About Tempo

We're building the opposite of an attention app.

Most apps on your phone are designed to be opened more. Tempo is designed to be opened less. It's doing its job when you forget it's there.

Team
11people across 7 time zones
Private beta
4.2Mpings held for 1,800 testers
Longest focus
2.6hon average, up from 21 minutes
Messages read
0by us, ever
How it started

A Tuesday in 2024, and 212 notifications.

Our founder counted. On one ordinary Tuesday she got 212 notifications and finished nothing she'd planned to. None of them were urgent. Two of them mattered.

Turning everything off didn't work, because the two that mattered really did matter. Do Not Disturb was all or nothing. What she wanted was a tide: everything arriving together, at a time she chose, with a doorbell for the few people who should always get through.

That's still the whole idea. We've just spent two years making it trustworthy enough that you can actually let go.

TUE 12 MAR 2024212 pings. 2 mattered.
Could have waited · 210Mattered · 2

Nadia RahmanCo-founder, product

Our promises

Three things we'll never change.

Written before the first line of code. If a feature breaks one of these, it doesn't ship.

  1. 01

    Nothing is lost, only delayed.

    Tempo never deletes, marks as read or replies for you unless you ask it to. Every ping is still in its own app.

  2. 02

    You set the tide, not the apps.

    No streaks, no badges, no "you've been away". Even Tempo's own notifications follow your tides.

  3. 03

    We never sell attention.

    You pay us, so we don't need ads, data deals or engagement targets. Using Tempo less is the goal.

Timeline

Two years of making quiet trustworthy.

From a spreadsheet of one bad Tuesday to early access on three platforms.

  1. MAR 2024

    The 212-ping Tuesday

    A spreadsheet, a rough prototype and a lot of muted group chats.

  2. NOV 2024

    Doorbells

    The first private testers asked for one thing: "let my kids through". Doorbells were born.

  3. JUN 2025

    Summaries move on-device

    We rebuilt the summary model to run on phones, so content never has to leave them.

  4. FEB 2026

    Private beta, 1,800 people

    4.2 million pings held. The most common feedback: "I forgot it was on."

  5. NOW

    Early access

    Opening to a few hundred people at a time on Mac, iPhone and Android.

The team

Small, remote, and on tides ourselves.

Everyone here runs Tempo. Their tides are under each name. If you message us, that's roughly when we'll reply.

Portrait of Nadia Rahman
Nadia RahmanCo-founder, product
10:0013:0017:00
Portrait of Joel Mensah
Joel MensahCo-founder, engineering
12:3017:30
Portrait of Elena Costa
Elena CostaDesign lead
11:0015:00
Portrait of Sam Okafor
Sam OkaforOn-device ML
13:0018:00
Careers · 4 open roles

Come and work in long, quiet stretches.

  • Fully remote, across 7 time zones
  • Three team tides a day, not a stream of pings
  • No meetings before 11:00 your time
Senior iOS engineerEngineeringRemote · Europe Android engineerEngineeringRemote · Africa / Europe Product designerDesignRemote · Anywhere Customer lead, teamsGo to marketRemote · US time zones

Don't see your role? Write to jobs@tempo.example and tell us what you'd build.

Early access · opening in small batches

Take your afternoons back.

We're letting people in a few hundred at a time. Join the list and we'll send one email when it's your turn. Just the one.

  • Free plan, no card
  • Mac, iPhone and Android
  • One email, ever