EMDR Tappers 12+

I purchased this due to using a handheld EMDR device in my psychologist’s office, but needed some self administration of therapy. I noticed some reviews stated their watch was going to sleep before the session ended. I have no problems using my Apple Watch: I set the wake to 70 seconds, open this EMDR app on the watch, and then activate the session on my iPhone. Right as it starts, I put my thumb on my watch screen and slightly scroll up or down once. Then, during the session I just leave my thumb resting on the watch screen. No problems. Already tested to 87 seconds (haven’t tried longer yet due to being late at night and bedtime approaching). Good luck everyone!

Thank you for your feedback. We hope you have continued to enjoy the app and your Apple Watch continues to stay awake throughout the sessions.

I downloaded EMDR Tappers to try with my phone and Apple Watch for the respective right/left stimulation. Unfortunately, the Apple Watch part of the app suffers from stay-awake problems due to limitations of Apple’s public API. And the phone part of the app needs to improve how it handles unexpected disconnection from Apple Watch.

I’m upgrading my review to 4 stars because the developer’s kind response that they were working on improvements to the phone app. Thank you and keep up the great work!

—Original review follows—
When the Watch screen dims after a few seconds, the tapper stops working on the Watch but the phone keeps going. Users also must manually install the EMDR Tappers Watch app via the Apple Watch settings app, and then they must manually launch the Watch app before the iPhone app will talk to it. Finally, the Watch must be kept awake for the two apps/devices to work together.

The phone app does not wait for the Watch app nor does it instruct the user to install or launch the watch app. I do not plan to upgrade to Premium until the Watch support is improved.

Thank you for building this app, and good luck with any improvements you have planned.

Thanks for the feedback. You are right that the Watch app works best in Apple Watch 5+ because you can set the screen to never go to sleep. Unfortunately, that is the only way to solve the problem given Apple's current rules around actions while the watch screen is asleep.

Regarding the separate Watch app download, whether the corresponding Watch app downloads with the iPhone app is particular to the individual's setting--but you are right. We need more to display information and to show the status of the connection between the watch and the app. More upgrades will be coming with those changes in the future.

We will continue to try to find ways to improve the app to make the instructions clearer.

My tappers just broke during a doctor appointment, and I was frantic afterward. I stumbled on this and I am amazed it actually works. (no offense to the developers) I hold my watch in one hand and hold the phone in the other. I’m not sure if it will work with my doctor in an actual session, but I am so grateful for a possibility, as I seek out other tapper replacements. They actually feel like regular tappers.

Although I prefer the actual tappers to hold with the machine, I am so grateful this is here and that I will be able to try it out. Thank you so much for the person who decided to create this app. I was suspect, because the download will not accept facial confirmation, so I didn’t know if it was a scam, but apparently not. Thank you so much.

I am glad to hear that you found a solution that works for you in the form of an app for EMDR tappers. EMDR therapy can be a powerful tool for processing difficult experiences and emotions, and having access to reliable tappers is an important aspect of the therapy.