About the app
Yonder is an iPhone and Apple Watch tool for people who stare at screens for long stretches. It helps you keep the 20-20-20 eye-rest habit: after each stretch of work, it reminds you to look up and gaze into the distance for a while.
One cycle goes like this: you tap "Start" and begin working → the work interval is up and the App gives you an unmistakable reminder → you stop the reminder and start looking away → when the look-away period ends you get one more reminder → after you confirm, the next stretch of work begins. The full duration of the next work stretch is counted from the moment you confirm, so confirming a minute late does not cost you that minute.
Whether or not you own an Apple Watch, you can complete the entire flow on the iPhone alone. Once an Apple Watch is paired, the two ends can work together on reminders — the system decides which device the alert appears on, and when it appears on both, stopping it on either end stops the other too.
The App has no ads, requires no account registration, collects none of your data, and has no servers of ours (the only thing that goes online is in-app purchase — checking the price, buying, and restoring purchases go through Apple's App Store servers; see the FAQ below). Core reminders are free: the standard 20-minute work / 20-second look-away cycle and the default alert cost nothing. Pro is a one-time purchase (not a subscription, and it doesn't auto-renew) that unlocks four personalized settings: work duration, look-away duration, reminder sound, and snooze duration. Whether a reminder actually goes off on time depends on your system version, permissions, the state of your device and system settings such as Silent Mode and Focus — the App does not promise that every reminder will sound, and it does not force its way through Silent Mode or Focus.
Frequently asked questions
What is 20-20-20?
A common eye-rest guideline: for every 20 minutes or so of focused screen use, look at something about 20 feet (about 6 meters) away for about 20 seconds. The App is only a timer and reminder that helps you keep that rhythm. It does not provide medical diagnosis and does not constitute medical advice. If your eyes feel unwell, please consult an ophthalmologist or optometrist.
Is an Apple Watch required?
No. Without an Apple Watch you can still do everything essential on the iPhone: start, get the work-interval reminder, start looking away, get the look-away-finished reminder, snooze, end the session ("End session"), resume from the background, and restore purchases. The Apple Watch is an enhancement (see the state and stop the reminder right on your wrist), not a prerequisite.
What does "Watch status" in the App mean?
The settings page tells you honestly which tier you are in, rather than a vague "connection failed." Ordered from the most fundamental to the most detailed, there are 6 tiers:
| Tier | What it means |
|---|---|
| Not supported on this device | This device has no WatchConnectivity capability at all (an iPad, for example) |
| Session not activated yet | The session used to talk to the watch has not finished being established — usually just the moment right after launch |
| Not paired | This iPhone is not paired with any Apple Watch |
| Not installed | A watch is paired, but the watch version of Yonder is not installed on it yet |
| Installed but not reachable right now | It is installed, but nothing can be delivered at this moment (the watch is not nearby, its screen is locked, it is temporarily offline, and so on). This is a perfectly normal state, not a fault |
| Connected | It is installed and can communicate immediately right now |
In everyday use you will mostly see the last three tiers. Once the app is installed and launched on the watch, the iPhone refreshes to the correct state on its own — you do not need to restart the App.
Can I get a refund after buying Pro?
Pro is a one-time in-app purchase completed through the Apple App Store. Refunds are handled by Apple. We cannot process a refund directly, and cannot make refund promises on Apple's behalf. The official channels:
- Go to reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in with your Apple Account, find the purchase, and request a refund;
- Or on your iPhone, open Settings → tap your name → "Media & Purchases" → "View Account" → "Purchase History."
Whether a refund is approved, and how long it takes, are decided by Apple under its own policies. Please refer to Apple's official page.
What if restoring purchases doesn't work?
If your Pro entitlement doesn't come back automatically after switching devices or reinstalling the App, restore it manually along this path:
Settings → "About" → the first row of that section (opens the purchase page) → "Restore Purchases" at the bottom of the page
The text of that row changes with state: before you buy it reads "Unlock Pro"; once you own Pro it shows the Pro product name instead — either way, tapping it opens the same purchase page.
This step calls the system's AppStore.sync() to re-check the purchase records under your Apple Account. It requires a network connection, and may ask you to sign in to your Apple Account again. Please make sure you are currently signed in with the same Apple Account you originally bought it with — the only basis on which the App decides your Pro entitlement is the purchase record the system returns, so a different account will find nothing. If it still won't restore, please contact us using the address at the bottom of this page and include the time of your purchase.
How much does Pro cost?
Go by the price shown on the in-app purchase page and on the App Store — the price varies by region and exchange rate, and what the App shows you is what you will actually be charged. It is a one-time purchase, not a subscription, and does not auto-renew.
Will my data be uploaded to your servers?
No — we have no servers of our own, and we collect none of your data. The App requires no account sign-in and contains no network request code of its own. Cycle state, personalized settings, and today's completed count are stored only on your device; state sync between iPhone and Apple Watch uses the local device-to-device channel provided by Apple's system.
But to put it precisely: this does not mean the App never goes online. The three things related to in-app purchase — checking the Pro price, starting a purchase, and restoring purchases — all go through Apple's App Store servers, and "Restore Purchases" may ask you to sign in to your Apple Account again. That channel is provided and handled by Apple; we can neither receive nor store your payment information. Apart from that, no feature produces any outbound network request.
On clearing data: the data on your iPhone and on your Apple Watch are two separate sets, each cleared when the app on that device is deleted. Your purchased Pro record is managed by Apple; deleting the App does not revoke the purchase, and "Restore Purchases" brings it back after reinstalling. See the privacy policy for details.
Do I have to enable notification / AlarmKit permission?
We recommend it. These are two independent system authorizations, not one switch:
- Notification permission — the one iOS has always had. It is the fallback path for reminders: if it is turned off, you may get nothing at all when a work interval is up.
- AlarmKit permission — a separate authorization added in iOS 26, used to deliver a more alarm-like persistent alert. Turning off only this one does not leave you without reminders; the App falls back to ordinary notifications automatically, just presented differently.
The App does not fire a chain of permission dialogs the first time you open it: after the intro, nothing is asked until the first time you actually tap "Start"; and whether you allow or deny, that "Start" still runs as normal. You will not be asked a second time.
To change it later:
- Notifications: iOS Settings → Yonder → Notifications.
- AlarmKit (persistent alerts): on iOS 26 or later, look in iOS Settings → Yonder for the item related to "Alarms." The two are separate; changing one does not affect the other.
The reminder sound differs between Apple Watch and iPhone?
Yes — that is system behavior, not a fault. iOS decides which device the alert appears on; when it appears on the Apple Watch, the watch may use its own system alert sound rather than the sound you picked on the iPhone. When the watch is in sleep mode there is usually only haptic feedback and no sound. The sound preview inside the App states this honestly too, rather than pretending the two ends are identical.
Known system limitations
These are all iOS/watchOS system-level behaviors, not defects in the App. We list them honestly rather than promising more than is actually true:
- AlarmKit persistent alerts require iOS 26.0 or later. On lower system versions the App automatically uses ordinary system notifications instead. The core work/look-away flow is fully usable; only the presentation of the reminder differs (ordinary notifications may not ring under silent mode or a Focus).
- The minimum installable system version is iOS 18.0 (watchOS 11.0 on the Apple Watch side).
- Known system issue: on iOS 26.0 there is an Apple-acknowledged system defect affecting custom alert sounds. If you run into a wrong sound on iOS 26.0, please update the system version first before drawing conclusions.
- Which device the alert appears on is decided by the system, not by the App. When the iPhone is not locked, only the iPhone may ring — that is normal. When both ends present it, stopping on either end stops the other.
- When the Apple Watch is in sleep mode, not being worn, or temporarily offline, the timing of the reminder's presentation on the watch may be affected. Go by what your devices actually do.
- Behavior under the silent switch and Focus modes is determined by system rules. The App does not promise that it "will always ring, in every situation."
- Some behaviors that depend on real devices and real system interaction (the Lock Screen card, the Dynamic Island, StandBy, and how AlarmKit actually behaves under various edge conditions) can only be experienced on a real iPhone and Apple Watch; the simulator cannot fully reproduce them.
Contact us
If you run into a problem, find a defect, or have a feature suggestion, we would be glad to hear from you:
Email: safferuk@gmail.com
Including the following makes it much easier to pin down the problem: the system versions of your iPhone and Apple Watch, the App version number (visible at the bottom of the Settings → "About" page), and what you were doing when the problem appeared.