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Last updated: 07/11/2026
Contents
- What CalmTide does
- HealthKit permissions
- The HPA Balance Score
- Today, Week & Trend
- Connecting SolGlow
- Breathwork, resonance & notifications
- New in 1.4: daily rhythm
- CalmTide Pro
- Privacy and data
- Troubleshooting
- Medical disclaimer
- Contact
What CalmTide does
CalmTide estimates your cortisol load and HPA-axis balance by reading the metrics your Apple Watch and iPhone already collect in Apple Health, and weighing them against published exercise-and-recovery research. It produces:
- A weekly HPA Balance Score (0–100),
- A daily cortisol status — low, moderate, elevated, or high — with one smart recommendation,
- An 8-week baseline-cortisol trend, the signal most apps never surface.
CalmTide is an estimation tool, not a medical device. See the medical disclaimer.
HealthKit permissions
CalmTide asks for permissions in two stages to reduce friction. It works with whatever you grant — but the more it can read, the more accurate the estimate.
| Stage | Data & why |
|---|---|
| On first launch | Workouts, heart rate, HRV (SDNN), resting heart rate, sleep analysis, mindful sessions, active energy, exercise time — the core inputs to your score. |
| Later, in context | Respiratory rate, blood oxygen, VO₂ max, walking heart rate, time in daylight, environmental audio, body mass — requested only when you open a feature that uses them. |
You can review or change everything in Apple Health → profile picture → Apps and Services → CalmTide, or in CalmTide under the gear icon → Health Data Permissions.
The HPA Balance Score
The weekly score blends five weighted components: exercise quality and dose (with an inverted-U penalty for overtraining), HRV, sleep (deep sleep weighted most), mindfulness and breathwork, and morning sun. When SolGlow is connected, your Cortisol Awakening Response feeds the sun component and carries more weight. The score needs about a week of data to settle.
Today, Week & Trend
Today shows your score ring with a cortisol-vs-baseline read, a personalised recommendation, a five-second daily check-in, and a protocol checklist topped by a “days on track” consistency strip; recovery tiles lead with how far each signal sits from your own baseline. Week opens with an HPA-balance hero and reads MET-minutes and zone distribution against both the 530/week target and your own 8-week norm, with a week-over-week delta and a cortisol-effect badge on each workout. Trend plots your 8-week estimated baseline cortisol against an optimal trajectory with annotated spikes and milestones, and Insights charts now carry a personal-average reference line.
Connecting SolGlow
Install both SolGlow and CalmTide on the same iPhone, signed in to the same Apple ID. They share a secure on-device container automatically — open SolGlow once so it can publish its sun and CAR data, then open CalmTide → gear icon → SolGlow. It should read Connected within a day.
This happens entirely on your device; nothing is sent over the internet. CalmTide considers SolGlow connected only if SolGlow has written data within the last 48 hours, so open SolGlow regularly to keep it fresh.
Breathwork, resonance & notifications
CalmTide includes two guided sessions, both free, reachable from the Today tab:
- Cyclic-sighing — the original short breathwork exercise; completed sessions count toward your mindfulness component.
- Resonance breathing (new in 1.2) — an expanding-orb pacer that guides slow, even breathing at about six breaths a minute (the “resonance” rhythm). Tap to start a five-minute session, nudge the pace to whatever feels comfortable (4.5–6.5 breaths/min; the default is 5.5), and open Sources to read the research. It’s a relaxation practice — CalmTide sets the pace as a comfortable guide and does not measure your heart-rate variability or “resonance frequency,” and it makes no medical claims.
Since 1.4, completing either session saves it to Apple Health as Mindful Minutes (with your one-time permission), so your practice shows in Health and counts toward your mindfulness component.
Optional notifications include a morning check-in that arrives around your usual wake time (new in 1.4 — previously a fixed 8am), a heads-up the evening before a predicted high-cortisol day, a wind-down cue after a late hard session, a post-hard-workout recovery nudge, and a Sunday weekly summary. Toggle these under the gear icon → Notification Settings.
New in 1.4 — daily rhythm
Morning light coaching. CalmTide 1.4 helps you anchor your cortisol awakening rhythm by catching outdoor light soon after you wake. Insights gains a two-week “circadian anchor” score showing how consistently you're hitting the window, and the “morning light → next-day HRV” insight is clearer about what your own data shows.
Life events on your trend. Pin illness, travel, or a big deadline onto your 8-week baseline trend so a shift makes sense instead of feeling random. Add events from the Trend tab; they appear as annotations on the chart.
Smarter reminders. The morning check-in now arrives around your usual wake time instead of a fixed hour, a heads-up lands the evening before a predicted high-cortisol day, and a wind-down cue follows a late hard session. All optional — toggle each under the gear icon → Notification Settings.
One-tap check-in widget. Log how you feel straight from your Home Screen (iOS 17+).
Breathwork now counts. Completing an in-app breathwork or resonance session saves it to Apple Health as Mindful Minutes — you'll see a one-time permission prompt the first time. This is the only thing CalmTide writes to Apple Health; everything else remains read-only. You can decline the permission and keep using breathwork normally.
CalmTide Pro
CalmTide is free. Pro unlocks the deeper Insights and extended history, personalized benchmarks, Home Screen & Lock Screen widgets, and the Apple Watch app, available as a monthly or annual subscription or a one-time lifetime unlock. Prices appear in the app from the App Store. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled and can be managed in iOS Settings → your name → Subscriptions; the lifetime unlock is a single purchase. Use Restore Purchases on the paywall if you've bought Pro before.
Privacy and data
Everything is computed on your device. CalmTide has no account, no analytics, and no server — your health data never leaves your phone. The only data shared is the small SolGlow exchange, which stays in a local container on the same device. Full detail is in the privacy policy.
Troubleshooting
My HPA score looks low or empty
The score needs about a week of data and relies on an Apple Watch for HRV and sleep. Confirm your Watch is worn overnight and during workouts, that CalmTide has Read access in Apple Health, and that a few workouts have been logged.
SolGlow won't connect
Open SolGlow to refresh its data (CalmTide needs it within the last 48 hours). Confirm both apps are on the same device and Apple ID. Multi-device sync isn't available yet.
HRV or sleep is missing
HRV and sleep stages require an Apple Watch on a recent watchOS, worn overnight. Without a Watch, CalmTide uses what it can but estimates will be coarser.
I want to reset everything
Deleting CalmTide from your Home Screen clears all of its local data, including cached snapshots and the SolGlow container contents written by CalmTide. Data in Apple Health is owned by Health and remains there.
How do I check the app version?
Open CalmTide → gear icon → scroll to About / Methodology. Version and build appear there.
Medical disclaimer
CalmTide provides wellness estimates based on published exercise-physiology research. It does not measure cortisol directly, is not a medical device, and should not be used to diagnose, treat, or make decisions about any medical condition. Talk to a qualified professional about stress, sleep, or health concerns.
Contact
Questions, bugs, or feedback? Email support@twisteddatastudios.com.