Frequently asked questions

No. SOMOTE draws your words on top of the screen, and that is all it does. It cannot see, read or record anything underneath.

SOMOTE does not collect your personal information, and it does not send your phrases, photos, voice recordings or settings anywhere. They stay on your device, and SOMOTE doesn't track how you use it. SOMOTE sends your license key so your purchase can be confirmed. On Windows, it also checks once a day for updates. That check carries nothing about you, and counting those checks is how we know how many people use SOMOTE each day. You can turn it off in the app. If you buy Plus, Google Play or Gumroad handles the purchase under its own privacy policy.

They are saved on your own device and nowhere else. They are never uploaded, never processed on a server and never used to train anything. SOMOTE has no account system and doesn't track how you use it. If you delete a recording in the app, the audio file is deleted too.

Yes. SOMOTE displays your words on top of your screen, and that is all it does. What happens in your apps stays entirely in your apps.

Yes, in almost every case, including games running in borderless or windowed mode, which most modern games use by default. The one exception is true exclusive full-screen mode, where Windows gives the whole display to that program and nothing else can draw over it, including SOMOTE. If your phrases do not appear during a game, switch the game to Borderless or Windowed in its display settings.

No. The app uses almost no CPU while idle and wakes only to draw a phrase. It is built to be lighter than a browser tab.

Yes. Under Display → Screens, you can choose your main display, a single monitor or all of them at once.

The opacity dial runs from 0 to 100. At around 1 to 5%, phrases are barely perceptible in normal use. They are present, but below conscious attention.

SOMOTE runs on Windows 10 and 11, and on Android 8.0 or newer. The Android app is on Google Play. A Mac version is in the works. There is no iPhone or web version.

Click More info, then Run anyway. Windows shows that message for apps from new independent developers, not because anything is wrong with the file. SOMOTE installs only for your user account and never asks for administrator access. Some antivirus tools, such as Bitdefender, may also flag the download as an unknown app. If that happens, choose to keep or allow the file so the download can finish.

Click the download icon at the top right of Chrome, click the blocked SOMOTE file, then choose Download suspicious file. Chrome shows this message for files that few people have downloaded yet, such as apps from new independent developers. It does not mean anything is wrong with the file.

Yes, with Plus. Open the Voice tab, tap Record a new affirmation, speak, stop and then name the recording. You can record as many as you like, check the ones you want, drag them into the order you prefer and set the silence between them. They loop for as long as your session runs.

Yes. Your recordings and the binaural sound play underneath whatever else you have on, and nothing else is paused or turned down. You can set the voice volume separately to get the balance right.

Foundations is free forever and needs no account or card. The Foundations playlist is built in, and Health, Wellness and Affluence are free downloads from the Packs page, for four playlists in all with five phrases each. You also get the Calm binaural preset, the Flash motion, size and opacity control, the Bodoni Moda typeface and multi-screen support. All the starter phrases are read-only. Plus lets you write your own words, with unlimited playlists and phrases that you can fully edit. It also adds all six motions, the full typeface library, bilateral sound, your own photos, the Wallpaper Carousel, voice recording, Sanctuary and creator packs.

Your license key is emailed to you the moment you buy. It unlocks SOMOTE on up to 5 devices for as long as your subscription is active. The free tier requires no license. If you have questions, email hello@somote.app.

Yes. SOMOTE for Android is available on Google Play. A Plus subscription bought on somote.app covers up to 5 of your devices on Windows and Android, and it will cover Mac when that version is released. The yearly plan is only available on somote.app. To unlock Plus on your phone, tap Plus at the top of the Android app, tap Enter a key and paste the license key from your purchase email. A subscription started inside the Android app goes through Google Play and unlocks Android only.

Plus stays active until the end of the period you've paid for. The app then returns to the free Foundations tier. Nothing you wrote is deleted, and your playlists will still be there if you subscribe again.

Yes. SOMOTE Plus bought on somote.app comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee. Write to hello@somote.app within 7 days of subscribing, and we will refund your payment and cancel your subscription. SOMOTE then returns to the free Foundations tier, and nothing you wrote is deleted. A subscription started in the Android app goes through Google Play, and Google Play handles its refunds.

Double-click the .somotepack file you downloaded. SOMOTE opens, installs it and asks for the key from your purchase email. If you use the portable version, open SOMOTE, go to Packs and choose Install pack. On Android, tap the pack link, then tap Open on the finished download, and SOMOTE installs it from there.

Yes. Paid packs play with an active Plus subscription. You can install a pack at any time, and it will be waiting when you subscribe. The three starter packs (Health, Wellness and Affluence) are free downloads and also work on the free tier.

When two tones a few hertz apart play, one in each ear, the brain perceives a third sound: the difference between them. That perceived pulse is a binaural beat. Brainwave entrainment is the theory that a steady rhythm can encourage the brain toward a particular frequency band, and its mechanism is still being studied. Each preset pairs the state it aims for with the band it targets: Calm (alpha), Focus (beta), Attention (gamma), Sleep (delta) and Meditation (theta), plus custom frequencies in Plus. The research supports them as a relaxation and focus aid, not as a proven medical effect. Stereo headphones are required, because each ear must receive its own tone.

Bilateral sound is a soft sound that moves gently from one ear to the other and back at a pace you choose: Drift, Settle, Sway or Pulse. It gives your attention something steady to rest on while your phrases appear, and many people like to run it underneath their affirmations. Stereo headphones are required, because the effect depends on the sound moving between your ears. It is included with Plus and is offered for relaxation and focus only.

In research, a stimulus is subliminal when it registers without reaching conscious awareness. SOMOTE reaches that threshold with its opacity dial. When you set it between 1 and 5%, phrases are present every time you glance at the screen but below your notice. Unlike the subliminal audio tracks sold online, nothing is hidden from you, and you can read every phrase in the list at any time.

SOMOTE does not ask you to believe anything. It automates the one mechanism every manifestation practice depends on and few people keep up by hand: frequent repetition over a long period. Fifty years of published work on illusory truth, mere exposure and subliminal priming shows that repeated exposure measurably shifts what people believe, prefer and do. A ritual requires daily discipline, but SOMOTE runs while you work. It is not a substitute for action, but it changes the mindset you bring to it.

The core effect, in which repetition makes statements feel familiar and true, is one of the most reproduced findings in psychology (Hasher, 1977; Fazio, 2015). The classic books on this subject by Murphy, Peale and Hill have sold tens of millions of copies describing the same mechanism. SOMOTE automates the repetition.

No. Belief is what repetition builds, so it comes at the end rather than the beginning. Choose words that sound true to the person you want to become, and let repetition do the rest. Research shows that forcing yourself to say things you do not believe can backfire (Wood et al., 2009), which is why SOMOTE never asks you to recite anything. It works in the background.

Journaling depends on you remembering to do it. SOMOTE shows up on your screen while you work, hundreds of times a day, without asking anything of you. Habit research consistently finds that environment is more reliable than willpower, and SOMOTE becomes part of your environment.