Our “Back To Now” app: Now available for iPhone and iPad

By alvin ~ Posted Sat, 08/09/2025 - 07:39

August 9, 2025: Valley Programming is proud to announce the Version 2.0 release of our Back To Now app for iPhone and iPad devices!

How it works

Back To Now is a “mindfulness reminder” application that helps you return to the present moment. The basic concept is simple:

  • Create a list of your favorite mindfulness quotes
  • Add your favorite images
  • Configure your desired reminder schedule
  • Then, receive “mindfulness reminders” as notifications, on your schedule
  • Tap the notifications to see your reminder on top of your images

As a bonus, if you have an Apple Watch, the notifications will also appear on your watch. And if you have a Mac, it will also run there.

The Back To Now slideshow

This all-new release of Back To Now also offers a slideshow/screensaver mode that helps to keep you constantly in the present moment.

The Slideshow is currently in the “More” area of the app. To use it:

  • Go to the More tab
  • Configure the slideshow settings
  • Start the slideshow
  • Put your phone down where you can see it
  • Observe your beautiful quotes and images, to constantly keep you in the present moment

This is what several of the default images and quotes look like in full-screen portrait mode:

Back To Now, slideshow image 1 Back To Now, slideshow image 2 Back To Now, slideshow image 3

I think the slideshow looks even more beautiful in landscape mode:

Back To Now slideshow in landscape mode

Current features

While we hope to implement many other features in the future, other current features include:

  • Bulk-importing quotes
  • Bulk-importing images from your device
  • Bulk-exporting your quotes, as a way to share them to other devices
  • The ability to put “jitter” in your schedule, to help randomize when they are sent
  • The ability to “pin” quotes, so you only see those quotes during the day (to help you focus on a certain practice, for example)

Privacy: Back To Now is completely private

It’s important to note using Back To Now is completely safe. All of your data is stored on your device, and it doesn’t do anything at all over the internet, so it doesn’t track you in any way.

Downloads

You can find Back To Now here on the Apple App Store:

Version history

This is the app-release history:

  • Version 2.0.1: The app was showing in the App Store as “Designed for iPad”, when it’s really designed for iPhone.
  • Version 2.0.0: The new main release.
Valley Programming is currently a one-person business, owned and operated by Alvin Alexander. If you’re interested in anything you read here, feel free to contact me at “al” at (“@”) this website name (“valleyprogramming.com”), or at the phone number shown below. I’m just getting back to business here in July, 2025, and eventually I’ll get a contact form set up here, but until then, I hope that works.