How to use
The fire grows only while your iPhone is face down. That is the only interaction.
Getting started
- Open the app. A small fire is already burning in the dark
- Put the device face down. A desk or your lap both work
- After about 0.6 seconds the screen turns off. That is the signal that it started
- You feel one small tap in your palm
- Leave it. The fire keeps growing for as long as it stays face down
- Pick it up, and the grown fire appears
If the screen does not turn off
Two conditions must both hold. If either is missing, nothing starts.
- The proximity sensor at the top of the screen must be covered. A desk covers it. A thick case rim can leave a gap
- The device must be close to level. Propped up at an angle will not start it. This is what keeps it from starting by accident in a pocket or bag
There is no timer
You do not set a duration. You do not declare a goal. It grows for as long as it is face down, and it is confirmed the moment you pick it up.
One minute or forty-five minutes — whatever you gave it, it grew that much. There is no such thing as failing.
If you glance at the screen
The fire does not vanish. It fades over five seconds.
Turn the device face down again before it goes out and it continues from where it was. The time in your records does not shrink.
About sound
The app does not stop music from other apps. You can use it while listening to something else.
Volume is in the app's settings (three dots at the top right → Settings). All the way to the left is silent.
It works without sight
The app is built to work through sound and touch alone. You never need to look at the screen.
VoiceOver describes the fire in three steps — a small fire, a steady fire, a large fire. It does not read numbers.
On iPad
iPad is supported, but some behaviour differs because of the hardware.
| iPhone | iPad | |
|---|---|---|
| Face-down detection | Proximity sensor and tilt | Tilt only (iPad has no proximity sensor) |
| Time to detect | 0.6 s | 1.1 s (to be more careful) |
| Screen | Turns off physically | Dims (it does not fully turn off) |
| Start signal | A tap in your palm | A single crack of the wood |
| Haptics | Yes | None |
iPad has no Taptic Engine. Because of this, everything built on touch — the crack of the wood, raindrops landing in your palm, the swell of waves — does not play on iPad. This is also true with a TOMOSHIBI+ subscription.
Everything else — the sound, the scenes, the way the fire grows — works on iPad.