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An app for late-night overthinking that interrupts the loop before sleep

Lights out, footage on. Mendly is for the late-night overthinking that starts when there's nothing left to distract you. One tap logs the thought — a 15-second voice note lets you say what's actually playing without turning the light on. Patterns emerge across nights and weeks. The loop has less power once it's been acknowledged.

The research

Sleep researcher Allison Harvey's cognitive model of insomnia identifies pre-sleep cognitive arousal — not physical tiredness — as the primary driver of lying-awake nights. Mendly's voice-notes feature exists because that arousal needs an outlet that doesn't require turning on a light or sitting up.

— Allison Harvey, 2002

Want to understand why this happens? Why do I overthink at work? The research on rumination on the job

Quiz

What's your late-night overthinking pattern?

Question 1 of 4

What does your mind reach for once the lights are off?

“You don't have insomnia because you can't turn your brain off. You have insomnia because 11pm is the first unscheduled, unobserved fifteen minutes your brain has had all day — of course it fills it.”

Features

Voice notes

15 seconds to say what was actually going through your head. Optional, private, and yours.

Milestone badges

16 badges that celebrate your awareness, not your perfection. First Catch, Streaks, Early Bird, Voice Found — each one earned.

Hourly patterns

See when your inner critic is loudest. Morning spirals? Late-night overthinking? Your data, your story.

Not quite your pattern? A conflict replay tracker for the argument that keeps happening after it's over might fit better

Apps like MindLift ask you to work through the thought with CBT reframing — useful when you're awake and functional, less useful when you're horizontal in the dark at midnight. Mendly's interaction is one tap and a 15-second voice note recorded lying down.

See the full comparison

Common questions

Can I use it without turning the phone screen all the way up?
Yes — the tap-to-log button is on the home screen and accessible with minimal brightness. Most users use it with auto-brightness at low settings. The voice note feature means you don't have to type anything.
How is this different from a journaling app?
Journaling at 11pm means turning on a light, sitting up, and writing something coherent. Mendly is a tap and an optional 15-second note you can record lying down in the dark. The barrier is low enough to actually use in the moment the thoughts are happening.
Is this a CBT app?
No. There are no exercises, no thought records, no guided reflections. Mendly logs the thought and builds a pattern picture over time. What you do with that information is up to you.
What does the free trial include?
The full app, no restrictions, for 7 days. After 7 days you choose monthly ($7.99) or annual ($59.99, about $5/month). Cancel anytime via your Apple subscriptions — no emails required.
A negative self-talk tracker app that doesn't try to fix youA social anxiety tracker for the replay that starts after you leave the roomWhy do I overthink every work message? The research on "Slack anxiety"

See for yourself — 7 days free.

Try Mendly on iPhone. Cancel anytime via Apple subscriptions.

Download on theApp Store