Changelog

A small but important fix for widgets across all platforms:

Fixed

• Widget background updates could be terminated by the system while saving reading history, which could cause missed updates and, on macOS, eventually cause Breathable's widgets to disappear from the widget gallery entirely
• Readings fetched by widgets are now stored safely and saved to Trends the next time Breathable runs
• On macOS, if Breathable is missing from your widget gallery: Delete Breathable, restart your Mac, and reinstall Breathable

Apologies for the impact if your widgets disappeared on your Mac!

Version 4.1 (August 17, 2026)

Menu bar support on macOS and a total rewrite of Apple Watch settings synchronization!

New

• Breathable can now live in your menu bar on macOS
  • Choose from three different menu bar extra styles, and customize them
  • You can also hide Breathable's Dock icon if you want to have it entirely in your menu bar
  • Menu bar extra can be used in place of widgets, or in addition to them

Improved & Fixed

• Rewrote the entirety of the Apple Watch settings synchronization pipeline and hardened it against many edge cases or low network risks. Apple Watch settings sync happens more frequently, more reliably, and can recover from failures in network failure cases
• Fixed a bug where Apple Watch complications could become frozen due location timeouts
• Fixed a bug where Apple Watch location could be stale in several situations
• Fixed a bug where Apple Watch settings could get overwritten with stale settings in rare conditions
• Fixed a bug where Apple Watch would not receive settings in certain situations
• Fixed a bug where Apple Watch settings were not getting synchronized when preferred source changed

Version 4.0.2 (August 10, 2026)

Another quick release, more tweaks and changes:

New

• Added menu bar items on iPad where appropriate
• Moved macOS menu bar items around a bit to me more logical
• Widened the maximum width of Breathable on macOS to give it a little more—ahem—Breathing room
• Tweaked the clear version of the app icon on all platforms to look a little better

Fixed

• In some conditions on Mac, Breathable was not fetching AQI at intervals even when open
• Occasionally when launching Breathable or re-opening the Breathable window, in a future version of macOS, the sidebar would be floating above content erroneously

And, of course, everything else that landed in 4.0 and 4.0.1.

Version 4.0.1 (August 7, 2026)

Hot on the heels of our huge 4.0 update, some fast-follow fixes and additions:

New

• Breathable now fetches AQI data even without widgets, directly from the app, where possible. On macOS, simply keep Breathable running (even without a visible window) to always have up-to-date AQI information. On other platforms, any time the app is open in the foreground, AQI will be fetched regularly
• You can now favorite a location in Trends to ensure your charts always default to that location. If you don't set a favorite, Trends will now use your current location when auto-location is enabled, or the location with the most recent reading
• Greatly improved deletion of data from Trends, especially when deleting large chunks (e.g. a whole city), and added a blocking modal when this deletion is in progress

Fixed

• On visionOS, we accidentally regressed background materials app-wide just before launch—bigtime oops
• On visionOS, we also didn't notice that the Emoji Scale picker was missing eye tracking hover affordances
• When choosing fonts for the Small widget, large gauge mode + Emoji Scale + "Show numeric AQI value" was missing a way to customize the font for that value
• In some cases, the primary pollutant was being truncated on smaller watches or in high AQI scenarios in the Trends complication on Apple Watch. Now the pollutant will be omitted if it cannot fit instead of being truncated

And, of course, everything else that landed in 4.0. Thank you for your support!

Version 4.0 (August 5, 2026)

Breathable 4.0 is our biggest update yet! We've rewritten and redesigned from the ground up across every platform and added native support for Apple Vision Pro!

New Services, Historical Data, and Syncing

We've added support for PurpleAir and World Air Quality Index, and Breathable now supports any combination of services rather than requiring any specific key. We've greatly improved our key validation and syncing to iCloud.

And, speaking of iCloud: Breathable now syncs AQI data to iCloud and across all of your devices, greatly reducing the number of required API calls and improving data quality anywhere you use the app. We also store historical data for every request, sync that history across devices, and use it to build a whole new feature: Trends!

Trends

Explore your air quality history in the new Trends tab with an interactive chart. Filter by location, recording device, or AQI source. Tap any point in the chart to view details, or drill into the All Data view for a granular look at every recording.

Automatic Location

Our most requested feature is here! You can now set Breathable to automatically use your location instead of managing and providing manual coordinates. Turn this on and Breathable will properly record AQI information and provide location-accurate widget information.

Spatial Features

We're so excited to bring Breathable to Apple Vision Pro! Not only are all of the app features available in native form on your headset, but we've added some special Vision Pro-specific bonuses:

• AQI Sky Window widgets: A larger widget you can lock to your wall which shows the current AQI in a simulated window with real sun positions, moon phase, time of day and volumetric effects
• The Breathable "Trophy": Snap this little object to your desk or shelf and you'll have an AQI sensor in your physical space. And, maybe if you turn it around and look at the back side, you might find a nice little surprise feature...
• A current AQI ornament hanging off the top of the Breathable window, and the ability to split off the Trends view as well if you want to leave it in your space without seeing the rest of the Breathable UI

macOS, iPadOS and watchOS Overhauls

We rewrote the core of these platforms to greatly improve their look & feel and syncing engines.

• Breathable on macOS now supports a native sidebar, better font sizing, updated shortcuts and system menu support, and more
• On iPad, Breathable now supports native window resizing!
• watchOS gets an all-new AQI fetching and syncing system, a new rectangular Trends widget, migration of all previous widgets to WidgetKit, and much more

Siri & Shortcuts

Now you can ask Siri, "What's the AQI in Breathable?" and Siri will give you the most recent AQI data Breathable has, and even offer to fetch fresh data if needed. On devices with screens, Siri will also display AQI details. We've also added Shortcuts support for fetching the AQI from Breathable directly.

So Many Fixes and Updates!

We've refined and updated nearly every aspect of the app on every platform — we couldn't possibly list every change, but here are the broad strokes:

• Breathable now requires OSes 26.1+, and is prepared for the upcoming OS releases on all platforms
• Liquid Glass support throughout
• New app icons, including dark mode and transparent mode support
• Completely redesigned the Medium widget, refined the Small widget
• Custom font support in widgets
• API keys now properly report when they've expired or usage has gone over a limit, including showing a warning on widgets themselves
• Updated emoji pickers with latest emoji up to and through OSes 26
• Simplified and streamlined the one-time welcome flow for new users
• Added a "What's New" feature for returning users
• Choosing a coordinate using the map feature is now accurate to within 1m of the pin's position, and restores the current position when re-opening the map
• Completely rewrote the custom AQI gauge with flexibility and resizing features
• Fixed all existing oddities with widget sizes across different screen metrics and devices: Widgets now lay out as expected across every surface
• Redesigned the API Keys tab to better communicate the state of validation, key issues, and syncing status to iCloud
• Coordinates tab now has two clear modes: Automatic location or Manual. When choosing automatic, we disable the manual controls for simplicity
• Preferred source selector in Widget customization now allows for Highest or Highest PM2.5-only, for those who prefer to only worry about particles instead of O3 readings
• Help Center now has several new sections, including Credits, Resources and access to previous Release Notes
• Reloading widgets is more robust on iOS and macOS. On macOS, there's a permanent affordance in the sidebar at the bottom
• Breathable now communicates in widgets when location sharing is turned off but needed, or API keys are invalid
• Removed font weight preference from Widget UI, as it did very little in practice, and defaulted to bold
• Fixed issue where EmojiScale position could sometimes look off-center horizontally by ~1pt
• Fixed issue where syncing of an API key would sometimes silently fail for AirNow
• Fixed issue where fetching AQI data would sometimes silently fail if "Prefer IQAir" was set and AirNow key was valid, but IQAir key was not
• Fixed issue where widget would sometimes show "—" even after AQI data was fetched
• Fixed issue where on macOS, API keys would be revalidated on every tab change, leading to unnecessary API token usage
• Fixed issue where on macOS, API key validation would sometimes hang forever
• Fixed issue on iPadOS where, on launch, the app could rarely appear in landscape mode while device was in portrait, and vice-versa (heh, oops)
• Fixed issue where watchOS complications would not update in some circumstances (we have migrated the entire complication library to WidgetKit as well)
• Fixed issue where fetching location placename for coordinates would sometimes hang
• Fixed about 1,000 minor layout bugs throughout all platforms
• Many, many more fixes and changes!

Version 3.0.2 (September 15, 2025)

This is a minor compatibility update as we work on larger changes to support new OSes. This update will keep you running on all platforms, but will be the final release to support OS versions prior to 26.

• Fixed a crash on the Widget UI tab in newer OS releases
• Updated URLs in the FAQ entry for setting up IQAir.com keys to point to correct pages

Version 3.0.1 (January 13, 2025)

• Fixed an embarrassing misspelling of a famous French landmark. Je suis désolé.

Version 3.0 (November 27, 2024)

We're excited to release Breathable 3.0, packed full of new features, fixes and improvements:

• Added support for Lock Screen widgets (circular, rectangular and inline)
• Added support for StandbyMode (uses the small widget style and customization options)
• Added dark mode and tinted mode support for the Breathable app icon
• Added full tint mode support for home screen widgets
• Added a new gradient widget style, which looks especially lovely in dark mode
• Added a new widget style selector to make customization easier/clearer
• Added all new emoji supported by Apple since last major Breathable release
• Added additional Emoji Scale sets, retired some older unused sets
• Added a refresh button to the Apple Watch app to allow for manual updates directly on Watch
• Added updated common issues to Help Center and improved FAQ list with new entries
• Improved emoji picker category UI added haptics on taps
• Improved caching and scheduling of API calls to better utilize API key limits
• Improved sharing of recent AQI data between widgets on same device
• Redesigned and modernized the Apple Watch app (requires watchOS 11 or later)
• Redesigned and overhauled macOS app to increase font sizes and modernize app layout
• Redesigned the Coordinates view for clarity and usability
• Redesigned, simplified and clarified widget configuration UI
• Redesigned and greatly simplified UI for API keys view

Please note: This is the final release of Breathable to support iOS/iPadOS 17, watchOS 10 and macOS 14. Future versions of Breathable will require iOS/iPadOS 18, watchOS 11 and macOS 15 or later.

As always, we appreciate your patience and support!

Version 2.3 (September 23, 2024)

Hello, friends! After a very long (longer than planned) hiatus, here's a minor update to get Breathable back on track. We've received lots of feedback about AQI data not showing, and so we've updated our FAQs to make it clearer how to replace expiring API keys (this is free and quick). Additionally, we've updated the minimum required versions across all platforms to more modern releases.

Version 2.2 (September 27, 2021)

• Fixed an issue where the “use pure black in dark mode” setting made dark mode widgets permanently pure black, even if you toggled the setting off. This fix required resetting that UI preference, but it works correctly now and you can toggle it again if you’d like!
• Fixed an issue where you couldn’t clear an API key if it was invalid if iCloud syncing was enabled for Breathable

Version 2.1 (September 22, 2021)

• Added support for more complications, including Modular and Utility!
• Updated Watch app initial flow to better explain how to get help with initial setup
• Added additional Watch app information to Help Center, including detailed steps for troubleshooting initial setup

Version 2.0 (September 21, 2021)

Breathable now supports Apple Watch!

• A new Breathable Watch app is available
• The Watch app shares configuration with the iPhone app, so your API keys, coordinates and API data preference will be automatically shared to Breathable on Apple Watch
• Gauge complication support for all Watch face styles (corner, circular and bezel)
• The Breathable Watch app will also show you the current value and related information if you tap the complication or launch the app directly
• If you launch the Breathable Watch app without configuring the iPhone app first, the Watch app will give you information about how to proceed
• Added some helpful Watch-related features to Help Center in the main app on iPhone if a Watch is connected

Widget improvements

• Breathable was previously reporting the AQI data’s date as the date fetched in larger widgets, which led to user confusion: “Why is my data from 6PM today when it’s 8PM?” But sometimes API data will deliver older data if the value hasn’t changed. Instead, Breathable now reports the actual time it fetched the data, even if the data was stale. This has two benefits: First, it means you’ll always know when the last actual fetch time was, and second, this resolves a bug in the widget where you could see “Today, 8PM” past midnight into the next day. Widgets should feel more accurate, more frequently
• Both widget types now share their API data preference (done to better support Apple Watch version). Most users were likely already setting the same value for both widget types, but now the setting is shared between both

And

• Support for new widget sizes and futuristic versions of operating systems
• Fixed an issue widget examples in the welcome flow wouldn’t properly animate

Version 1.4 (July 26, 2021)

• Three new emoji sets, two created by Breathable user Elizabeth! (Have a fun emoji set you'd like to share with other users? Email a screenshot to support@karbon.agency.)
• Fix for an incorrect AQI range description in the Customize Emoji view
• Curling of non-curled quotes throughout the app
• Several accessibility improvements

Version 1.3 (July 25, 2021)

Help Center

• Collects a few common issues and solutions in one place—right in the app—including a rare issue where Breathable doesn’t immediately show up in the system widget list (and how to solve it!)
• Added a force reload button for rare cases where a widget might not update after a UI change
• Additional links to FAQs, emailing support, and our privacy policy

API Keys

• Required and recommended text will now only be highlighted if keys haven’t been entered/verified for those fields

Version 1.2 (July 20, 2021)

Completely overhauled the coordinates configuration view and functionality:

• When valid coordinates are entered, Breathable will now also provide a location description (for example: "Cupertino, CA") which will help you visually verify your coordinates are correct
• You can now search coordinates by typing in any part of a location—postal code, place name, or partial or full address
• Completely removed the optional ZipCodeAPI service from the app, as it's no longer needed

API Keys

• You can now verify your API keys to ensure they're entered correctly and work
• Fixed a rare case where API keys might not be properly synced to iCloud
• Prevented a possible crash when entering an API key with bad characters

And more

• Improved tap targets in various areas of the Widget UI and Customize Emoji views
• Improved how pop-up menus work in Widget UI form
• Many future-looking improvements throughout the app for our friends living on the cutting edge of technology
• Replaced straight quotes with curly quotes throughout the app

Version 1.1 (July 8, 2021)

• Customize Emoji Scale! Choose from one of several pre-made, sometimes-goofy sets, or pick your own emoji for each value on the AQI scale
• Added a slider to the Widget UI preview so you can change the sample index and see what your widget will look like at each value
• Some visual cleanup in Widget UI settings to improve readability

Version 1.0 (June 29, 2021)

Initial release.