BreathHold vs Apnea Trainer: Freedive (2026 Comparison)
BreathHold and Apnea Trainer: Freedive compared on platform requirements, session models, Apple Watch support, dive logging and what each listing promises.
Apnea Trainer: Freedive is the better app if you own a current iPhone and an Apple Watch — it demands iOS 26 and repays that with wrist-controlled sessions, real-time heart rate, widgets and a dive logbook with depth and location; BreathHold is the one to install if you are on Android or an older iPhone, or if you would rather run a specific CO2 table today than follow a multi-week generated plan.
This comparison is written by the BreathHold team. We strive for accuracy and fairness, but acknowledge our inherent bias. All data verified from public app store listings as of the publication date.
BreathHold makes one of the two apps compared here. Apnea Trainer facts come from its current US App Store listing and its official site at apnea-trainer.com, read on August 12, 2026. The .de domain redirects to a legacy page and is not a source for anything on this page.
At a glance
| Feature | BreathHold | Apnea Trainer: Freedive |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone (iOS 15.6+), Android | iPhone (iOS 26+), iPad, Mac, Apple Watch |
| Android build | ||
| Session model | Pick a table or a breathing session | Four modes plus a generated multi-week plan |
| Preset CO2 tables | Easy, Classic, Hard (40/50/60% of max) | Cyclic mode, described as CO2-tolerance rounds |
| Preset O2 tables | Custom builder only | Not listed as a table type |
| Fully adjustable phases | Hold, rest, rounds, progression | Custom Pro: four phases, 0-240s each |
| Breath-hold tests | Max hold and CO2 baseline | Apnea stopwatch with saved bests |
| Pranayama mode | ||
| Apple Watch app | Heart rate and haptic phase cues | |
| Widgets and Live Activities | ||
| Apple Health | Sessions written as mindful minutes | |
| Dive logbook (depth, location) | ||
| Box and rectangular breathing | ||
| Instructional videos | 8, most in the subscription | |
| Store record (Aug 12, 2026) | 5.0 from 1 US rating | 4.8 from ~1,580 US ratings |
| Price model | Free to install, optional subscription | Free to install, in-app purchases |
What Apnea Trainer does better
Apnea Trainer: Freedive
Pros
- Apple Watch app: start and control a session from the wrist, with real-time heart rate and haptic phase cues
- A multi-week plan generated from your stated level and goal, with each session scheduled
- Performance Index adjusts session times as your recorded numbers change
- Custom Pro exposes all four phases from 0 to 240 seconds
- Logbook for real dives with location, map preview, duration, maximum depth and notes
- Three home-screen widgets, Live Activities on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island
- Apple Health writes and per-session heart-rate graphs
- Runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch from one purchase
Cons
- Requires iOS 26, so older iPhones are excluded
- No Android build at all
- Its listing promises that training three times a week will quickly double your time underwater
- Not organised as a named CO2 and O2 table library
What BreathHold does differently
BreathHold
Pros
- Runs on Android and on iPhones back to iOS 15.6
- CO2 tables as presets: the hold stays at 40%, 50% or 60% of your recorded max while the rest shortens
- A max breath-hold test and a CO2-baseline test, with the baseline setting the intervals
- Custom builder for hold, rest, rounds and progression, including O2-style tables
- Equanimity tables keyed to your first urge-to-breathe signal, or that signal plus 15 or 30 seconds
- Box, rectangular, full-cycle and rhythmic breathing alongside the tables
- Eight instructional videos and a freediving-school directory
- A safety acknowledgement before first use, a safety page and a medical citations sheet
Cons
- No Apple Watch app, no widgets, no Live Activities, no Apple Health
- No dive logbook: dry-land sessions and tests only
- No generated multi-week plan — you choose the session
- No pranayama mode
- iPhone-only on iOS, with no iPad or Mac build
- Equanimity tables, Full Breath Cycles and most videos need the subscription
- One US App Store rating, against roughly 1,580
The differences that actually decide it
The platform question comes first
Apnea Trainer: Freedive 5.5.2 requires iOS 26 or later and has no Android build. That is not a preference, it is a filter: an Android phone or an iPhone that cannot run iOS 26 ends the comparison before any feature matters. BreathHold's iOS build requires iOS 15.6, and there is an Android app.
The flip side is real too. If you are inside the Apple ecosystem on current hardware, Apnea Trainer reaches places BreathHold does not go at all — the watch, the Lock Screen, the Health app and a Mac.
A plan versus a table
Apnea Trainer answers "what should I do today" with a generated multi-week plan and a Performance Index that shifts the times for you. BreathHold answers "run this table now": you take the two tests, then pick Easy, Classic or Hard, or build the table yourself. Which is better depends entirely on whether you want to be scheduled or to decide.
Neither model is evidence of an outcome. Research on apnea training and sports performance is mixed and protocol-specific, so a plan is a structure for your practice, not a guarantee attached to it.
The claim we will not match
Apnea Trainer's listing states that by training three times a week you will quickly double your time underwater. It is their claim, on their listing, and we mention it because it is the loudest difference between how the two products talk. BreathHold does not publish an improvement figure or a timeframe, because we have no first-party analysis that supports one and the published research does not license one. What our app gives you instead is the record: every test and session is saved, so you can compare what you actually did.
Logging dives versus logging dry-land work
Apnea Trainer's logbook takes depth, location, duration and notes for real dives, which makes it a reasonable single home for both training and diving. BreathHold's history covers dry-land sessions, tests and progress, and nothing in it invites you into the water. That is a design position rather than an omission: read the safety guide for why in-water work belongs with a trained buddy and a course, not with an app.
Pranayama and paced breathing
Apnea Trainer has a four-phase pranayama mode for relaxation before a dive. BreathHold's paced-breathing options are box, rectangular, full breath cycles and rhythmic breathing. Different traditions, comparable purpose; pick the pattern you will actually sit through. You can try ours in the browser first: the box breathing timer and rectangular breathing timer need no install.
A third option, if the price of iOS 26 is too high
If your iPhone cannot run iOS 26, the other named apnea trainer worth a look is Freediving Apnea Trainer, and its two builds are not the same age. Read on August 12, 2026, its iPhone version was still 1.3.3, dated July 5, 2024, while its Android listing had been updated on August 7, 2026 and carried 100K+ downloads at 4.4 stars. On Android it is in active maintenance; on iOS it is two years behind.
What it has that neither app here does: AIDA-style spoken time notifications during preparation and the hold, contraction marking stored with the session, and named Bluetooth heart-rate support for Mi Band 3 to 6 and Polar H10, H9 and H8, plus Apple Health for heart rate and oxygen saturation. If you keep a contraction log, read it carefully: the timing and strength of involuntary breathing movements vary between people and between attempts, so a later onset does not mean the hold was safer. See breath-hold contractions for what the research observed.
When to choose Apnea Trainer instead of BreathHold
Choose Apnea Trainer: Freedive if you have an iPhone on iOS 26 and an Apple Watch and want sessions on the wrist; if you want a plan that schedules itself; if you want one app for both dry-land sessions and a depth-and-location dive log; or if widgets, Live Activities and Apple Health matter to your routine.
Choose BreathHold if you are on Android, if your iPhone cannot run iOS 26, if you want named CO2 table presets derived from your own baseline test, or if you want box and rectangular breathing in the same app as the apnea work.
Whichever app you choose
No app supervises you. Never practice breath holding in water alone — use a trained buddy who understands freediving rescue and watches the diver throughout the attempt, because apps and timers do not replace trained in-water supervision. Never hyperventilate before a hold: it can delay the urge to breathe without preventing oxygen from falling, which increases the risk of loss of consciousness. Practise alone only on dry land, and stop if you feel faint, confused or unwell.
Sources
- Apnea Trainer: Freedive on the App Store — version 5.5.2, read August 12, 2026: four modes, generated plan, Performance Index, Apple Watch, stopwatch, logbook, widgets, Live Activities, Apple Health, iOS 26 requirement, ratings, and the doubling claim quoted above.
- Apnea Trainer official website — Apple-platform availability.
- BreathHold on the App Store and Google Play — version 2.6.0, read August 12, 2026.
- Freediving Apnea Trainer on the App Store and Google Play — iOS 1.3.3 dated July 5, 2024; Android updated August 7, 2026 with 100K+ downloads; AIDA notifications, contraction marking and the Bluetooth device list, all read August 12, 2026.
- Freediving Safety, Divers Alert Network
- Hypoxia in Breath-Hold Diving, Divers Alert Network
Related reading
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Frequently asked questions
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