sōon — Accessibility

sōon is a small ambient-sound app with optional timed Pauses. We care about accessibility, but we are not accessibility experts — we test on real devices and improve when we learn better.

This page describes what we support today on iPhone, how to use it, and where we still fall short. It matches the Accessibility Nutrition Labels on our App Store listing where noted.

Supported features (iPhone)

VoiceOver

Masking, favorites, timer, Info, Heartbeat BPM, and Pauses are reachable with VoiceOver.

During an active Pause, the first phase is announced after the short 3-2-1 settle, then later phases (for example “Hold, 5”) with seconds. Phase-boundary haptics help pacing for everyone, not only VoiceOver users.

Pattern names in the Pause picker include the rhythm and a short description.

Heartbeat tempo opens as a sheet: swipe the slider to change BPM, Reset for 60, Done to close.

Listening History uses a list layout when VoiceOver is on (instead of charts), for clearer announcements.

Larger Text (Dynamic Type)

The app stays usable at accessibility text sizes, including lists, timer setup, Info, Pauses, and History. Some labels clip or wrap awkwardly at the largest sizes. The active timer countdown is capped and does not grow through every accessibility size. We have not had this layout reviewed by people who rely on these settings all day.

Dark Interface

Light and dark appearances are supported throughout the app.

Sufficient Contrast

The app is designed to remain readable in both appearances. We checked with Increase Contrast enabled and did not find broken controls.

Reduce Motion

When Reduce Motion is on, Pauses use a text-first path (phase name and countdown) instead of the animated canvas. When a track is playing, the moving bars on that row and the drifting background stay still too. Phase-boundary haptics still fire on each Pause transition.

Tips

Pauses

Toolbar lungs icon; Even, Triangle, or Square; Start. Swipe down to cancel. Reset returns to pattern selection without closing the sheet. Optional Apple Health save is off by default (Info → Apple Health).

Timer

Toolbar timer icon. Cancel stops an active countdown. When a timer finishes in the foreground, VoiceOver may hear both the system banner and an in-app “Timer finished”.

Favorites

Up to three tracks; reorder in the favorites sheet. Heartbeat BPM is a separate control from play.

Animation

Sparkles in the toolbar; VoiceOver speaks Animation on or Animation off.

Apple Watch

Favorites sync when paired. This page focuses on iPhone; watch accessibility is not separately declared in App Store labels today.

Known limitations (version 3.1)

• At the largest accessibility text sizes, some text is truncated and the layout is uneven. Features remain reachable.
• The active timer countdown does not fully scale with the largest Dynamic Type settings.

Other

If something does not work for you, please email us (see the end of this document). Real feedback from people who rely on assistive features helps us prioritize fixes.

Not supported / not claimed

We do not claim Voice Control, Captions, or Audio Descriptions on the App Store — they are not relevant to this app today.

We do not claim “Differentiate Without Color Alone” as a nutrition label; the app was checked with Differentiate Without Color enabled and behaved normally.