Rider pack
Farm
Cow, pig, sheep, dog
Available
Lullaby Music Box for iPhone and iPad
Your child winds it.
A wooden carousel music box, modeled and played inside your iPhone or iPad. Turn the brass key, let go, and a lullaby plays on a real music-box comb, slowing as the spring runs down. A little lever stops it.
Free to try. No ads, no subscription. Works offline.
Scan with your iPhoneto open the App Store No. 1 paid app in Kids and in Music on the Philippine App Store, 24 to 26 September 2026 Or try it in your browser
Try it in your browser.
This is the music box from the app. Turn the brass key, let go, and pull the lever to stop.
What it is
Nobody presses play.
Your child winds the key, pulls the lever and hears the spring run out, the way they would with a music box on a shelf.
- A toy, not a player
The key, the lever and the knob on the roof are the whole of it. There is no list to scroll and nothing to press.
- An object, not a scene
Wood, brass and lamplight, modeled and lit like a real music box, with a lamp you can move yourself.
- Free to try. Pay once.
Five riders and six tunes, with no time limit. Named packs you choose, bought once. No subscription, no ads, no account, and nothing leaves the device.
Hele is an app, not a physical toy. The music box is modeled and played inside the phone; nothing is shipped.
Low stimulation
It is for the last ten minutes of the day.
The screen is warm and dim so it never becomes the brightest thing in the room. There are no sparkles, no stars, no rewards, and nothing looks back at your child.
A bedtime that goes the same way every night helps small children fall asleep sooner and wake less. That finding held across ten thousand families in fourteen countries, the Philippines among them. Hele is made to be the last step of that routine, the one that ends by itself.
Sleep mode starts with one tap. It turns the riders slowly without winding, fades the light down, and stops after 15, 30 or 45 minutes, or plays on all night. What stays on screen is a small mark you can read from the doorway.
A bedside clock sits behind the carousel, with the date above it, so the toy can stay on the nightstand.
Five riders and six tunes, free.
A horse, a bear, a rabbit, a duck and a cat, carved in wood and painted in cream, rust and ochre, free with no time limit. Any four ride at once.
- Brahms’ Lullaby
- Twinkle, Twinkle
- Ili-Ili Tulog Anay
- Rock-a-bye Baby
- Hush, Little Baby
- Frère Jacques
Rider pack
Forest
Fox, owl, deer, hedgehog
Available
Rider pack
Savanna
Elephant, giraffe, zebra, lion
Available
Rider pack
Jungle
Monkey, parrot, tiger, sloth
Available
Rider pack
Winter
Penguin, polar bear, reindeer, seal, and the snow roof
Available
Rider pack
Philippines
Carabao, tarsier, maya bird, bangus, and the teal roof
Available
Lullabies
Tune pack
Lullabies
6 tunes
Available
Nursery Songs
Tune pack
Nursery Songs
6 tunes
Available
Little Classics
Tune pack
Little Classics
6 tunes
Available
Filipino Folk Songs
Tune pack
Filipino Folk Songs
6 tunes
Available
Seasonal gift
Midwinter
Star bear, robin, sleigh, and the festive roof, with Silent Night
December gift
Rider pack
Japan
Tanuki, crane, koi, snow monkey, and the teal roof
Coming
Japanese Lullabies
Tune pack
Japanese Lullabies
Six tunes, being arranged
Coming
The Carousel Collection is every pack, and every new carousel pack when it arrives, in one purchase. Or buy packs one at a time. Each is bought once, behind the parent gate, and shared with Family Sharing. Seasonal riders are free.
Carved, not drawn.
The carved music box you see here is the one in the app. Every part is modeled, lit and turned like the real thing, so it holds up close.
The brass key
It clicks at every notch and gets firmer as the spring tightens, until it stops.
The beech base
Natural beech with a carved groove and a row of beads. The comb sits inside it.
The riders
Carved in wood and painted in cream, rust and ochre. Any four ride at once.
The roof
The grooved roof turns with the riders. Holding the knob on top winds it back to the start.
The lever
The small lever on the right stops it. That is everything a child can do, and everything they need.
You can feel the spring.
Every notch clicks back into the finger, sharper and firmer as the spring loads, until the key stops dead with a wooden clack. Let go and it kicks back with one soft knock.
Haptics are on iPhone, can be turned off in the Parents area, and stay off under Reduce Motion and in Sleep mode.
There are no buttons.
Nothing has to be learned and nothing depends on reading. A child who has never held a phone can turn the key and hear it play.
Everything for parents is behind the Parents label, top right.
- 01Wind
A finger on the brass key turns it. It clicks at every notch and gets firmer as the spring tightens.
- 02Let go
The roof and the riders turn, and the comb starts. Over half a minute the tune slows and the last note rings out on its own.
- 03Stop
The small lever on the right stops it. Holding the knob on the roof winds it back to the start.
Free to try. No ads, no subscription.
The Workshop Book
Every animal has a page.
Open the little drawer in the base and a book comes out: one page for every rider, to read aloud at bedtime. A short story, a question for your child, and a card of true facts.
No. 001Horse
No. 002Bear
No. 003Rabbit
No. 004Duck
No. 005Cat- No. 006Dog
- No. 007Cow
- No. 008Pig
- No. 009Sheep
- No. 010Fox
- No. 011Owl
- No. 012Deer
- No. 013Hedgehog
- No. 014Elephant
- No. 015Giraffe
- No. 016Zebra
- No. 017Lion
- No. 018Monkey
- No. 019Parrot
- No. 020Tiger
- No. 021Sloth
- No. 022Penguin
- No. 023Polar bear
- No. 024Reindeer
- No. 025Seal
- No. 026Carabao
- No. 027Tarsier
- No. 028Maya bird
- No. 029Bangus
- No. 030TanukiStill to come
- No. 031CraneStill to come
- No. 032KoiStill to come
- No. 033Snow monkeyStill to come
- No. 034Star bear
- No. 035Robin
- No. 036Sleigh
Five riders come free, with their pages. Buy any pack and the whole book opens. The book, page by page
No. 001HorseThe Standing SleeperThe horse stands quiet in the dark field. It can doze standing up, legs tall and still. Hrrrmm, a soft, sleepy breath.
Can you stand very still, like a sleepy horse?
- Lives in
- Farms, fields and grasslands all over the world
- Size
- Its back is about as high as a grown-up’s head
- Eats
- Grass
- Did you know?
- Horses can doze standing up, and they take lots of short naps. For their deepest sleep, they lie down.
In the app, the horse rides the carousel. Get Hele on the App Store
Wind it tonight
Free to try. No ads, no subscription, no account, and nothing leaves the device.
Or turn the key first at hele.toys/try
For parents
- Settings
- Riders, tune, wind length, the lamp, Sleep mode and night dimming sit behind a two-second hold. Your child never sees a setting or a price.
- Offline
- Plays with no Wi-Fi or data, anywhere. Only buying or restoring a pack goes online, to Apple.
- Privacy
- Nothing leaves the device. No account, no analytics, no ads, no tracking. Purchases are handled by Apple. Privacy in full.
- Kids category
- Built to Apple’s Kids rules and COPPA. No links out, no social features, nothing that opens a browser.
- Accessibility
- VoiceOver, Switch Control, Dynamic Type and Reduce Motion are respected. A bigger key is one toggle away. Details.
- Sound
- Modeled on an 18-note comb. On headphones the comb sits in the base and the ratchet at the key.
- Price
- Free to try: five riders, six tunes, Sleep mode, the bedside clock and the lamp, with no time limit. The Carousel Collection is US$9.99 in the US, or packs are US$1.99 each; the App Store shows your own currency. One-time purchases, no subscription. Bought Hele before it was free to try? The Carousel Collection is already yours.
Hele is the Filipino word for lullaby. I made it for my own child’s bedtime.
Hans Allí is a digital design consultant in Manila, and co-founder and director of Dthree Digital, an independent studio. How it was made