Begin with available energy
The right-sized choice is the one that fits now, including stillness, silence, stopping, or choosing nothing further.
THE PRODUCT
A small activity can be complete before it becomes demanding.
Lanternfield is an offline field of low-effort activity choices organized around available energy, sensory comfort, optional company, and an easy stopping point. It offers quiet making, gentle sound, shared stillness, small encounters with the outside, sensory adjustments, short visitor windows, and soft ways to close.
The app avoids diaries, symptom scales, streak pressure, prescribed durations, and automatic timers. A user chooses a broad bandwidth, opens one image-led activity, advances a glow step manually, and may save a favorite cue. Nothing asks the user to explain why an activity is needed or to translate comfort into a health record.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
What holds the experience together.
Each choice is intentionally small, concrete, and complete enough to use without handing personal information to the software.
Make exits visible
Short windows, small setups, and unfinished work that may remain unfinished protect the activity from becoming another obligation.
Offer sensory choice
Light, sound, texture, temperature, space, scent, and company are framed as adjustable options rather than universal comforts.
Keep pace manual
The glow step moves only when the user advances it. There is no countdown, alert, streak, failure state, or demand to complete.
ONE COMPLETE SESSION
Lantern Porch → Energy Constellation → Activity Glow → Gentle Timer → Comfort Shelf
Five recognizable places give the session a beginning, a focused middle, and a deliberate close. Progress can stop after any useful step.
Arrive gently
See a calm overview, adjust text or motion, and enter without creating a profile or reporting a mood.
Choose bandwidth
Select a broad low-demand starting level that changes suggestions locally without becoming a symptom score.
Open one option
Use a dedicated image and compact setup, comfort, and stopping cues for a single activity.
Move at your pace
Advance the glow manually when useful; pause, leave, or stop without an alarm or completion penalty.
Keep only a cue
Favorite an activity for later, notice what felt easy, or erase all saved local choices from the utility panel.
BUNDLED PATH
8 parts.
48 dedicated card images.
The library moves from first orientation to a clean ending. Every card is available immediately after installation.
- 01Quiet Entry6 bundled cards
Notice available energy, choose stillness or movement, reduce setup, lower sensory load, and keep an easy exit.
From “Notice available energy” to “Set a short window”. - 02Restful Making6 bundled cards
Use paper, color, smooth objects, tiny scenes, or simple patterns with a stopping point before fatigue.
From “Fold one paper shape” to “Stop before fatigue”. - 03Gentle Sound6 bundled cards
Listen to one layer, choose silence, try a slow rhythm, lower volume early, and let the activity end quietly.
From “Listen for one layer” to “End in quiet”. - 04Shared Quiet6 bundled cards
Share space without requiring conversation, synchronized participation, explanation, or a ceremonial departure.
From “Sit side by side” to “Leave without ceremony”. - 05Small Outside6 bundled cards
Notice light, a plant form, a cloud edge, shade, a doorway, or an outdoor view without demanding an outing.
From “Watch moving light” to “Bring the view indoors”. - 06Sensory Ease6 bundled cards
Adjust one texture, light level, visual field, scent choice, temperature, or irritating detail at a time.
From “Choose one texture” to “Remove one irritating detail”. - 07Visitor Window6 bundled cards
Offer two simple activities, agree on a short window, follow the host’s pace, and make rest and exit visible.
From “Offer two activity choices” to “Close gently”. - 08Soft Landing6 bundled cards
Put away slowly, save one useful cue, leave unfinished work alone, and return to a familiar calm anchor.
From “Put materials away slowly” to “Return to a calm anchor”.
VISUAL FIELD GUIDE
One visual world for every path.
These 8 module images introduce the different parts of the system; every content card then carries its own purpose-built portrait image inside the app.
INSIDE A CARD
Each glow leaves room for a different answer.
Cards keep reading short while preserving the reasoning around a choice. Their content is bundled, repeatable, and available without a feed or remote update.
Set up lightly
A card keeps materials and preparation small so choosing the activity does not create a larger task.
Adjust comfort
Optional cues invite changes to sound, light, texture, company, location, or duration without treating preference as data.
Stop softly
Every practice includes a way to pause, leave unfinished, put away, or return to a simple anchor.
LOCAL DATA AND CONTROL
Useful continuity without a personal profile.
Lanternfield retains the selected bandwidth, favorite activity-card identifiers, manual glow-step position, text size, and Reduce Motion preference. It does not store mood entries, symptoms, diagnoses, medication information, journals, audio, photographs, contacts, or precise location.
Remote records
No account, server profile, cloud workspace, analytics stream, or publisher-visible activity history.
Runtime permissions
No Internet, camera, microphone, contact, location, notification, storage, calendar, or advertising permission.
Direct erase control
A confirmed in-app action clears supported progress and preferences. Android clear-storage and uninstall controls work too.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Scope, saving, and starting over.
These answers describe the behavior of the installed version 1.0.0 release.
Is Lanternfield a wellness tracker?
No. It does not score mood, monitor symptoms, count streaks, prescribe routines, or build a health profile. It is a private offline selector for low-effort activity prompts.
Does the glow step run automatically?
No. The user advances it manually. There is no background timer, notification, alarm, failure state, or expectation that every step be completed.
Can silence or stopping be the choice?
Yes. Cards repeatedly preserve silence, stillness, short duration, easy exit, and unfinished work. Leaving an activity is not treated as a failed session.
Can another person use the activity too?
Some cards support optional parallel or shared quiet, but the software does not create groups, invite contacts, send messages, or coordinate visits.
What does the Comfort Shelf save?
It saves only favorite card identifiers and the limited local preferences described in the privacy policy—not notes about the reason, person, or context.
How can I remove everything saved?
Use Erase local data in the utility panel, clear the app’s storage in Android settings, or uninstall the app.
PRIVACY IN FULL
See every data boundary.
The full policy explains scope, local storage, permissions, network behavior, third parties, retention, erasure, backup, security, children and families, professional limits, changes, and publisher information in 18 detailed sections.