open /Applications/Helia.app

Helia

UV Index & Sun Safety

All the upside of daylight, on a sunburn budget you never overdraw

Helia is the honest solar coach — the Oura of sunlight. It notices when you're out in daylight and tracks the session itself, hands-free: the real UV around you, a personal sunburn budget for your skin, and coaching for the daylight you actually want — circadian rhythm, mood, sleep, and vitamin D. The sun is not the enemy. The sunburn is.

New on the App Store Free Health & Fitness iPhone

See it in action ↓

Fully automatic — Helia notices you're in the sun and logs it, no timers to start
A live sunburn budget tuned to your skin — never overdraw it
Real-time local UV and a safe-exposure timer, free forever
A trustworthy instrument, not a tan maximizer

./helia --screenshots

Helia in action

Your sun, to the minute — a live, cautious estimate of your useful time
Helia flags the moment more sun mostly adds damage, not vitamin D
Every session on the map, with a vitamin-D estimate — logged automatically
Ask the science — private answers drawn from a cited, evidence-badged library
Sun School: the honest science, labeled by strength of evidence
Quiet patterns from your own days — never a diagnosis or a verdict
Pro coaches the upside — morning light, vitamin D, trends. Safety stays free

tap a screen to enlarge · swipe to see more → click a screen to enlarge

cat helia/FEATURES.md

What Helia does

Your Sunburn Budget

Helia turns your skin type, the live UV index, and what you are wearing into one honest number: how much sun is safe right now. Watch it tick down as you bask, and stop before you burn — every time.

Live UV, Where You Are

Real local UV and a safe-exposure timer that respects cloud, altitude, and time of day. The safety core is free for everyone, because protecting your skin should never sit behind a paywall.

Circadian Light Coaching

Morning light anchors your body clock. Helia nudges you toward the right daylight at the right time to sleep deeper, lift your mood, and feel awake — the upside the sunscreen industry forgets to mention.

Honest Vitamin D

An evidence-based estimate of the vitamin D your sessions may have supported, given your latitude, season, and skin — so you know when you have had enough sun, and when you have not.

Trends That Tell The Truth

History and trends for exposure, burn risk avoided, and circadian consistency. No streak guilt, no maximizing — just an honest record of a healthier relationship with daylight.

Private By Design

Your skin type, location, and health signals stay on your device. Helia is an instrument you trust, so it asks for nothing it does not need and keeps what it learns to itself.

man helia

How Helia works

Calibrate

Tell Helia your skin type and a few preferences once. It builds a personal model of how much sun is safe for you, not the average.
Step Outside

Helia reads the live UV around you and opens your sunburn budget for the session. The timer counts your safe exposure down in real time.
Bank The Upside

Soak up the circadian, mood, sleep, and vitamin-D benefits — and stop before the burn. Over weeks, Helia coaches a healthier rhythm with daylight.

less helia/README

About Helia

Helia is the honest solar coach. Most sun apps either push you to maximize a tan or just show a raw UV number. Helia does neither. It treats sunlight like what it is — something to enjoy on a budget. The sunburn is the enemy, not the sun.

Helia reads today's UV conditions for your exact location and your skin, then gives you one clear answer: roughly how long you can be in the sun before you should cover up, reapply, or head for shade. That answer — your sunburn budget — is free, forever. We never put safety behind a paywall.

THE FREE SAFETY CORE — for everyone

• Hands-free tracking. Helia can notice when you head out into daylight, meter the session itself, and log it — no timers to start or stop.

• Your sunburn budget. A personalized estimate of how long today's sun may take before your skin has had enough, based on the live UV index and your skin type.

• The Answer. One glance tells you whether it's a cover-up day, a quick-session day, or a stay-out day — no decoding color charts.

• Live UV index + forecast. See the UV climb and fall through the day so you can plan around the harshest hours.

• Cloud- and rain-aware. Helia corrects the UV for the real sky, so an overcast day reads honestly — not as full sun.

• Reapply & cover-up nudges. Gentle reminders to top up sunscreen or step into shade before you've used up your budget.

• Honest by design. Helia rounds toward caution. When in doubt, it tells you to protect.

PRO — the coaching layer (optional)

Pro turns Helia from an instrument into a coach, with guidance grounded in how sunlight affects the body across the day:

• Morning-light timing. Helia suggests when a little outdoor light may help support your daily rhythm and energy — the circadian side of sunlight.

• Your vitamin-D plan. A 12-month, season-aware calendar of what sunlight can realistically contribute at your latitude — including the honest winter months when it can't. The live estimate on Home stays free.

• The Sun Atlas. Every session and every walked Sun Trail on one map — your sun, over time.

• On-device science coach. Ask anything about sun, UV, vitamin D, and your body clock — answered privately on your phone, grounded in cited sources, never the cloud.

• History & trends. Your sun, your budget used, and your patterns over weeks and seasons.

WHY PEOPLE KEEP HELIA INSTALLED

Helia isn't trying to get you a deeper tan or sell you fear. It's a quiet, trustworthy instrument that earns its home-screen spot.

PRIVATE BY DESIGN

Helia works for you, not on you. Your sun sessions, skin type, and location stay on your device wherever possible and are used to personalize your estimates — not to profile you. Precise location is used only to read your local sun and UV conditions. The coach runs entirely on your device.

A NOTE ON HEALTH

Helia provides general wellness estimates and guidance, not medical advice. Sunburn-budget and vitamin-D figures are estimates based on public UV data and the details you provide — they may differ from reality. Helia does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any condition. For anything concerning your skin or health, please consult a qualified clinician.

Get the free sunburn budget today. Upgrade to Pro when you want the coaching.

Helia Pro is available as an annual or monthly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase.

• Annual — $49.99 / year (7-day free trial)

• Monthly — $9.99 / month

• Lifetime — $129.99 one-time (never renews)

Prices may vary by region. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless turned off at least 24 hours before the period ends. A free trial converts to a paid annual subscription unless cancelled at least 24 hours before it ends; no payment is due during the trial. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Any free portion is forfeited when you buy a subscription.

./helia --faq

Frequently asked questions

Is Helia really free?

Yes. The free safety core — live UV, your personal sunburn budget, and the safe-exposure timer — is free forever, with no watermark and no trial clock. Protecting your skin is never behind the paywall. Pro adds the coaching layer: circadian, mood, sleep, and vitamin-D guidance, plus history and trends.

What does Helia Pro cost?

Pro is $49.99 a year (with a 7-day free trial, no payment due now) or $9.99 a month, with a one-time $129.99 lifetime option that never renews. It unlocks the year-round Light & Vitamin-D Plan: circadian light coaching, vitamin-D estimates, mood and sleep guidance, full history and trends, and the solar coach. Cancel anytime in your Apple ID settings.

Is Helia trying to give me a tan?

No — and that is the point. Helia is the Oura of sunlight: a trustworthy instrument, not a maximizer. The sunburn is the enemy, not the sun. It helps you collect the genuine health upside of daylight while never letting you overdraw your safe budget.

Is Helia medical advice?

No. Helia is a wellness instrument that estimates UV exposure and burn risk from public UV data and your inputs. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat, or replace a dermatologist or doctor. If you have a skin condition or take photosensitizing medication, follow your clinician's guidance.

How does the sunburn budget work?

Helia combines your skin type's minimal erythemal dose with the live UV index, time of day, and conditions to estimate how long you can stay in the sun before risking a burn, then counts that budget down as you bask. It is deliberately conservative — we would rather you reapply sunscreen early than burn.

Does Helia work without an internet connection?

The safe-exposure timer and your budget keep running once a session starts. Live UV refreshes and coaching insights need a connection, but the core protection degrades gracefully and never leaves you stranded mid-session.

Where is my data stored?

On your device. Your skin type, location, and health signals stay on the phone; Helia only ever sends what it needs to fetch UV for your area. No tracking, no ad IDs, no selling your data.

Which platforms does Helia support?

Helia runs on iPhone. No separate device or subscription bundle required.

How do I cancel or get a refund?

Manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your Apple ID settings; it renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Refunds are handled by Apple through your purchase history.

Get the upside of daylight, on a sunburn budget you never overdraw.

Free safety core forever — live UV, your sunburn budget, and the safe-exposure timer. Pro coaching is $49.99/year (7-day free trial) or $9.99/month, with a one-time $129.99 lifetime option.