Frequently asked questions

How do I push a boulder?

Hold the stone — press and keep your finger on the circle beside a boulder for about a second. A ring fills, the haptics build, and the push lands. A quick tap deliberately doesn’t count: pushing is supposed to take a moment. To take a push back, tap the filled stone once.

What is a boulder, exactly?

Any piece of your work that always comes back: the dishes, the inbox, practice, watering the plants. Each boulder is due on the weekdays you choose — every day, weekdays only, or just Sundays. On days it isn’t due, it rests.

What happens when I finish everything?

That’s the summit — Sisyphus stands at the top, arms raised. At midnight the boulder rolls back to the foot of the mountain and the work returns. The app considers this good news, and after a while, so might you.

What is the “day rhythm”? Is it a streak?

It counts consecutive summit days — but gently. Days where nothing was due don’t break it, declared rest days don’t break it, and an unfinished today doesn’t break it either. It’s a drumbeat you rejoin, not a chain you snap.

How do rest days work?

Tap the moon button above the mountain to declare today a rest day: nothing is due, your rhythm holds, and Sisyphus sits down beside his rock. Tap the sun to return to the stone. Rest days can’t earn summits — rest is rest.

Where did the cairns beside the trail come from?

You built them. Every forty lifetime pushes raises one small stack of stones beside the path, up to twelve. The trail itself also wears deeper over your first two months. The mountain remembers the work.

Why does the app look different at night / in winter?

The sky follows your actual clock — dawn, day, dusk, stars — and the seasons follow the calendar: snow in winter, wildflowers in spring, amber leaves in autumn. There are no settings for this; the mountain simply keeps time with you.

How do the musings unlock?

One new musing per three lifetime pushes, sixteen in all — the myth, Camus, the Stoics, Nietzsche. Reading is earned the same way the mountain is climbed. Any unlocked musing shares as a postcard via the share icon.

What’s in the widgets?

Home-screen widgets (small and medium) show the live mountain and can push boulders directly with their buttons. Lock-screen widgets — a circular gauge, a rectangular one, and an inline line — carry the day’s count, and the small widget works in StandBy. Add them from the widget gallery; if one looks stale, opening the app refreshes it.

Does Siri work?

Yes: “Push the dishes in Sisyphus” — or any boulder by name. Boulders also appear as actions in the Shortcuts app.

What is the Agora? Are there subscriptions?

No subscriptions, no paywalls — every feature is free forever. The Agora (bag icon) sells three optional one-time cosmetics as thank-yous: a traveler’s petasos, a wine-dark cape, and a boulder of Parian marble, each rendered live in the scene. Bought one on another device? Tap Restore purchases in the Agora.

Does it sync between my iPhone and iPad?

Yes — automatically and privately through your own iCloud, if you’re signed in. No account to create. Give a fresh device a minute after first launch; iCloud sync is unhurried by design (Apple’s, not ours).

My evening reminder didn’t arrive.

Check that “Words from the mountain” is on (The Absurd → bottom), that the time is what you expect (you can change it there), and that notifications are allowed in Settings → Notifications → Sisyphus. Reminders are silenced on days you’ve already summited — that’s a feature.

How do I delete my data?

Delete any boulder and its whole history from its detail page. Deleting the app removes everything on the device; to clear your own iCloud copy too, use Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Account Storage. There is nothing on our side to delete — we never had it.

What does Sisyphus require?

iPhone or iPad on iOS 17 or later. No account, no internet connection needed — the mountain works fine offline.