A sensory fidget app for hands that want something to do

Open the top free "antistress" or "fidget" apps and count the ads. Reviewers already have. On the App Store and Google Play, the same note shows up again and again: an ad every time you switch toys, an ad on the back button, ads every few seconds while you're trying to wind down. To turn them off, you usually pay. You can read it in the reviews of a popular free fidget app.

A thing you hold to keep your hands busy shouldn't keep interrupting you. Dunarium runs without ads, so nothing interrupts you between scenes, on the back button, or on the way out.

Dunarium is built to be picked up when you want it and put down when you're done.

• No ads, no account, no sign-up. It works offline after you install it.
• Nothing flashing. The physics is slow. Sand drifts and settles instead of strobing.
• No streaks, no daily goals, no notifications, no leaderboards. Nothing is left to nag you.
• Silent if you want. The soundscape is generated live as the sand moves, so you can mix each voice or mute the whole thing.
• Haptics you set. Gentle grain haptics that you can turn up, down, or off.
• On-device. Your camera frames and sensor readings stay on the device.

A side-by-side look, with ad-free options included:

Fidgetable is good. If you want crisp, well-tuned haptic pops on an iPhone, it's worth a look: the haptics are the best part, and it's ad-free too. It's iPhone-only and built around tapping discrete toys. Dunarium gives you a different feel, with tilt-driven sand that flows and pools on both iPhone and Android, and a live soundscape you can mix voice by voice. The two suit different hands and different moods.

Here are a few places people reach for something to fidget with, and how Dunarium fits each:

• On a flight. You don't need wifi. Mute it or use earbuds, and pour the sand one-handed on the tray table.
• Waiting rooms and commutes. Shake the phone to churn a new landscape, tilt to pour it back, and tap to stir, with no sound at all if that suits the room you're in.
• Study breaks. Open Focus, a sand hourglass that runs your set time and ends in a soft chime. Set it anywhere from 30 seconds to 12 hours, in 30-second steps, with a recents list so your usual break is one tap away.
• Bedtime. Ambient dims to a bedside scene with a clock. Sleep fades the light and sound out on a timer. Zen drifts with no endpoint. It stays dim and won't brighten the room while you scroll.

The audio is procedural: ticks, bloops, and churns generated as the grains move, so what you hear tracks the sand itself rather than a fixed loop.

• Per-voice mixer. Sand, bubbles, and churn each get a separate fader. Bring up the ones you like and drop the rest.
• Full mute. Slide everything down for silent fidgeting.
• Grain haptics. A soft, sand-like buzz under your finger that you can adjust or turn off.

The same toy can be a quiet ASMR wash through earbuds, or silent and just something for your hands and eyes.

• Free to play. Download it and pour sand for nothing.
• Unlock Everything is one optional one-time purchase (planned $4.99 in the US) that opens all 22 sand palettes, 15 glass shapes, and 25 backdrops.
• No subscription. You buy it once and keep it, with no renewals and no ad-free tier to rent.

Dunarium is available on iPhone and Android.

Dunarium is a toy for restless hands and eyes. It won't diagnose or manage anxiety, ADHD, autism, insomnia, or any health condition, and it makes no claim to. Think of it as the digital cousin of doodling in a margin or turning a smooth stone over in your pocket.

If you're looking for help with a real health concern, please talk to a professional.