Basky is a daily sunshine habit for people who want outdoor light without shame, hustle, or a lecture. The product is simple on purpose: know today’s sky, know your skin, take a short capped bask, then go on with your life. Everything else — streaks, Circles, pixel skins, Apple Health — is optional seasoning around that core.
This page is the plain walkthrough of how Basky works, from the first skin-type pick to the moment the timer rings. For deeper science, keep the guides nearby: what is the UV index, Fitzpatrick scale explained, and how long can I stay in the sun.
The idea in one breath
You open Basky. You see a UV number and a plain-language band. You see about n minutes of safe sun sized to you. You step outside, start the ring, and stop when the safe dose arrives. If the sky is closed, you tap that you got some daylight anyway. That is the ritual.
Basky will never sell that ritual as a race to darken skin. There is no more-is-better language, no “push past the burn line” energy, and no reward for staying out longer than the math allows. Over-exposure earns nothing.
Step one: who you are in the sun
On first launch you choose a Fitzpatrick skin type. That choice anchors every window. Minimal erythemal dose reference points Basky respects look like this in J/m²: type I 200, II 250, III 350, IV 450, V 600, VI 1000. You do not need to memorize those numbers. You only need an honest pick of the type that best matches how your skin tends to respond.
You can adjust later. Basky stays conservative either way. The point is personalization without medical theater — wellness framing, not a diagnosis.
Step two: today’s sky
When you allow location, Basky asks Open-Meteo for live UV where you are. Coordinates go only to that weather lookup. They are not stored as a browsing history, not tied to an account, and not used for ads. There is no account. There are no ads. There is no tracking stack pretending to be “personalization.”
Decline location and the app still works with a generic fallback UV and a clear note so you are not tricked into thinking the number is local. Privacy details live on the private sun app page.
Step three: the safe-sun window
The Exposure Engine combines skin type and UV into minutes. The target is about 60% of a minimal erythemal dose — a friendly fraction of the dose that would just begin to redden skin — then a clamp so the answer stays between roughly five and ninety minutes. The safe sun timer is that window made tangible.
Illustration, not a promise: around UV 5, a mid-type person might see something near ~29 minutes. Your number depends on your skin and today’s exact sky. Fairer types get shorter windows; deeper melanin gets longer ones at the same UV. Same sky, different bodies — that is the whole reason Basky exists.
The window is not permission to skip sunscreen, clothing, shade, or a clinician. Use protection whenever you need it. Basky will not argue.
Step four: bask with the ring
Outside, you start the timer. The ring fills toward the cap. Finishing inside the line is the win. Crossing it does not inflate a vitamin D estimate, does not grow a daylight streak, and does not unlock a badge. The product is deliberately boring about excess on purpose.
When a session completes cleanly, Basky offers a gentle reward moment — celebration for stopping, not for grinding. On cloudy or resting-UV days, a daylight check-in keeps the habit honest without inventing baskable minutes that are not there. See low UV still counts.
What else sits around the loop
Vitamin D estimate
A friendly conservative estimate climbs while you bask and stays capped with the same safe dose. It is encouragement, not a lab result, not a supplement prescription, and never written to Apple Health. Read vitamin D from sunlight for the broader wellness framing.
Daylight streak
Consecutive days you met a gentle outdoor goal — a capped bask or a check-in. Weather forgiveness is built in. Shame is not. Glossary: daylight streak meaning.
Sunshine Circles
Optional private cheer with people you invite. Members see a first name you choose and a simple sun-day signal — not location, not streak length, not estimates. Feature page: Sunshine Circles.
Apple Health
Optional write-only Time in Daylight. Basky never reads Health data and never exports the vitamin D estimate. Details: Apple Health daylight.
Basky Forever
The core loop above is free forever. Basky Forever is an optional one-time cosmetic unlock for pixel skins — never a subscription, never a paywall on safety.
What Basky refuses to be
- A tanning coach or “how dark can you go” tracker.
- A medical device, dosing tool, or replacement for a doctor.
- An account wall with ads and behavioral analytics.
- A streak engine that pressures you past your window.
- A subscription that rents the timer back to you each month.
Who it is for
People who want a calmer outdoor habit: lunch-break light, morning porch minutes, a walk that stays inside a line. Caregivers coordinating family daylight. Anyone tired of apps that treat the sun like a hustle. Now on the iOS App Store.
Questions live in the FAQ. Words live in the glossary. The human behind the product is reachable at andrewkittridge@icloud.com. General wellness guidance, not medical advice — and that sentence is not fine print; it is the product posture.
A sample day, without the hustle
Morning: a local reminder fires if you enabled one. You open Today. UV is moderate. Your window might land somewhere in the twenties or thirties depending on type — the UV 5 mid-type illustration near ~29 minutes is orientation, not a promise. You step onto a balcony, start the ring, finish inside the line, and get on with email.
Afternoon clouds: the forecast dips. Basky may say the sun is resting. You tap a daylight check-in after a short walk under gray cover. The daylight streak stays kind. Nobody scolds you for weather.
Evening: you ignore the app. That is fine. Basky is not a second job. The ritual is available when you want it, silent when you do not.
Edge cases the product already thought about
Travel across latitudes changes UV quickly — trust the live lookup more than last week’s memory. Snow and water reflect extra ultraviolet; treat bright bounce as real UV even when air feels cool. Altitude raises intensity; if you are higher than your usual city, expect shorter windows. Guides for those nuances live under altitude and UV and reflection, snow, and water style topics on the site.
Photosensitivity, medications, and medical conditions are outside Basky’s lane. The app will not clear you for unprotected exposure. Ask a clinician when your body has special rules.
Why the clamp exists
Without a floor, a tiny window feels like a bug. Without a ceiling, a long window invites marathon thinking. The roughly 5–90 minute clamp keeps the timer in human scale. Combined with the ~60% MED target, it is how Basky stays useful and humble at once.
Sharing without oversharing
Finished sessions can become a personal share card for your own sunny days. Circles remain narrower than a social network: first name and sun signal. Nothing about Basky’s design requires you to perform wellness for strangers.
Launch posture
Now on the iOS App Store. Until then, these pages are the product in public — so you can judge tone before you download. If something feels off, email andrewkittridge@icloud.com. The brief is kindness with a cap.
Use Basky’s daily sun loop
- Step 1
Set your Fitzpatrick skin type
Choose the type that best matches how your skin tends to respond so every window is personal and conservative.
- Step 2
Read Today’s UV and safe minutes
Open Today, see the live sky and your capped window, then step outside when it makes sense.
- Step 3
Bask, stop at the cap, or check in
Start the timer in real daylight, finish inside the line, or tap a daylight check-in when UV is too low to bask.