Katun DE

Katun · A calm game for iPhone and Apple Watch

Your steps walk the herd up the mountain.

A katun is a shepherds' summer settlement high in the mountains. This one sits under the three peaks of Kom, a mountain massif in Montenegro. Your real steps walk the herd up the trail. Quiet minutes by the fire, at the spring and on the stone keep the katun going. And in the evening, Baba tells a tale.

See the app How a day goes

On the App Store this November

The katun under the three peaks of Kom in Montenegro: the hut with its red roof, the herd by the fold, the spring on the left, the lake up on the right.
The mountains are Kom in Montenegro, drawn by the game itself: paper by day, hearthlight at night.

The app

This is what Katun looks like.

Pictures from Katun 1.0, taken in winter, when the herd is still down in the village.

  • Home screen in winter: snowy slopes, the hut and the herd in the village, below them a basket of seven skeins, three suggestions of things to make and the six places as a bar.
    The village in winter: your lamb, the basket of skeins and three things to make.
  • A card with a lamb with a question mark, a name field and three suggested names.
    The first morning: the lamb needs a name.
  • Card of Brada the goat with hearts, a line about her and buttons to say hello, brush, feed, and for herbs.
    Time with Brada the goat: hold, brush, feed.
  • Inside the hut with the fire, Baba knitting, the lamb on the floor and a timer showing 0:54.
    By the fire in the hut: a calm timer, your lamb lying at your feet.
  • The card «Baba's Evening» with a short text by Baba about stones warmed in the fire at dusk, and the button «Goodnight, Baba».
    Baba's evening: a piece of her life, here «Warm stones».
  • The chest with the woven year blanket: green and red stripes with small patterns, still empty at the bottom.
    The year's blanket in the chest, woven row by row.

No pressure

Nothing here is ever lost.

Nothing dies, nothing spoils, nothing runs away. A missed day is just a day: the herd rests, and when you come back the fire burns twice as warm for a while. No streaks to break. No penalties.

The hut up close: the fold, the herd, the beehives and the guest hut.

How a day goes

Morning, day, evening, night.

Four times of day, and you come when you can.

  1. Morning

    Baba asks one small thing. The day needs nothing more.

  2. Day

    Your steps move the herd along. In between: quiet minutes by the fire, at the spring or on the stone.

  3. Evening

    You count the herd home at the gate. Then Baba tells a tale.

  4. Night

    The katun sits in the light of the hearth. There are no ads late at night.

How it works

Six places. All of them quiet.

Everything you do gives the katun care. Care grows the katun, level by level, and is never spent.

  • The walk

    Your steps from Apple Health walk the herd nine kilometres up the trail in May. Not one for walking? Your wheelchair distance or your calm minutes carry the herd instead.

  • The fire

    A quiet timer while the hut warms up. Here Baba tells you a piece of her life, and her tales.

  • The spring

    Breathing by the water: calm, for sleep (4-7-8) or in a box. A minute is enough.

  • The stone

    Sit, look, think, or don't. What you see from the stone is kept.

  • The chest

    Write down what's on your mind. Nobody reads it. The year's blanket is kept here too.

  • The gate

    One by one, and Lutalica always comes in last.

Baba's evening

A tale from the evening.

This is how one of the tales Baba tells by the fire reads: an excerpt from «The Moon in the Well», a bedtime tale. It comes with the free app, in Baba's voice.

Baba tells · «The Moon in the Well», the beginning

Shh. Look in the water trough — no, don't splash it. See the moon in there? Good. Then you're ready for this one.

One evening Nasreddin went to the well to fetch water, and when he looked down into it, there, at the bottom, was the moon. Round and white and very far down.

"Oh no," said Nasreddin. "The moon has fallen into the well."

He looked up at the sky, but a cloud was passing, so the sky was empty. That settled it.

"Well," he said, "somebody has to get it out, and it might as well be me. Imagine tomorrow night with no moon. The owls would bump into everything."

Sample: the first lines. Baba's voice is synthetic.

The herd

Seven animals, and a lamb of your own.

On your first morning a lamb is born, and you give her a name. She grows with the days, finds something new on the days you come, and next spring has a lamb of her own. The others are already here: greet them, brush them, feed them. Each has hearts, a nature of its own and, one day, a tale of its own.

  • Bijela wearing the lead bell

    Bijela

    The lead ewe. Where she goes, the herd goes.

  • Mila with a red bow and a herb garland

    Mila

    The gentle one, with the red bow. Often wishes for the spring.

  • Pospana lying down, sleepy

    Pospana

    The sleepy one. Sleeps in, and somehow you wake up rested.

  • Kuna with a brown patch

    Kuna

    The curious one, with the brown patch. Brings herbs from the slope.

  • Lutalica with burrs in her wool

    Lutalica

    The wanderer. Comes home last, with something caught in her wool.

  • Brada the goat, with a beard

    Brada

    The goat. Likes to eat a word out of your chest.

  • Bijelko the dog

    Bijelko

    The dog. Keeps watch, and counts along at the gate.

The year

Winter in the village. Up in May.

Katun follows the real seasons where you live, and it opens in winter: the herd is down in the village stable. Your quiet minutes spin the summer's wool, and with enough yarn you make something and choose who it's for. On 6 May, the Ascent, the herd goes up to the katun and a new blanket starts on the loom. On 8 November, the Descent, it walks down to the village again.

If you like, the katun has real weather: yours, or whatever is on Kom right now. Rain grows the grass, sun helps the herbs.

Apple Watch

A minute on your wrist.

On Apple Watch: your lamb's day, a minute at the spring on your wrist, and complications.

  • Apple Watch: Katun with the lamb in the light of the fire, the season and the basket of skeins by the stable door.
    Today: your lamb in the firelight, the season and the day's line.
  • Apple Watch: five symbols for the places, one thread today and Baba's ask for a minute at the spring.
    The day's threads and Baba's ask.
  • Apple Watch: a ring to breathe with, the words «Breathe out» and the button «Get up».
    A minute at the spring: the breathing ring.

Also: a home-screen widget, Siri and Shortcuts ("Sit by the fire", "How's my lamb?"), Game Center, and neighbours you invite over the ridge.

Languages

In your language.

English, Français, Italiano, Español, Deutsch, Srpski (latinica and ћирилица) and Hrvatski, chosen on the first launch and changeable any time. Baba reads aloud in English, French, Italian, Spanish and German. The translations were made with AI, and Baba's voice and the tellers' voices are synthetic.

Free and Pro

Free, and a little more with Pro.

Free

  • The whole katun: the six places, the herd and the year.
  • Baba's tales to read. She reads two aloud as well: the first chapter and one bedtime tale.
  • Your words in the chest are yours, as plain text.
  • Katun is free, with a small, non-personalised banner by day. Never late at night, never during your calm minutes or in the two minutes after.

Nothing that's free ever becomes Pro.

Katun Pro

  • No ads.
  • Baba reads every tale aloud.
  • The sound mixer: each sound of the katun on its own.
  • The year's blanket as a picture to print.
  • Everything still to come.

Prices in Switzerland

  • Pro for a year: CHF 30, renews every year, cancel any time.
  • Pro for life: CHF 49, once.
  • Only remove the ads: CHF 5, once.

Apple's Family Sharing is on for all three purchases.

Questions

Short answers.

My steps aren't counting. What can I do?

Katun reads your steps from Apple Health. Go through these in order:

  1. Is Apple Health connected? Tap "Walk" on the map. If it says "Connect Apple Health", tap it and allow steps in the iOS prompt.
  2. Are steps allowed? iOS asks only once and doesn't tell apps whether you declined reading; Katun then simply sees no steps. Switch on "Steps" under iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Health → Katun.
  3. Is your iPhone counting steps? Open the Health app: does it show steps for today? If not, switch on "Fitness Tracking" and, below it, "Health" under iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Motion & Fitness. Steps from your Apple Watch also arrive through Health.
  4. Open Katun: Katun reads new steps when you open the app, and every minute while it is open. On "The walk" page, "Check for new steps" fetches them right away.

Good to know: a day in Katun starts at the hour you choose (tap the season at the top, then "Your day starts at"; 6:00 to begin with), so a late evening walk still counts for the same day. When you first connect, yesterday's and today's steps count. If you have been away for a few days, Katun catches up on up to a month the next time you open it. Your steps stay on the iPhone.

The herd is still on the trail. When will it reach the katun?

The first ascent is a walk: about 9 kilometres of your own steps, roughly 12,000, bring the herd up to the katun. The home screen shows "On the trail" with the kilometres still to go and your steps today; "The walk" page shows them under "To the katun".

  • It can take a day or a few. There is no deadline, and nothing is lost.
  • Only steps take the herd up. If it isn't moving, see the question about steps above.
  • The fire and the chest are there on the way: calm minutes by the fire and entries in the chest already give the katun care.
  • Once the herd is up, your steps grow grass and find herbs.
New iPhone: how does my katun come along?

If "Keep the katun in iCloud" is on, on "The katun" page (it is from the start), your katun, Baba's tales so far and your chest are kept in your own iCloud. Below it you see when it was last saved.

  1. Sign in to iCloud on the new iPhone with the same Apple Account.
  2. Install Katun and open it. The katun comes back by itself; this can take a moment.
  3. If "The walk" page says "Connect Apple Health", tap it so the herd follows your steps again.
  • Steps and calm minutes don't come along, because they never go to iCloud. The new iPhone reads its own steps from Apple Health and doesn't count days twice that were already counted. So the distance walked so far starts again; your care and your level stay.
  • Two devices: the katun that is further along wins; tales and chest are combined. Nothing is lost.
  • A very full chest: iCloud holds about one megabyte here. If the chest no longer fits, it stays on the old iPhone, and "The katun" page tells you so.
  • Nothing arrives? Check that "Keep the katun in iCloud" is on on both iPhones, that both are signed in to iCloud with the same Apple Account, and that Katun may use iCloud under iOS Settings → [your name] → iCloud. Then close Katun and open it again.

We have no access to your iCloud data.

In a wheelchair, or not walking: how the herd still gets up

Not everyone walks. On "The walk" page, under "How you get around", choose what carries the herd up the trail:

  • Walking: your steps from Apple Health.
  • Wheelchair: your wheelchair distance from Apple Health. Apple Watch counts pushes and distance when wheelchair mode is on (Health app → your profile → Health Details → Wheelchair).
  • Calm minutes carry the herd: no Watch and no walking needed. Every calm minute by the fire, at the spring and on the stone takes the herd a little further: 30 minutes as far as 6,000 steps, up to an hour a day.

It's the same mountain: herbs, care, the ice from the snowfield and the herd's wishes count the same whichever way you go. The page is then called "Out and about" or "The trail". You can switch any time; your choice stays on this iPhone.

All questions and contact: Support

Private by principle

Your steps stay with you.

Steps and quiet minutes stay on your iPhone: never in iCloud, never on Game Center, never with the ads. No account. The katun itself can come along in your own iCloud, to a new iPhone or an iPad.

Privacy policy · Support and questions