Mokugyo: Zen Meditation
Zen timer & Heart Sutra chant
Free · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
Mokugyo is a meditation app rooted in Zen practice and open to any style. It has two parts: a timer for silent sitting, and the Heart Sutra, chanted in time with a mokugyo, the wooden fish that keeps the beat in Zen temples.
SIT IN SILENCE
Tap Begin and a singing bowl opens your sitting. A short countdown helps you settle, then your chosen time passes in silence: 5 to 60 minutes on iPhone, 5 to 45 on Apple Watch. When it ends, the bowl sounds again and rings out fully before the screen returns. Your last length is remembered.
The bowl was measured from a recording of a real singing bowl and is created as it sounds, with no audio files. Each sounding is three strikes, as in practice. The screen stays quiet and dark: slow rings that breathe, the time left, and a thin progress ring. Tap anywhere to reveal End. A gentle vibration accompanies each strike, so your phone can lie face down.
CHANT THE HEART SUTRA
Tap the heart to chant the Hannya Shingyō (般若心経), the Heart Sutra as chanted in Japanese temples. It is written in romanised Japanese, word by word, as in a chant book, and each syllable lights up in turn as it is chanted, like karaoke.
A twelve-second countdown lights the opening line, "maka hannya haramita shingyo," for you to sing as the temple bell sounds and fades. Then the mokugyo keeps a steady beat, and quick syllables like shiki share one strike, as in temple chanting. After a moment's pause, the closing "han nya shin gyo" is sung without it. The temple bell closes the chant, and it stops by itself. Choose the pace and the text size that suit you in Preferences.
ON YOUR WRIST
The Apple Watch app does both. Choose your length with the Digital Crown, and keep going with your wrist down: taps on your wrist mark the opening and closing strikes and each new phrase of the sutra.
YOUR MINDFUL MINUTES
Mokugyo saves each sitting to the Health app as Mindful Minutes, with your permission. You can turn this off at any time, and the timer works just the same.
UNDISTURBED PRACTICE
A meditation that is interrupted is begun again, not resumed: a call, an alarm, or leaving the app ends the session. To silence notifications while you sit, add a Focus automation for Mokugyo in the Shortcuts app.
PRIVATE BY DESIGN
No accounts, no ads, no tracking. Nothing you do in Mokugyo leaves your device.
Light and dark appearance, Reduce Motion, and VoiceOver are all supported.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
- **A pause before the closing line.** After *bo ji sowa ka* the chant now pauses for a
second, and the closing *han nya shin gyo* is sung without the mokugyo.
- **The opening line follows the text size.** *Maka hannya haramita shingyo* is now drawn
at the size chosen in Preferences, on two rows when one is too narrow, instead of
shrunk to fit one row. On Apple Watch it is much larger than before.
- **Text and beat stay together.** The highlight now follows the sound as it is
actually played, so it no longer runs slightly ahead of the mokugyo on Apple Watch.
The developer, Sergi Barroso Terradas, 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 Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Sergi Barroso Terradas
- Size
- 1.4 MB
- Category
- Health & Fitness
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 27.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 27.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 27.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Watch
Requires watchOS 27.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Sergi Barroso