You don't need to clear an hour or build a meditation practice to wind down well. You need five minutes, a phone, and one small ritual you don't have to think about. This checklist walks through setting up Reset and running it for the first time, from download to the moment you put the phone down and close your eyes.
What you'll have when you're done
By the end of this checklist, you'll have Reset installed, your first ritual completed, and the Dynamic Island timer and streak tracking turned on. The whole setup, including your first five-minute ritual, takes about ten minutes total. After tonight, it's just five.
Gather what you need before night one
- An iPhone with enough free space for a small app (Reset's library is light, no video content)
- Five uninterrupted minutes, ideally right before you'd normally reach for your phone to scroll
- Headphones or a speaker nearby, optional, for soundscapes and guided breathwork
- A spot to sit or lie down where you're not expecting to get up again
- Zero expectation that tonight has to be perfect
Download and open Reset for the first time
Step 1: Install the app and skip the tour if you want
Download Reset from the App Store and open it. You'll see tonight's ritual already chosen for you on the home screen, there's no setup quiz, no onboarding you have to sit through. If you want to peek at the library first, you can, but you don't have to.
Step 2: Let Reset pick tonight's ritual
Don't overthink which kind to start with. Reset rotates through breathwork, gratitude, soundscapes, journaling, and gentle stretches, and tonight's pick is already sitting on the home screen when you open the app. Tap it. That's the whole decision.
Pick tonight's ritual without overthinking it
Step 3: Try the breathing orb for one full cycle
If tonight's ritual is breathwork, you'll see a soft orb that expands and contracts. Follow it, in on the expand, out on the contract, for one full cycle before deciding whether to keep going. The orb paces the breath for you, so there's nothing to count or remember. If you want the mechanics behind why slow, paced breathing works at night, this guide to the 4-7-8 technique covers it.
Step 4: Swap to a different kind if tonight's pick doesn't fit
Not every night calls for breathwork. If you'd rather journal three lines of gratitude or just listen to a soundscape, tap into the library and pick something else. It's a small library on purpose, every option is short enough to finish before you'd normally give up and check your phone instead.
Turn on the Dynamic Island timer
Step 5: Start a ritual and glance at the Dynamic Island
Once you tap into a ritual, a small timer follows you in the Dynamic Island. This matters more than it sounds: it means you can lock your phone, put it face-down, and still see how much time is left without reopening the app. You're not staring at a screen to wind down from screens.
Step 6: Send a Reset Card instead of a status update
After a ritual, Reset offers a Reset Card, a quiet way to mark the night without turning it into a streak post or a public check-in. Save it, share it, or ignore it. It exists for the nights you want a small record, not an audience.
Set a time you'll actually keep
Step 7: Pick a trigger, not just a time
Instead of aiming for a specific clock time, which slips on busy nights, tie the ritual to something that happens every night anyway: brushing your teeth, plugging in your phone, turning off the last light. Open Reset right after that trigger, every time, for the first week.
Let the streak protect you instead of guilting you
Step 8: Check how the streak counts your nights
Reset counts the good nights and doesn't punish the misses, there's no broken-streak notification waiting to shame you on a rough week. Open the streak view once after your first ritual just to see how it's tracked, then stop checking it daily. It's there to notice progress, not demand it.
Tired is not a badge. A missed night isn't a failure, it's just a night you didn't need the ritual as much.
Common questions
What if I fall asleep during the ritual?
That's a fine outcome. Soundscapes and some breathwork sessions are short enough that falling asleep mid-way just means the ritual did its job early. Nothing needs to be marked complete for the night to count.
Do I have to use the same ritual kind every night?
No. Reset rotates what it suggests, and you're free to switch to anything in the library at any time. Variety is built in rather than something you have to manage yourself.
What happens if I miss several nights in a row?
Nothing punitive. The streak only counts good nights, it doesn't reset to zero or flag the gap. Open the app whenever you're ready and pick up where tonight's ritual already waits for you.
Can I use Reset alongside a meditation app I already pay for?
Yes, they solve different problems. Reset is built for the five minutes before sleep, not as a replacement for a longer meditation practice if you already have one you like.
Where should I go after this first week?
Once the first ritual feels automatic, this night-by-night checklist walks through building the habit across a full week, and the broader checklist category has more structured routines if you like working from a list.
If you're still deciding whether a five-minute app is worth adding to your phone at all, this guide to what makes a wind-down app actually work lays out what to look for before you commit to one.
This article was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor before publishing.