Checked items get archived
When you leave a mode, what you checked off moves to its archive. Everything else stays where you left it.
BardoA list for each role
Leave work
at work.
Bardo gives each role in your life its own list, like Work, Family, or Partner. Switching between them takes one slow breath, and whatever you left behind is still there when you come back.
Coming soonHow it works
Mostly used around 5:30 on weekdays.
Work follows you
into the kitchen.
When your office is down the hall, there’s no commute to switch you off. You close the laptop and the email you still owe someone comes to dinner with you. Bardo gives it somewhere to wait. Each mode has its own list, and you move between them on purpose.
Switching modes
Up to ten modes
Work, Family, Partner, Studio; whatever roles you actually have. Each one gets a color, a one-line intention, and its own list of what’s on your mind.
Look before you switch
The switcher shows the next mode’s list, read-only, so you know what you’re walking into before you commit.
A breath in between
Switching starts one slow breath, about ten seconds. You can choose a full round of 4-7-8 breathing in Settings, skip it on the spot, or turn it off.
A few more things
The Thought Inbox
For the thought that shows up before you know where it belongs. Swipe it into a mode later.
Siri and the Lock Screen
Say “Add a thought to Bardo,” and it goes straight to the Inbox. The Lock Screen widget and the Control Center button (iOS 18) open the Inbox, ready to type.
Two quiet reminders
If you want them, an evening nudge to empty your head into the Inbox and a morning one to sort it.
One breath
on the way.
When you switch, Bardo shows the mode you’re leaving and the one you’re headed to, then waits about ten seconds while you breathe in and out. Skip is right there if you’re in a hurry. I rarely tap it.
Kevin Stauss
Dad, videographer, app maker
I work from home, so for a long time the only thing between my work and my kids was a hallway. I’d sit down to dinner still thinking about an email I hadn’t answered. Bardo started as a place to put work down where I trusted it would still be in the morning. The name is a Tibetan word for the space between one state and the next.
More about meQuestions
Bardo privacy policyWhat’s a mode?
A role you switch into during the day, like Work, Family, or Partner. Each has its own color, intention, and list. Bardo suggests three to start, and you can have up to ten.
Do I have to do the breathing?
No. You can skip it each time, or turn the pause off in Settings.
Does it sync?
Yes. Your modes sync between your iPhone and iPad through your private iCloud account. I can’t see any of it.
Is there a subscription?
No. Bardo is a one-time purchase, with no ads and no in-app purchases.