Ask Aurelius
Grounded guide to Meditations
Only for iPhone
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
iPhone
Ask Aurelius is a calm, citation-grounded reflection companion sourced from Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. Every answer points to the specific passage that shaped it — never an inference, never invention.
Choose a question. Type what's troubling you, or pick a starting prompt: anger, fear, mortality, judgment, duty, anxiety, discipline. Aurelius answers in calm, direct prose grounded in passages from the Meditations (George Long, 1862, public domain). Each citation links to the source, so you can read the full passage in its original context.
THE PRACTICE
• Discourse — open chat with Aurelius. Cite at most 3 passages per answer.
• Today — a single passage selected for daily reflection.
• Library — browse the full Meditations by book or by theme.
• Journal — record reflections, end-to-end encrypted. The server only sees ciphertext.
• Saved Passages — bookmark the passages that speak to you.
WHAT IT WON'T DO
• Won't invent quotes or attributions
• Won't speak on medical, legal, financial, or crisis decisions
• Won't pretend to be the historical Marcus Aurelius — it's an AI inspired by him
FREE
• 5 reflections per day
• Daily passage, library, journal, and saved passages
MARCUS PREMIUM
• Up to 100 reflections a day, 1,000 a month
• Conversation export to Markdown
• Early access to upcoming features — voice mode, search, multiple translations
• $4.99/month or $39.99/year (33% saving)
PRIVACY
• Sign in with Apple — no email or password
• Journal entries are end-to-end encrypted on your device with a key in your iCloud Keychain. Your reflections stay private.
• No third-party trackers, no advertising
Aurelius died in 180 CE. The Meditations is his private notebook — not advice for others, but lessons to himself, written in the field. This app is a way to read it slowly, in conversation with the question you carry today.
Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
A quieter way to read, and a way to carry the words with you.
• Full-screen reader — tap the expand icon on today's passage to read it (and your reflection) without distraction. An Aa control lets you step the text size up to suit your eyes, and remembers your choice.
• Share cards — share today's passage as beautifully set images. Save them to Photos or post them together as a carousel; each card carries the passage, your reflection, and its place in Meditations.
• Fixed an issue where the share sheet didn't offer Save Image for passage cards.
• Small refinements throughout.
A shorter alternative if you prefer minimal notes:
• New full-screen reader for the daily passage, with adjustable text size
• Share today's passage as image cards — save to Photos or post as a carousel
• Fixed the share sheet not offering Save Image
• Small refinements throughout
The developer, MATTHEW EARL ALVARO, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Purchases
- Contact Info
- User Content
- Identifiers
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- MATTHEW EARL ALVARO
- Size
- 12.3 MB
- Category
- Lifestyle
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 18.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 15.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 2.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
9+
- 9+
- Contains
Health or Wellness Topics
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Marcus Premium · Monthly $4.99
- Marcus Premium · Annual $39.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Matthew Alvaro