For most of my life, meditation as a concept was a bit out-there. Maybe it was the religious connotations, or the semi-mystical language often associated with it. But I never really thought it was for me.

Sometime around 2015-2016 (just before I turned 30), I was on a bit of a self-improvement kick following a long-term breakup. I can’t remember exactly how I stumbled into it, but I began using the Headspace iOS app, and was intrigued by the idea of mindfulness. Around the same time I heard about 10% Happier by Dan Harris on some podcast or other, so I bought a copy to read more about it.

Sitting down for 10 minutes with my eyes closed and my legs crossed never became a daily habit for me, but it definitely became a regular tool in my self-care toolbox. To have a reset from day-to-day anxieties, or to ground myself before a stressful day.

I always feel better afterwards, and it never feels like wasted time.

As much as I liked Headspace, I knew that the real work of meditation was in the sitting itself, not in an app subscription. In 2018 I came across Oak, which at the time was a really simple iPhone app with guided and unguided sessions, without any subscriptions or in-app purchases (at the time of writing, this is still the case). As far as I could tell, the app was a labour of love funded by Kevin Rose (Digg founder), and was a way for him to give something back to the community, and humanity at large, for free — to help get more people into it.

This was inspiring for me. Although the app didn’t get many updates over the years (though apparently that’s changed recently), it functioned perfectly well enough to help me along in my practice.

I was an early adopter of the Apple Watch, and I got quite excited when Apple added the Mindfulness app to it a few years ago. But the way that app worked never suited how I wanted to meditate.

I always wanted an app that basically did nothing, aside from give me a gentle tap every minute or so, to remind me to bring my focus back to my breath. Oak has something similar, where you can play chimes at an interval — but I wanted just that simple tap on my wrist.

Well, in May 2026, with LLM tooling having got genuinely good, I finally got around to building the exact thing I wanted.

My background is in web development, and I’d never written a line of Swift or had any experience with Apple’s development platforms before this.

But after a couple months of learning and experimenting with different UI ideas, I shipped Tapback to the App Store, and it got released today (Saturday 4th July 2026).

Like Oak, it’s free.

I hope you find it useful!

Although, there is a tip-jar if you’re feeling generous, and if it helps you in your practice, I’d love to hear about it!

Thanks for reading.

— Iestyn