Aruki - The Japanese walking method, coached on your iPhone
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Aruki coaches the Japanese walking method — three minutes easy, three minutes brisk, repeated — entirely from your iPhone. A soft chime and a quiet voice cue every switch, and a Live Activity shows the phase on your lock screen, so your phone stays in your pocket. No Apple Watch, no account, no backend, no subscription — just a one-time Pro unlock. The full guided walk is free.
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Aruki
@curiouskitty Great question — this was the thing I obsessed over most. Aruki mixes with your audio instead of taking it over: your music or podcast keeps playing, and the app just ducks it for a second (drops the volume) for the chime and the spoken cue, then brings it right back. The Pro metronome rides on that same mix. The edge case that bit me: on the very first session, spinning up the audio engine could briefly grab the session and pause Spotify — I had to reorder setup so it mixes from the first frame. Now it stays out of your way. 🙏
Aruki
@thys_beesman Good question, Brandon. Honestly, Japanese walking is interval walking, it's just a specific, easy-to-remember version: a fixed 3 minutes brisk, 3 minutes easy, repeated. The benefit over "just do some intervals" is that the structure removes the guesswork. You're not deciding how hard or how long, you just follow the switches, and that consistency is what makes it stick (and what the original research was built on). Aruki's whole job is to make that structure effortless so you actually keep doing it.
The brisk/easy interval flow makes walking feel more intentional without turning it into a complicated workout. Voice cues are a nice touch too, since people can just walk instead of checking the screen.
Aruki
@farrukh_butt1 Thanks Farrukh, that's exactly the feeling I was after: intentional, but not a workout you have to manage. Eyes up, phone away. 🙏
Tried the three minute easy, three minute brisk thing on my lunch walk and the gentle chime switching phases felt way less intrusive than I expected, plus not needing my watch was a nice change.
Aruki
@kuzey487176 Love hearing this, Kuzey, and thank you for actually taking it out on your lunch walk. "Less intrusive than expected" is the best compliment the cue design could get. Enjoy the walks 🚶
the interval chime is softer than i expected and the lock screen phase indicator is genuinely useful. love that it works without making me sign up for anything.
Aruki
@devran1288046 Thanks Devran, that means a lot. The soft chime was deliberate: loud enough to catch, quiet enough not to jolt you out of the walk. And no sign-up was non-negotiable for me. It's your walk, the app shouldn't need an account to time it. Enjoy the walks 🙏
how does the chime work when your phone is on silent or do you have to keep sound on for the cues to actually trigger
Aruki
@aozkol89727 Good question, Abdullah. You don't need to keep the ringer on. The cues play through the media channel, not the notification or ringer one, so they come through even with the silent switch on, just like music or a podcast would. Volume follows your media volume, so you can keep the phone silenced and still hear every phase change.
How does the app know when to switch phases if you're not wearing a watch — is it just a timer, or does it use the motion sensors on the phone in your pocket to detect your pace?
Aruki
@sefa1224488 It's a timer, not motion based. Aruki coaches the protocol (3 min brisk / 3 min easy, five times) on time, so it works the same whether the phone's in your pocket, your hand, or on a treadmill. I went with time on purpose: pace detection from a pocket is noisy and eats battery, and the fixed interval structure is really the whole method. You just walk, and the app keeps time and tells you when to switch.
Does the chime volume adjust with my iPhone’s silent mode, or do I need to keep the ringer on to actually hear the phase switches?
Aruki
@kardelenme36957 No need to keep the ringer on. The cues play through the media channel, not the notification or ringer one, so they come through even with the silent switch on, just like music does. Volume follows your media volume, so you can keep the phone silenced and still hear every phase change.
Does the voice cue actually adjust if I’m doing the walk on a treadmill or somewhere with steady pace, or is it purely time-based regardless of speed?
Aruki
@ouzhan1998466 Purely time based. The cues fire on the interval clock (3 on, 3 off), not on your speed, so a treadmill walk behaves exactly like an outdoor one. You set the effort with your own pace, and Aruki just marks the switches. And if you want to tune the timing itself, custom intervals are in Pro.