Steady
Help

How to do your first session

Updated 2026-10-06

Open Steady and go through four short steps: the notice, how to do it, your cue choice and an optional reminder. Tap Start first session, then Start, and follow the cues. Your first session is day 1 of Steady 28. When the last round ends, the session is added to your streak and history.

Before you start

  • There's no account to create. Steady works as soon as it's installed.
  • Days 1 to 7 of Steady 28, Beginner, Quick squeezes and Relax set are free. Days 8 to 28 of Steady 28, Intermediate, Advanced and Long holds are part of Steady Pro.

The first time you open Steady

Each step shows Step 1 of 4 to Step 4 of 4 at the top. From step 2, the back arrow at the top takes you one step back.

  1. Welcome: two short points about Steady and a notice about what it is. Read the notice, then tap I understand, continue.
  2. How to do it: three plain steps for each squeeze and two things not to do. Tap Try 3 practice squeezes to try it once (it isn't added to your history), or Skip for now. See How to do it: the squeeze, step by step.
  3. Session cues: choose how Steady tells you when each step starts. Sound cues plays short, quiet tones. Vibration cues gives a different buzz for each step. Both are on to begin with. With both off, you follow the timer on the screen. Tap Continue.
  4. Daily reminder: optional. Turn on Remind me every day and tap Time to pick when, or leave it off. Then tap Start first session.

Day 1 of Steady 28 opens, ready to start. Nothing begins until you tap Start.

You see these steps only once. You can change the cues and reminders later in Settings, and open the steps again with Settings → How to do it. The notice stays available too: tap Settings at the top of the home screen and scroll to About.

The notice says: "Steady is a personal exercise trainer and diary. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and is not a substitute for consulting a qualified healthcare professional. If you have symptoms or health concerns, please speak with your doctor."

Do a session

  1. On the home screen, the STEADY 28 card shows today's day, for example Day 1 of 28, with its timings and length. Tap Start day 1 (or the day it shows). To do another session instead, tap it under Other sessions. See How does Steady 28 work?
  2. The session screen opens with the session's name at the top, for example Steady 28 · Day 1. Tap Start.
  3. A row of dots shows the rounds: filled for rounds done, a ringed dot for the current round, and outlines for the rounds to come. A soft shape in the middle grows while you squeeze, stays full while you hold and settles while you relax. The large word on it shows the phase, Squeeze, Hold or Relax, and the number under it counts down the seconds left in that phase.
  4. Follow the cues. Each phase starts with its own vibration: one firm buzz for Squeeze, a gentle double buzz for Hold and one long, soft buzz for Relax. If sound cues are on, a short tone plays too. You can follow along without looking at the screen.
  5. To take a break, tap Pause. The screen shows Paused. Tap Resume to carry on, or End session to stop.
  6. When the last round ends, you see Session complete and the session's length, for example Session complete · 1 min, with "Added to your history." The session is already recorded. Tap Finish to go back to the home screen.

To keep today's session one tap away, add the free Steady widget to your home screen. See How to add the Steady widget to your home screen.

To hear each phase word spoken as well, tap Voice off at the top of the session screen so it says Voice on, or turn on Voice cues in Settings. It's off to begin with and uses only a voice stored on your phone. See What's in Settings.

The cues keep time if your screen turns off during a session. To follow a session by vibration only, with the screen dark, see How to use pocket mode.

The plans

Besides Steady 28, the home screen lists these sessions under Other sessions, with their rounds and length.

Plan Each round Rounds Length Access
Beginner Squeeze 3 s, Hold 3 s, Relax 5 s 8 about 1 min 28 s free
Intermediate Squeeze 3 s, Hold 6 s, Relax 6 s 10 about 2 min 30 s Steady Pro
Advanced Squeeze 4 s, Hold 10 s, Relax 8 s 12 about 4 min 24 s Steady Pro
Quick squeezes Squeeze 1 s, Relax 2 s 15 45 s free
Long holds Squeeze 3 s, Hold 12 s, Relax 15 s 7 about 3 min 30 s Steady Pro
Relax set Breathe in 4 s, Let go 6 s 10 about 1 min 40 s free

Under the plans, Your routines holds sessions with your own squeeze, hold and relax times and rounds, part of Steady Pro. See How to make your own routine.

Relax set has no squeeze. Its cues are a light triple buzz for Breathe in and one long, soft buzz for Let go.

Sessions and Steady 28 days marked with a lock and Pro open after your first session: before it, tapping one shows "Try a session first". After it, tapping one opens the Steady Pro screen. Tap Not now to go back. See How to subscribe, cancel or restore Steady Pro.

"Try the next level?"

After you've completed 10 sessions of Beginner, the home screen shows a Try the next level? card that suggests Intermediate. After 10 Intermediate sessions, it suggests Advanced. The card counts sessions only. It doesn't look at how a session went.

  • Tap Try and the plan's name, for example Try Intermediate, to start that plan. A Pro plan opens the Steady Pro screen if you don't have Pro.
  • Tap Not now to hide the card for that plan. It doesn't come back.
  • The card doesn't appear once you've done a session of the next plan.

Sound and vibration

Both switches are in Settings, under Training. See What's in Settings.

  • Sound cues turns the tones on or off. The tones play at your phone's media volume.
  • Vibration cues turns the vibration on or off.
  • Pocket mode plays vibration only. While it's on, the other two switches are greyed out.

Accessibility

  • TalkBack: during a session, TalkBack reads each new phase, for example "Squeeze" or "Hold", as it starts. It doesn't read the countdown every second. Touch the number to hear how many seconds are left. The round dots read as one line, for example "Round 2 of 8". Buttons and icons have spoken labels, a locked plan reads as "Pro plan, locked", and the Steady 28 days read as, for example, "Day 3, done", "Day 4, next" or "Day 8, Pro, locked".
  • Remove animations: if you turn on Remove animations in your phone's accessibility settings, the session shape doesn't move. It shows one size while you squeeze or hold and a smaller one while you relax.
  • Large text: Steady follows your phone's font size. At large sizes, screens scroll, and buttons that don't fit side by side move to the next line.
  • Dark theme: Steady follows your phone's light or dark setting. To choose one yourself, open Settings and pick Light or Dark under Appearance.
  • Not by color alone: a lock icon and the word Pro mark Pro plans and days, a check mark marks the days done in Steady 28 and the days with a session in History, and the round dots differ in shape (filled, ringed, outline), not only in color.

Troubleshooting

My session didn't count

A session counts when its last round ends and you see Session complete. A session that stops before the end isn't recorded.

How do I leave a session early?

While a session runs, there's no back arrow at the top, so a stray tap can't end it. Tap Pause, then End session. You can also press your phone's Back button or use the back gesture at any time. Either way, you go back to the home screen and nothing is recorded. If a phone or internet call comes in, the session also ends: you see Session ended. Tap Back to home.

I don't feel the vibration

Check that Vibration cues is on in Settings, and that vibration is turned on in your phone's sound and vibration settings. Some devices can't vibrate at all. On those, follow the screen and the tones.

Voice cues says "No offline voice on this phone"

Steady uses only a text-to-speech voice that's stored on your phone and needs no internet connection. Your phone doesn't have one for English, so voice cues stay off. You can add one in your phone's text-to-speech settings (menu names vary between phones), then turn Voice cues on again. Sound and vibration cues work either way.

I can't hear the tones

Check that Sound cues is on in Settings and that Pocket mode is off. Then turn up your phone's media volume. The tones use the media volume, not the ringer volume.

Related

← All help pages

Get Steady on Google Play