Frequently Asked Questions

Wind Down is a sleep habit tracker that helps you build a consistent bedtime routine instead of relying on willpower to stop scrolling. Each night, a calming countdown screen signals the start of your wind-down ritual. You log your completion with one tap, rate your sleep the next morning, and after 7 nights Wind Down shows you your personal Sleep Impact Score — the difference in sleep quality on nights you wound down versus nights you didn't.

Wind Down includes a free 7-day trial with full access to all features — no credit card required. After your trial, you can subscribe for $4.99 per month or $34.99 per year (about $2.92 per month). The annual plan gives you the best value and is the option most users choose once they've seen their Sleep Impact Score.

A sleep tracker app measures what happens after you fall asleep — it records your cycles, tells you how long you slept, and grades your night. Wind Down works before sleep, helping you build the habit of actually putting the phone down. The distinction matters: passive tracking doesn't change what you do in bed, and most people already know they sleep badly. Wind Down gives you the behavior-change loop that closes the gap.

No. Wind Down is a ritual, not a lock. It doesn't block apps, override your phone, or fight you. Instead, it gives you a calming countdown screen — a slow-breathing circle of light — that makes winding down feel like a ceremony worth showing up to. Research consistently shows that positive habit replacement outperforms restriction for long-term behavior change.

Each morning, Wind Down asks one question: how did you sleep, on a scale of 1 to 5? After 7 nights, it calculates two averages: your sleep rating on nights you completed a wind-down, and your rating on nights you didn't. The difference between those two numbers is your Sleep Impact Score. It turns your own data into the most convincing argument for keeping the habit.

iOS Screen Time and Opal are blockers — they put friction between you and your apps, which motivated scrollers routinely bypass or disable. Wind Down doesn't fight your phone; it replaces the scrolling with a ritual you actually want to complete. Opal costs up to $100 per year and addresses willpower, not habit. Wind Down costs less than a coffee per month and addresses the root behavior.

Meditation apps like Calm can help you relax once you've stopped scrolling, but they don't solve the scrolling itself — and a meditation app is still a screen in your bed. The most common complaint in Calm reviews is 'I scroll for an hour, then open Calm.' A sleep habit tracker like Wind Down addresses the behavior that happens before any relaxation content starts, which is where the real problem lives.

Awareness alone rarely changes behavior — studies show that people who track screen time without a replacement habit return to their baseline within weeks. What works is pairing the awareness with a structured wind-down routine and a streak that gives you something to protect. Wind Down combines a screen time signal with a habit log and a Sleep Impact Score so the data drives action, not just reflection.

Most users notice a change in how they feel falling asleep within the first 3 to 5 nights of completing their wind-down routine. Your Sleep Impact Score unlocks after 7 nights, giving you your first data-backed proof that the habit is working. Habit research suggests 21 to 30 consistent completions is when the behavior starts to feel automatic rather than effortful.

Missing a night breaks your streak counter, but Wind Down doesn't penalize you or reset your history. Every past night you logged stays on your streak calendar as a permanent record of the work you put in. The goal is consistency over time, not perfection — and the streak is designed to make missing two nights in a row feel more uncomfortable than missing one.

Yes. Wind Down works entirely from your iPhone and does not require an Apple Watch or any wearable. Your sleep quality data comes from a quick 10-second morning check-in, not from sensor hardware. An optional HealthKit integration to read Apple Watch sleep data is planned for a future update, but the core habit loop is fully functional without it.

Wind Down is currently iOS only. An Android version is on the roadmap, but the initial release is iPhone-first. If you are an Android user, you can join the waitlist and we will notify you when Android support launches.

Your sleep ratings and habit log are stored on-device and are not sold to third parties. Wind Down does not share your personal sleep data with advertisers or data brokers. If you choose to enable HealthKit integration in a future update, that data remains under Apple's privacy framework and requires your explicit permission.

After your free trial ends, you'll be prompted to subscribe to keep your streak and Sleep Impact Score active. If you don't subscribe, you lose access to logging and scoring but your historical data is preserved. Most users see their first Sleep Impact Score on Day 7 or Day 8 — which is intentionally timed to coincide with the paywall, so the data makes the case for subscribing better than any marketing copy can.