes, where to choose them, previews and silent mode.
4 min read
In a session, a short sound plays at every breath transition: one at the start of the inhale, one at the start of the exhale, one on the hold. Before you start, you also hear a three-two-one countdown. You choose how these sounds sound. The sound of notifications is a separate choice.
Session sounds
There are thirteen themes for sessions: Zen, Bowl, Water, Soft bell, Wood, Air, Kalimba, Woodblock, Mist, Harp, Music box, Crystal and Classic. The default is Zen.
Each theme has its own inhale, exhale and hold sounds, its own countdown and its own interval chime. Classic is made of simple rising and falling tones, as in the first releases.
To choose: Profile → Settings → Session. With Breathing and countdown sounds on, a Session sounds row appears underneath, with the selected theme's name on the right. Tap the row and the themes are listed. When you tap a theme, it's selected and plays the countdown from start to finish: three, two, one and go. A checkmark sits next to the selected theme.
If breathing and countdown sounds are off, no sound plays in a session and the theme row doesn't show. If you want the rhythm as haptics, Session rhythm haptics is a separate switch, independent of the theme.
Notification sounds
There are twelve themes for notifications: the same as the session themes, except Classic. Each theme has three sounds: one for reminders and other notifications, one for the streak alert, and one for the welcome-back notification that comes after you've taken a break for a while.
To choose: Settings → Notification options → Frequency and wording. With Notification sound on, a Notification sounds row appears underneath. When you tap a theme, it plays its three sounds in turn. When you change the theme, pending notifications are set up again with the new sound. At the simple level this section is behind Advanced options. The rest of the notifications are in the reminders article.
Silent mode
iOS
When the phone is on silent, session sounds don't play; haptics and the screen stay the same. When you're previewing themes with the phone on silent, the preview can't be heard either: turn the silent switch off first.
Android
When the phone is on silent, on vibrate, or Do Not Disturb is on total silence, session sounds don't play. This is checked again for every sound: if you put the phone on silent mid-session, the sound stops straight away. Previews of notification themes also don't play when the ringer isn't on normal.
Android doesn't allow the sound of a notification channel to be changed afterwards. So when you change the theme, the app opens new channels and moves your old settings over to them. That's why several Soluklan channels show up in your phone's notification settings.
In the night view, sounds are turned down automatically.
iOS
On Apple Watch
If breathing and countdown sounds are on on the phone, the watch plays the theme you chose on the phone too; if they're off, the watch plays no sound. In a shared session the phone plays the sounds and the watch only gives haptics. Notifications arrive on the watch with the watch's own sound. The rest of the watch is in the Soluklan on Apple Watch article.