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Description
Do you ever feel anxious, but can't figure out what you're actually afraid of?
DaoTrace is a self-reflection tool built on the "River World" philosophy from the book "Ren Xuan Tian Xuan Lun" (On Human and Heavenly Choice). Each day, seven guided layers help you reach the bottom of your mind's river — and pick up a stone.
Pick a Stone Every Day
7 layers, each deeper than the last:
Layer 1 · Fact: What happened today that stirred the water? Write only what occurred.
Layer 2 · First Reaction: What did you feel immediately? Not the "right" answer.
Layer 3 · Greed: What did you actually want? Be specific — no grand words.
Layer 4 · Fear: What are you actually afraid of? Write the ugliest, smallest, most direct fear.
Layer 5 · Self-justification: What excuse did you use to feel better?
Layer 6 · Main Stone: What stone did you pick up today? One sentence only.
Layer 7 · Simulate Choice: If you face the same thing tomorrow, what will you choose?
Once sealed, entries cannot be edited — whatever you pulled up is what it is.
Understand Your Patterns
Every sealed entry triggers automatic NLP clustering to surface recurring stones.
- Semantic clustering groups similar stones (Apple NaturalLanguage framework, fully on-device)
- Stone timeline shows which stones keep reappearing
- Weekly / monthly reports highlight repeated patterns
- Stone comparison: view entries from the same group side by side to see if you've actually changed
See Your River
A dynamic SpriteKit visualization maps your data into a living river:
River width (variety of topics), water depth (7-layer completion rate), flow speed (recording frequency), surface ripples (how many excuses you wrote), and river stones (your top recurring patterns).
Radically Minimal — Written for Yourself
DaoTrace intentionally does not include:
- AI commentary on your entries (thinking is yours, not the tool's)
- Streaks or check-in rewards (no manufactured anxiety)
- Social sharing (your stones don't need anyone's approval)
- Psychological assessments
All data stays on your device (SwiftData local storage). iCloud sync available via Apple CloudKit encryption.
More Details
- Supports Simplified Chinese / Traditional Chinese / English — switch instantly in Settings
- Face ID / Touch ID App Lock to protect deeply private content
- Full dark mode support, system-synced or manual
- Home screen Widget: today's status + current river type
- Auto-save drafts every 30 seconds and on layer switch
- Later Notes: add reflections after sealing, shown in a different color beside the original
DaoTrace is a self-awareness tool and does not provide mental health counseling, therapy, or medical advice. If you are experiencing serious psychological distress, please seek professional help.
Privacy Policy: https://daohen.me/privacy.html
Terms of Service: https://daohen.me/terms.html
What's New in Version 1.1
What's New
New "Dammed" river type: detects mental stagnation when your river nearly stops flowing
Stones auto-classified as Greed / Fear / Mixed types, shown with color markers in overview
Improvements
River parameters page now shows all river types with your current status highlighted
Dammed river displays darker, sluggish visuals
Removed min/max character limits per layer for freer writing
Renamed "Dao Trace Details" to "Dao Trace Journal"
Fixes
Fixed widget language not following app language setting
Seller
Name
珊 杨
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
1.1
Size
3.8 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated: 4+
Compatibility
iOS 17.6 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e, iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M5) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M5) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation)
Languages
English, Chinese
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