the honest answer
A free, private breathing app for iPhone.
Genuinely free. No account, no sign up, no subscription wall. It works offline, nothing you do leaves your phone, and the App Store privacy label says Data Not Collected. Here is exactly what that means.
Yes, it is really free
Tonari is free on iPhone. Not a free trial that turns into a bill, not a locked app with the useful parts behind a subscription. You open it and the breaths are there. There is no paywall in front of the moment you actually need it, which for a tool you reach for during panic or anxiety felt like the only honest way to build it.
There is no account to make and nothing to sign up for. You do not hand over an email, a phone number, or a password. You download it, you open it, you breathe. That is the whole arrangement.
Private, in plain language
Private here is not a slogan. There is no login, so there is no profile of you sitting on a server. The breaths work fully offline, so you can put your phone in airplane mode and everything still runs. Anything you write, like a reflection or a note, stays on your phone and is not sent anywhere.
On the App Store, the privacy label reads Data Not Collected. That is Apple's own wording for an app that gathers nothing linked to you. No advertising trackers, no selling your information, no quiet analytics profile following you around. When you are trying to settle a racing mind, the last thing you should have to wonder about is who is watching.
So how can it be free?
A fair question, because free often means you are the product. Not here. There are no ads, and your data is not the business, because there is no data leaving your phone to sell. Tonari is built and owned by one person (Khalil Maaouni), made first as the calm companion he wanted to exist. If it ever grows a paid layer, it will be something extra and clearly optional, and the core breaths you reach for in a hard moment will stay free.
What you actually get
Slow, guided breaths built around a long, gentle exhale, which is the part that nudges the calming side of your nervous system. The panic breaths are hold free on purpose: when you already feel short of air, holding your breath tends to make it worse, so Tonari never asks you to. A longer breath out is the mechanism, and it is safe to lean on mid wave.
Breathing helps most when your body is over activated: wired, racing, keyed up, anxious. It is honest to say it does less for the opposite state, the flat, numb, shut down feeling, where coming back through your senses usually comes first. Tonari points you there too when that is what the moment needs, rather than pretending one breath fixes everything.
while you are here
A few honest places to start.
In a panic right now
A one tap breath built on a slow, hold free exhale, for when it is a wave you need to ride out. See how to ease a panic attack.
A free panic app that never holds
Free, offline, and hold-free by design.
The physiological sigh
Two breaths in, one long breath out. What a Stanford trial actually found, and what it did not, explained without hype.
Who is behind it
Why Tonari exists, who built it, and what beside you (the meaning of the name) is meant to feel like.
A companion, not a cure
Free and private matters, but here is the more important honesty: Tonari is a companion for a hard moment, not a treatment. It does not cure anxiety, and it is not a replacement for a doctor or a therapist. Slow breathing has real but modest evidence behind it, a well understood mechanism rather than a proven fix. If a feeling is with you most days, or a racing heart is new, frightening, or comes with chest pain or breathlessness, please get it checked by a doctor. Panic itself does not cause heart attacks, but a new symptom deserves a look. Beside you for the moment, and always with a door open to real help.
questions
The ones people ask.
Is Tonari actually free, or free with a catch?
Actually free. There is no trial that becomes a charge, no account to make, and no paywall in front of the breaths you reach for in the moment. If a paid extra is ever added, it will be clearly optional and the core breaths will stay free.
Do I need to make an account or give an email?
No. There is no sign up, no login, and no email or phone number to hand over. You download it and open it, and the breaths are right there.
What data does the app collect?
On the App Store, the privacy label reads Data Not Collected. Nothing you do is sent off your phone, there are no advertising trackers, and anything you write stays local to your device. It also works fully offline.
Does it work without internet?
Yes. The breaths run offline, so you can use it in airplane mode or with no signal. Nothing needs to load from a server for it to help.
Is a free breathing app enough on its own?
It can genuinely help in a hard moment, and it is free and private so there is no reason not to try it. But it is a companion, not a cure. If anxiety is with you most days, or a racing heart is new or frightening or comes with chest pain, a doctor or therapist is the right next step, and this can sit beside that.
Carry it with you.
Tonari keeps a calm, hold free breath one tap away. Free, private, even offline. Leave your email and I will send one message the day it opens.
Free on iOS 17 and later · no account · works offline