A calm space you can touch
Tap, and a wave spreads outward.
Ripple is a calm surface that answers when you touch it. A wave moves through a grid of cells, lighting each one as it passes and fading as it reaches the edge.
There is nothing to learn and nothing to set up. No sign-up. No onboarding. No score, no streak, and no timer running somewhere measuring how long you managed.
Touch it - that pauses autoplay, the same as the app.
Twelve surfaces, four ways in
Ripple's experiences are grouped by how you arrive rather than by what they are called. If choosing is already too much, four Quick Starts choose for you.
Ease In
For when you're flat, foggy, or not quite started.
Shimmer · Bloom · Drift
Settle
For when you're alright and want to stay there.
Meadow · Flow · Grove
Breathe
For when things are climbing.
Blush · Shore · Ember
Ease Out
For when everything needs to slow down.
Hush · Hollow · Still
Each surface is a finished thing with its own grid, its own pace and its own colours. Shimmer is light scattered across water. Meadow is light through long grass. Still is slow water with no edges.
Built to stay out of your way
Silent by default
Ripple makes no sound at all. It works on a bus, in a meeting, in a classroom, at three in the morning. No headphones, nothing to mute.
Leave it running
Autoplay keeps the surface moving with nobody touching it - for a shared iPad, a quiet corner, or just to watch.
Sensory-safe
No flashing. No harsh contrast. Ripple reads your iOS accessibility settings and adjusts itself, without being asked. How that works.
No account, works offline
Nothing to sign up for and nothing to create. No advertising, and no tracking across other apps or websites. Ripple works with aeroplane mode on.
Who made this, and why
Ripple came out of a simple question: what if a phone could feel calming instead of demanding? So it does one thing. You open it, you touch it, and it answers. There was never a plan to add more.
It is built and maintained by one person, Steven Brammah, in the UK. If you email, you get me.
The science
Rhythmic, repetitive sensory input - touch, movement, light - supports regulation of the nervous system. Ripple gives the hands something quiet and predictable to do while the rest of you settles.
Made for everyone
The design prioritises people who benefit from sensory regulation, but the surface is open to anyone who wants to feel a little calmer. It never labels who it is for.
Built from scratch
Entirely in SwiftUI, with no third-party game engine. The grid geometry comes from GridEngine, a Swift package written for this app, supporting five cell shapes: hex, square, offset-square, triangle and polar.
What's free
Bloom, Flow, Blush and Still are free - one from each of the four groups, chosen because they are good, not because they are samples.
A single one-time unlock opens the other eight. It is a purchase, not a subscription, and it works with Family Sharing.
Ripple Foundations - £1.99
Twelve surfaces, yours forever. Paid once, never a subscription.
For iPhone and iPad, iOS 17 or later.