Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the most common questions about using Onsen.
Getting Started
Do I need an account to use Onsen?
Yes. You need to create an account to use Onsen. You can sign up with your email address, Google account, or Apple ID (iOS only). Your account ensures your journal entries and conversations are securely stored and synced across your devices.
Is Onsen free to use?
Onsen is currently in its Early Supporter period — every user gets full Premium access for free. No trial, no payment, no catch. Once paid subscriptions launch, Onsen will offer a Free plan with standard usage limits and a Premium plan with significantly higher limits and exclusive features. Every new user will get a 14-day free trial of Premium at no cost. See Plans for details on what each plan includes.
How do I reset my password?
On the sign-in screen, tap Forgot Password?, enter your email address, and tap Reset Password. Check your email for a 6-digit verification code, enter it in the app, then create a new password. See Create Account for more on signing in.
How old do I need to be to use Onsen?
You must be at least 18 years old to create an Onsen account. Your birthday is collected during profile setup and is used to verify eligibility and personalize your experience.
Can I skip the onboarding?
Yes. The introductory tour and onboarding steps are optional. You can tap the close button to skip the intro slides, and the Getting Started checklist on the Home screen can be ignored. You can always replay the app tour later from Settings → Tour under the App section.
Privacy & Safety
Is Onsen a replacement for therapy?
Onsen is an AI companion for mental wellbeing — not a therapist. It cannot diagnose or treat medical conditions. If you are in crisis or dealing with serious mental health concerns, please reach out to a mental health professional or crisis service. Onsen works best as a daily companion for self-reflection and emotional awareness, alongside professional care when needed.
Who can see my journal entries and conversations?
Only you. Your entries and conversations are encrypted and never shared with third parties. Onsen's AI reads your entries to personalize its responses — extracting themes, people, and patterns — but no human at Onsen has access to your content. See Privacy, Data and Security for full details on how your data is handled.
Can I use Onsen without internet?
Onsen requires an internet connection for most features. Chat, guided experiences, AI Insights, Voice Input, and Read Aloud all rely on cloud AI services. You can open the app and browse your existing journal entries offline, but creating new entries and generating AI responses require a connection.
Journaling
How do I start journaling?
There are several ways to start. You can tap the "What's on your mind?" field on the Home screen, use the central button in the bottom navigation to begin an assisted journal session, or start a freeform entry from the Journal tab. See Creating Journal Entries for all options. You can also speak your thoughts using the microphone icon.
What are the different journaling methods?
Onsen offers three journaling methods: Guided Journaling (your AI guide asks reflective questions to help you explore your thoughts), Just Chat (an open-ended conversation that can become a journal entry), and Freeform (type or dictate your own entry without AI interaction). Each method creates a full journal entry with AI-generated insights.
Use Guided Journaling when you want direction, Just Chat when you want to talk freely, and Freeform when you just want to write on your own.
Can I edit or delete journal entries?
Yes. Open any entry, tap the menu button (three dots) in the top right, and select Edit Entry to modify the text or Delete Entry to remove it permanently. After deleting from the journal list, a brief undo option appears. Once dismissed, the deletion is permanent.
Can I export my journal entries?
Premium subscribers can export journal entries as PDF or email summaries. A broader data export feature is planned for the future.
Chat
Does Onsen remember my previous conversations?
Yes. Onsen builds its memory from your saved journal entries — the people you mention, events you are going through, emotions you are feeling, and patterns in your thinking. The more you save, the more personalized your experience becomes. On the Free plan, memory spans 30 days. On Premium, memory is unlimited, so Onsen can reference your entire journaling history.
Can I switch AI personality mid-conversation?
Personality changes take effect on new conversations. If you switch your AI personality in Settings → Personality, your current open conversation will continue with the previous personality. The next conversation you start will use the newly selected personality.
How do I save a chat to my journal?
During a Guided Journaling or Just Chat session, tap the Add to Journal button to save the conversation as a journal entry. In guided experiences, saving is built into the final step. See Creating Entries for all the ways entries get created.
AI Features
How do I change my AI personality?
Open Settings → Personality under the AI section. You can browse all six built-in personalities, preview their voice, and tap Select to switch. Premium subscribers can also create a custom personality. See AI Personality for more details.
How many custom AI personalities can I create?
One at a time. Creating a new custom personality replaces the previous one. The six built-in personalities are always available alongside your custom one. Custom personality creation is a Premium feature.
What are AI-generated insights?
When you create a journal entry, Onsen's AI automatically analyzes your text and generates a summary, mood analysis, hashtags, and knowledge items — people, places, and patterns the AI notices in your writing. These insights help you track patterns and reflect on your wellbeing over time. See Entry Details for a full breakdown.
How does the AI generate entry titles and hashtags?
Onsen's AI reads your journal entry and extracts key themes to create a descriptive title and relevant hashtags. Titles can be edited manually if you prefer a different name. Hashtags help you spot recurring themes across entries.
Voice Features
Why is my microphone not working?
Make sure you have granted Onsen permission to access your microphone. On iOS, go to your device Settings, find Onsen, and enable the Microphone toggle. On Android, go to Settings, then Apps, then Onsen, then Permissions, and allow Microphone access. If the issue persists, try restarting the app.
Can I use voice features offline?
No. Voice Input (speech-to-text) and Read Aloud (text-to-speech) both require an internet connection because they use cloud-based AI services to process audio.
How accurate is voice transcription?
Onsen uses advanced AI speech recognition that supports multiple languages and handles natural speech well. See Voice & Text-to-Speech for more on how voice features work. Accuracy is generally high, though it can vary depending on background noise, accent, and audio quality. You can always edit the transcribed text before sending.
Guided Experiences
What are guided experiences?
Guided experiences are structured, multi-step sessions designed by mental wellness professionals and powered by AI. Each experience walks you through a focused topic — like stress relief, gratitude, or self-reflection — with personalized prompts from your AI guide. See the Experience Library for the full catalog.
How long do experiences take?
Most guided experiences take between 5 and 15 minutes, depending on the topic and how much you share. Meditation experiences typically take 5–10 minutes. Each experience shows an estimated duration before you begin so you can choose one that fits your available time.
Can I pause and resume an experience?
Yes. If you leave a guided experience before completing it, your progress is saved automatically. You can resume where you left off from the Resume Experiences section on the Home screen or from the Experiences tab. See Pausing and Resuming for details.
Can I repeat a completed experience?
Yes. You can revisit and restart any experience you have already completed. Try different topics each time — the AI personalizes each session to where you are right now, so the experience feels fresh every time.
Do guided experiences require me to speak out loud?
No. Meditation and guided experiences use Read Aloud so you hear the AI's voice, but you never need to speak. You can listen with your eyes closed or read along — it is your choice. If you want to respond by voice in non-meditation experiences, that is optional too.
Plans & Usage
What happens when I hit a usage limit?
The action is temporarily blocked — for example, you will not be able to send more messages until the limit resets. A message tells you which limit you have reached and when it resets. You can still use other parts of the app in the meantime. Check your current usage anytime in Settings → Usage. If you frequently hit limits, Premium gives you 10× the capacity across all action types. See Usage Limits for full details.
What happens to my data if I cancel Premium?
Nothing gets deleted. Your journal entries, conversations, and AI insights all stay with you. You move to the Free plan's usage limits, and Onsen's AI memory is limited to the most recent 30 days of context instead of your full history — but your entries are always preserved. Any custom AI personality you created remains in your account.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Subscriptions are managed through the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android), not inside Onsen itself. Go to your device's subscription settings, find Onsen, and tap Cancel. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period — you keep Premium access until then.
Account & Settings
How do I change my name?
Open Settings → Edit Profile, update your first or last name, and tap Save. Your name is used throughout the app in greetings and AI conversations.
How do I enable biometric lock?
Open Settings and find under the App section. Toggle it on to require Face ID, Touch ID, fingerprint, or passcode authentication after one minute of inactivity. Your device must have biometric or passcode security configured for this option to appear.
How do I manage notifications?
Open Settings → Notifications under the Account section. From there you can configure each notification category individually, including general news updates and personalized AI Pulses. See Notifications and Pulses for full details.
How do I delete my account?
Open Settings → Data & Privacy, then tap Delete Account. You will be asked to confirm twice before the deletion proceeds. This permanently removes all your data including journal entries, conversations, insights, and profile information. This action cannot be undone. See Privacy, Data and Security for more details.
Technical Issues
The app is not loading — what should I do?
First, make sure you have a stable internet connection. Try closing and reopening the app. If the problem continues, check that you are running the latest version of Onsen from the App Store or Google Play. As a last resort, uninstall and reinstall the app — your data is safely stored in the cloud and will be restored when you sign back in.
How do I update the app?
Open the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android), search for Onsen, and tap Update if an update is available. You can also enable automatic updates in your device settings so you always have the latest version.
How do I report a bug?
Open Settings → under the About section, and describe the issue. Include as much detail as possible — what you were doing when the problem occurred, any error messages you saw, and your device model. The Onsen team will investigate and get back to you.