Search for a freediving app and you will find timers, breathing apps, table generators and dive-computer companions, all promising to improve your breath-hold. Many of them are perfectly decent. The problem is that they solve different problems, and the one you pick shapes how you train for months.
This guide is written for someone who trains static apnea on land, alone or between pool sessions, and wants a tool that supports a real method. It lists the criteria that matter, explains why, and tells you what to look for in each.
Anima Apnea is our app, and I am its founder. To keep this guide useful rather than promotional, it does not rate or rank other named apps. It describes categories of tools and gives you criteria you can apply to any of them, including ours. The section on Anima lists what it does and what it does not do.
Four kinds of apps, four different jobs
Before comparing features, know which category you are looking at. Each is good at something, and none does everything.
| Category | Typically good at | Typical gaps |
|---|---|---|
| Simple timers | Timing a single hold, quick and free | No tables, little history, no contraction data |
| Table apps | CO2 and O2 tables with timed rounds and cues | Presets not always tied to your record |
| Breathwork apps | Guided slow breathing and relaxation | Not designed around breath-hold training |
| Dive computers' apnea modes | Logging depth, dive time and surface intervals in water | Not a dry-training coach; in-water use needs a buddy |
If you mainly train on land, the second category is where the training value is. A breathwork app is a fine complement, and a dive computer is the right tool once you are in open water with a buddy and a course behind you. The rest of this guide focuses on dry static training.
The ten criteria that matter
Not every criterion carries the same weight. The diagram below groups them: the first column decides whether an app can support a real method at all, the second makes training sustainable over months, and the third protects your data and your wallet.
| Criterion | Why it matters | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Table generation | A table must match your current level to train the right stimulus | Holds and recovery calculated from your record, and editable |
| Contraction logging | The first contraction is a sensitive marker of CO₂ tolerance | One-tap marking during a hold, first-contraction time saved |
| Audio and haptic cues | Watching a screen keeps you alert and tense | Countdown and round cues you can follow with eyes closed |
| Breathing patterns | Calm, slow breathing before a hold sets up relaxation | Several guided patterns, custom timings, a breathe-up before holds |
| Plans and progression | Without structure, people either stagnate or overtrain | Multi-week plans with rest days and scheduled re-tests |
| Stats | Progress in apnea is slow and easy to miss | History by day, week and month, not just a best time |
| Offline use | You train where you can lie down, not where there is signal | Core timers that do not depend on a connection |
| Privacy and sync | Your training history is personal data | Use without an account; sync only if you opt in |
| Price model | A paywall in the wrong place locks your history in | A useful free tier; clarity on what is paid |
| Safety messaging | Breath-hold training can cause blackouts | Clear rules: dry and lying down, no hyperventilation, never alone in water |
Contractions: the metric most apps ignore
A static hold has an easy phase and a struggle phase, separated by the physiological breaking point: the first involuntary contraction of the diaphragm1. When that first contraction arrives later at the same hold time, your tolerance to carbon dioxide is improving, even if your maximum has not moved yet. Contractions are not a danger signal in themselves; in trained divers they are even associated with better cerebral oxygenation during the struggle phase2. An app that only records total time throws this information away. The guide to apnea contractions explains how to read them.
Cues you can follow with your eyes closed
Relaxation is the whole game in static apnea. If you have to glance at a screen to know when the next hold starts, you stay alert and slightly tense. Good apps announce the start and end of each phase with sound and vibration, so you can lie still, eyes closed, and let the table run.
Breathing work, done properly
Slow breathing with a long exhale is associated with calmer physiological and psychological states3, which is why guided patterns are worth having. What you do not want is an app that mixes freediving with fast, forceful breathing before holds. That is hyperventilation, and it delays the urge to breathe without adding meaningful oxygen4. For the patterns that do help, see the breathwork guide.
What "table generation" should really mean
Plenty of apps offer a beginner, intermediate and advanced CO2 table. That is better than nothing, but a fixed preset cannot know that your record is 2:15 rather than 3:30. A table that is too easy produces no stimulus; one that is too hard turns every session into a fight and teaches tension.
Real table generation starts from your personal best and derives every number from it. For a CO2 table, a common construction keeps the hold at about half your record and shortens the recovery by 15 seconds each round. Move the slider below to see how the whole session changes with the record.
Same rules as the adapted tables in the Anima Apnea app: hold at 50 % of your record and first recovery at two thirds of it but never under 2:00, rounded to 15 s, then −15 s per round (minimum 15 s).
When you evaluate an app, check three things. Does it ask for your record, or let you set it from a timed attempt? Can you edit the result if a round is too hard? And does it let you build an O2 table too, with fixed recovery and increasing holds? The CO2 table guide explains the construction in detail if you prefer to check an app's numbers by hand.
Safety messaging is a feature
An app that coaches breath-holding takes on a responsibility. Loss of consciousness from hypoxia can occur without warning, and in water it can be fatal within moments. The way an app talks about this tells you a lot about whether it was built by people who train.
Encouraging fast or forced breathing before holds, suggesting holds in the bath or while standing, presenting maximal attempts as daily training, or implying the app makes water training safe without a buddy. Dry training belongs lying down or seated, and nothing replaces a trained buddy in water.
- Never hyperventilate before a hold, whatever an app's breathing exercise suggests.
- Stop at dizziness, tingling in hands or lips, visual changes or anything unusual.
- Never train while driving, in the bath or anywhere a blackout would be dangerous.
- Ask a doctor first if you have a heart or lung condition, epilepsy, or are pregnant.
Where Anima Apnea fits, and where it does not
Applied to our own app, the checklist gives the following picture. Everything here can be checked in the app itself.
- Static apnea timer with one tap per contraction. The time of your first contraction is recorded, along with personal records and a session history.
- Tables adapted to your record. The CO2 table follows the rules in the calculator above, over 8 rounds. The O2 table keeps a fixed 2:00 recovery while holds increase. Holds, recovery and number of rounds are all editable.
- Sound and haptic cues during sessions, so you can keep your eyes closed.
- Guided breathing: diaphragmatic breathing (4 s in, 8 s out), box breathing (4-4-4-4), 4-7-8 and custom patterns, plus a breathe-up before holds.
- 4-week plans with 3 to 6 sessions a week and record attempts at the end of weeks 2 and 4.
- Stats and charts by day, week and month for holds, tables and contractions, with streaks, daily reminders and a home-screen widget.
- Privacy: it works without an account. Sign-in with Apple or Google is optional and only used for cloud sync.
- Price model: free to download; some customization is part of Premium.
What it does not do matters just as much. It is an iPhone-only app, with no Android version and no wearable companion app. It uses no sensors, so it does not measure heart rate or blood oxygen saturation. It is built for dry static training, not for logging dives in water. If any of those is essential to you, another category of tool will serve you better.
The best app is the one that gets you lying down, eyes closed, three times a week, with a table that matches where you actually are.
How to decide in one week
Feature lists only go so far. The real test is a week of normal training. Here is a simple protocol to judge any app, including ours.
- Day 1: set your baselineMeasure your personal best safely, lying down, after a few minutes of calm breathing. Note whether the app makes this easy and stores it. The guide on measuring your personal best covers the method.
- Day 2: run a CO2 tableCheck that the table is built from your record, that cues are clear with eyes closed, and that you can mark contractions without breaking concentration.
- Day 4: try the breathing toolsUse a slow pattern before a short session. Notice whether the timings are adjustable and the guidance calm.
- Day 6: run a second table and read the historyCan you compare both sessions, including first-contraction times? If not, the app will not show you progress later.
- Day 7: check the boring partsWhat is free, what is paid, whether an account is required, and whether you can trust it with months of data.
If you are just starting out, pairing the app you choose with a structured block helps more than any feature. The 4-week beginner program gives you one, day by day.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an app to train static apnea?
No. A stopwatch, a pencil and a printed table are enough to start. An app becomes useful when it removes friction: building tables from your record, timing every round with cues so you can close your eyes, and keeping a history you can actually learn from.
Is a free app good enough?
Often, yes. What matters is whether the free version lets you time holds, run a table built from your record and keep your history. Check what sits behind a paywall before you invest weeks of data in an app.
Can an app replace a freediving course or a buddy?
No. An app can structure dry training on land. Anything you do in water requires a trained buddy watching you, and a certified course is the right way to learn in-water technique and rescue.
Does Anima Apnea work on Android or measure heart rate?
No. Anima Apnea is an iPhone app. It uses no sensors and does not measure heart rate or blood oxygen saturation. It times your holds and tables, records the contractions you tap, and tracks your progress.
Should I switch apps if mine already works?
Probably not. If your current app lets you train consistently and safely, consistency is worth more than any feature. Switch only if a missing criterion is genuinely holding back your training.
Tables built from your record, sound and haptic cues, one-tap contraction logging and 4-week plans. Free to download on iPhone, no account required.
Sources
- Lindholm P, Lundgren CEG. The physiology and pathophysiology of human breath-hold diving. Journal of Applied Physiology, 2009.
- Dujic Z et al. Involuntary breathing movements improve cerebral oxygenation during apnea struggle phase in elite divers. Journal of Applied Physiology, 2009.
- Zaccaro A et al. How breath-control can change your life: a systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2018.
- Craig AB Jr. Causes of loss of consciousness during underwater swimming. Journal of Applied Physiology, 1961.