Connection & Check-ins

Overview

Connection & Check-ins Pulses are about follow-through. They check in on your emotional state, follow up on situations you have written about, and gently reach out if you have been away for a while. These are the Pulses that make Onsen feel like someone is actually paying attention.

Mood Support

Tuesday at 4 PM · Active journalers

Mood Support checks in on your emotional state based on what you have been writing about. If your recent entries suggest you have been dealing with something stressful, overwhelming, or emotionally heavy, this Pulse acknowledges that and offers a concrete step you can take.

The approach is direct and specific. Rather than asking "how are you feeling?", Onsen names the emotion it noticed in your writing and suggests a practical action — whether that is a check-in question, a grounding technique, or an invitation to look at the situation differently. It pairs well with the Mood Check-In on the Home screen if you want to explore your feelings further.

Personal Update

Thursday and Sunday at 4 PM · Active journalers

Personal Update follows up on specific situations you have written about. If you mentioned a job interview coming up, a conversation you needed to have, or a decision you were wrestling with, this Pulse circles back and asks what happened.

Onsen checks the timeline of your entries to avoid asking about things you have already updated on. If you wrote about the interview on Monday and then wrote about how it went on Wednesday, Thursday's Personal Update will find a different topic to follow up on.

This is the Pulse that makes people feel genuinely known — it remembers the details of your life and cares enough to ask.

Soft Return

Every day at 2 PM (once per week maximum) · Users inactive for 21–60 days

Soft Return is a gentle nudge if you have been away from Onsen for a while. It is warm, non-judgmental, and designed to create curiosity rather than guilt. Onsen references something specific from your past entries — an unresolved situation, a topic you were exploring, or a question you left open — and invites you to come back and share what has happened since.

The timing is thoughtful: your first Soft Return arrives after 21 days of inactivity, then once a week after that (days 28, 35, 42, 49, 56), stopping at 60 days. As soon as you journal again, Soft Return stops automatically.

Tips

• Mood Support is most helpful when you journal honestly — the more clearly you express what you are going through, the more targeted the support becomes.
• Personal Update works best with context — if you mention names, dates, and details in your journal entries, the follow-ups will be remarkably specific.
• Soft Return is not a guilt trip — it is designed to make you curious about picking up where you left off, not to pressure you. If you do not want it, you can turn it off in notification settings.