Samon — Support

A board of sand that draws itself, under a light that moves with the day. 日本語

What it is

Samon is a board of sand on your screen. A small ball travels along one unbroken line, pushing the sand aside as it goes. The grooves and ridges it leaves become the figure, and lines laid close together turn into waves and shading.

The light comes from the sun and the moon, from where they stand in your sky at this hour. The music is synthesized on the spot.

Controls

• Tap the screen — the controls appear
• Drag sideways — the light moves through the day, forward and back. Let go, and it returns to the real time
• Pinch — switch between the whole board and a closer view of the sand
• Music and volume, in the controls — choose two-layer ambient music, an independent generative piece, or silence
• Settings, in the controls — sand color and speed; whether the light follows the way you hold the device; a lamp at night; playing on with the screen off; when the screen stays on
• Sleep timer, in the controls — after the time you choose, the music fades out and stops

FAQ

Battery and keeping the screen on

Samon is made to be left open for a long time, and that uses power. For long viewing, put the device on a charger. In Settings you can choose when the screen is kept from locking: never, only while charging, or always. Only while charging is the default.

When the device warms up, or Low Power Mode is on, Samon eases its drawing to lighten the load.

Listening with the screen off, and the sleep timer

The music keeps playing when the screen is off or Samon is in the background. Set the sleep timer in the controls, and after the time you choose the music fades out and stops.

If you hear nothing, check the volume of the device first. Samon is made to play even when the device is in silent mode.

Samon is paused when I open it

If music, a podcast or other audio is already playing on your device, Samon starts paused, so that it does not stop what you are listening to. This applies when you open Samon and when you come back to it. Press the play button in the controls to play Samon's music; the other audio then stops.

When nothing else is playing, the music starts by itself.

Where does the light come from?

From the sun and the moon, as they stand where you are at this hour. Samon does not use your location. It estimates roughly where you are from the time zone set on your device, so sunrise and sunset on the board can differ a little from the sky outside.

To see another hour, drag sideways on the board. Let go, and the light returns to the real time.

The light changes when I turn my device

Samon reads the orientation of the device from its motion sensors and turns the direction the light falls from to match, as if the board were a tray resting in your hands. You can turn this off in Settings; the light then keeps north at the top of the board. How the orientation is handled is described in the privacy policy.

Is it an app for a physical sand table?

No. Samon is the sand table itself, on your screen. It does not connect to or control a physical table.

Privacy

What Samon stores, and what it does and does not send, is set out in the privacy policy.