BreathInU for Mac: A Breathing App for Your Desktop
By Bathilde Rocchia, creator of BreathInU. Published .
Why a breathing app on a Mac
If you work on a computer, the moments you most need a break are the ones spent in front of it: a long writing session, back-to-back calls, a bug that will not go away. Reaching for your phone to start a breathing exercise often ends with you scrolling something else.
BreathInU runs natively on Mac, so the break is one window away from your work. Most sessions take 2 to 5 minutes.
What you can do on Mac
The Mac app has the same exercises as on iPhone and iPad, in a resizable desktop window:
- Breathing: Simple Breath (cardiac coherence), Box Breathing, Steady Box 4-6, diaphragmatic, pursed-lip, lateral and alternate nostril breathing.
- Neck and shoulder stretches: shoulder rolls and three neck stretches you can do in your chair, plus a side stretch.
- Eye exercises: blinking, eye circles, up and down, left and right, and near-far focus. Useful after hours of screen time.
- Full sessions and quick breaks from the Home tab, or browse by category: breathing, walking, stretching or eye stretching.
- Library, Progress and Search tabs to browse every exercise, see your stats and streak, or find an exercise by name.
Each breathing exercise shows an animated shape that grows and shrinks with your breath, and plays a soft sound (a crystal bowl, a Tibetan bowl or silence) at every inhale and exhale. You can close your eyes and still follow along.
The best exercises for a desk
- Between tasks: cardiac coherence for 2 to 5 minutes, eyes closed.
- Before a call or presentation: box breathing for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Stiff neck: the neck stretches at your desk routine.
- Tired eyes: the eye stretching exercises, then look out of a window.
The walking exercises are in the Mac app too, but they are easier to follow with your iPhone in your pocket.
Mac and iPhone together
BreathInU is one app on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Your exercise history syncs through iCloud when you use the same Apple Account, so a session on your Mac counts toward the same streak as one on your iPhone.
A few features stay on iPhone and iPad, because macOS does not offer them the same way:
- Home screen and Lock Screen widgets
- Apple Health, where your sessions are saved as mindful minutes
- Haptic feedback during exercises
On iPhone and iPad you can also start an exercise by voice: see Siri, Spotlight and Shortcuts.
Requirements
- macOS 15 Sequoia or later
- Free to download, with an optional subscription for full access
Getting started
- Download BreathInU from the App Store.
- Pick a goal, or open Simple Breath for a first 40-second session.
- Keep the app in your Dock so a break is always one click away.
If you are new to breathing exercises, start with the guide to breathing techniques explained.