Pause to Check

Stop walking before checking your phone.

Pause to Check is a gentle walking reminder with Mianmian, a little sheep who cares. Short reminders and expressive faces help you build a simple habit: stop in a safe place before looking at your phone. For yourself, or someone you care about.

GENTLE REMINDERS Detect sustained walking while using the app, with a reminder card and optional vibration or voice. Dismiss a reminder or quiet it for five minutes.

SIX EXPRESSIONS, ONE CARING COMPANION Choose gentle, concerned, serious, relieved, happy or sleepy Mianmian. Explore the sheep's little home and view locally stored pause records, without leaderboards.

MORE WAYS TO REMIND On iOS 26 or later, start a walking session to try reminders while switching to other apps. You can also schedule timed reminders, or set up a Shortcuts personal automation to run a brief motion check when selected apps open. Timed reminders do not detect walking. Shortcuts automations require your own setup.

PERMISSIONS • Motion & Fitness: required for walking detection, motion classification and step information. • Notifications: required for system reminders. Without it, in-app reminder cards remain available. • Health: walking sessions request workout and step permissions. A workout is written to Health only if you choose to save it at the end; unsaved sessions are discarded. • Location: during walks you start, helps estimate speed, exclude fast travel and support background location updates. Location stops when you pause or end a walk. Coordinates are not stored or uploaded. Background support may be interrupted without permission.

REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITS Requires an iPhone with iOS 18 or later. Walking sessions require iOS 26 or later. Cross-app walking sessions are experimental. Background detection and notification delivery depend on permissions, system scheduling, Focus, Silent mode and battery conditions; delivery is not guaranteed. In-app companion mode detects only while this app is in the foreground. Complete setup while safely stationary.

The app cannot tell whether you are looking at your screen or detect vehicles, crossings, steps or obstacles ahead. It may remind you while your phone is in your pocket. It does not provide accident detection, medical services or a guarantee of safety. Always pay attention to your surroundings.

PRIVACY AND PURCHASE Pay once for all current features. No account, ads, subscriptions or in-app purchases. Motion is processed on your device, and companion settings and records are stored locally. The app does not read other apps' content or use your camera or microphone. You can clear local companion records in Settings.