Placement guidance
Before you start, the app walks you through the setup: flat on a hard surface, no overhang, nothing soft underneath. That prevents "the device itself is wobbling" from being read as "the desk is moving".
Time-limited monitoring
Every session has a stated length and runs only while the app is open in the foreground. When the time is up or you stop it, motion reading ends immediately.
Adjustable sensitivity
The threshold is yours to tune for your desk. Changing the level during a session recalibrates the judging window, and the interface says clearly that it is briefly unavailable.
Live multi-axis readout
The screen shows live X / Y / Z movement values, so you can see directly whether things are quiet or one axis is moving steadily.
Alerts that explain themselves
An alert does not just make noise: it says which axis moved and which condition was met, so you can judge whether the alert made sense before you record it.
One event card
Each alert leaves a card with the time, the threshold that fired and an axis summary, and you can add your own "yes / no" judgement to keep what you felt alongside it.
Event archive
Up to 500 events are kept, with real events and drill records stored separately. Deleting asks for confirmation, and you can cancel before anything is removed.
Family demo
A built-in script walks through the local notification flow so you can see what an alert looks like. The demo runs on this device only, pushes nothing to other devices, and reads no real sensor data.
Optional city board
If you opt in, three fields — occurrence time, a 1 km grid label and a felt-intensity band — can be written to an anonymous public CloudKit record. There is no precise location and no device identifier, and when the board is unavailable it is labelled as local demo data.
Who is this app for?
Turn "that one moment" into something you can check
You want to know if the desk really moved
Leave the device flat and watch the live three-axis readout first: is the phone unstable, or is the surface actually moving?
You want one more layer of awareness at home
Run a time-limited session on the living-room desk and get a local alert when conditions are met. It adds awareness; it never replaces official information.
You want to keep what you just felt
The event card stores the time, threshold and axis summary, and you can add your own yes/no, so checking with family later does not depend on memory.
You want to show the family first
Use the family demo to walk through the local notification flow before anything happens, so everyone knows what an alert looks like.
You are curious about nearby records
The optional city board shows only time, 1 km grid and felt-intensity band; when it is unavailable the app says plainly that it is showing local demo data.
You leave an iPad flat as a desk screen
iPad and landscape layouts are supported, the dark interface suits night placement, and Reduce Motion is respected.
Limits
What it does and does not do
Not an official earthquake warning system
DeskTremor provides no magnitude, epicenter or intensity forecast and cannot replace official information, professional judgement or emergency action.
Foreground only
A regular iOS app cannot sample motion continuously in the background. Leaving the app or reaching the end of the session stops the reading, and that period leaves no record.
The demo stays on your device
The family demo walks through the local notification flow on your own device and sends nothing to anyone else's phone.
Everything stays on the device
Motion samples, events, waveforms, sessions and demo data stay on this device. There is no account, advertising, analytics or tracking SDK, and no in-app purchase or subscription.
Common questions
Scope, privacy and cost
Can it monitor all night in the background?
No. iOS does not let a regular app keep reading motion in the background, so DeskTremor monitors only while the app is open and in the foreground.
Does it tell me how strong it was on the Richter scale?
No. It describes the motion this device read and the condition that fired; it gives no magnitude, epicenter or intensity, and it does not replace official information.
Do I need an account or internet access?
Neither. Only if you turn on the optional city board does the app use iCloud CloudKit to write those three anonymous fields.
When is notification permission requested?
Only when you actively enable the family demo. Declining notifications does not affect monitoring, the readout, event cards or the archive.
Can it give false alerts?
Yes. With a low threshold, tapping the desk, moving a cup or an unstable placement can all meet the condition. That is exactly why the event card records the axis summary and threshold, so you can check it yourself.
Does it cost anything?
Version 1.0 is free, with no in-app purchase, subscription, advertising or paywall.
Official information and support
Read the limits, privacy policy, terms of use, support options and local-data notes. Version 1.0 (build 1) is preparing for release and supports iOS 26 and later; the App Store link will be added once it is live.