Stress Watch & Burnout: Steady

Steady reads the heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate, breathing rate and sleep your Apple Watch already records in Apple Health. Each morning it turns last night into one recovery score from 0 to 100, measured only against your last 28 days.

It runs on iPhone. There's no Watch app to install.

WHAT YOU SEE Tap "Why this number" to see what went into the score: HRV and resting heart rate from your sleep, breathing rate, how long and how regularly you slept, and how active you were yesterday, each against your usual range.

The score also says how much data is behind it. Until you have three valid nights, there's no score. Three to six nights give a first look, shown as a range. After that it's provisional, then established, then high confidence at 28 nights.

Once you have 14 nights, Steady labels the day "Signs of strain" and suggests rest if two or more signals move the wrong way on one night, or resting heart rate runs high two nights in a row. A flagged night stays on your chart but doesn't shift your baseline. Nights you tag "Alcohol" or "Not feeling well" are handled the same way.

During the day, if you've been still but your heart rate is well above usual, the Today tab may show a "Possible stress signal" card. It's a prompt to check in, nothing more.

PRACTICE The free Reset is slow breathing at about six breaths a minute with a longer out-breath. Cyclic sighing, a two-minute grounding exercise, Reflect and a nudge to go outside are free too. Pro adds box breathing, 4-7-8, progressive muscle relaxation and longer sessions.

Every tool shows an evidence grade and a one-line note. Grounding gets a C because it has never been tested for efficacy. The cyclic sighing trial found improved mood but no change in HRV. Finished sessions can be saved to Apple Health as Mindful Minutes.

The Method tab does the same for the score. It covers what's measured, which readings get discarded, how accurate the Watch is in published studies, and what can throw a reading off. Cited papers have DOI links. The "What we don't claim" page has 13 entries.

PRIVACY There's no account, and your health data stays on your iPhone. Only two things leave the phone: anonymous usage events (PostHog, US), which you can switch off, and your purchase receipt, which RevenueCat checks for Pro. Neither includes any health data. In Settings, you can export your data as JSON or CSV, or delete all of it.

FREE AND PRO The free version doesn't expire. It has the daily score and usual range, 30 days of history, check-ins and tags, the stress signal card, Reset and the other free tools, and a Home Screen widget.

Steady Pro adds 90- and 365-day history with a calendar view, patterns in the nights you've tagged, a weekly report, a PDF summary you can share, adjustable stress signal sensitivity and more notification types.

Discovery signals