# Hele: Carousel Music Box

> A wooden carousel music box for iPhone. A child turns the brass key, lets go, and a lullaby plays on a
> music-box comb, slowing as the spring runs down. A small lever stops it. Made for ages 5 and under,
> mostly at bedtime.

"Hele" is the Filipino word for lullaby. The app was made by Hans Allí, an independent digital design
consultant in Manila and co-founder of Dthree Digital, for his own child's bedtime.

## Facts

- What it is: an iPhone app. Hele is not a physical toy and nothing is shipped; the music box is
  modeled and played inside the phone.
- Platform: iOS (iPhone)
- Price: US$4.99, paid once. No subscription and no advertising.
- Audience: children five and under. Babies watch and listen; bigger hands wind it themselves.
- Privacy: no account, no analytics, no tracking, and no data collected. The app makes no network
  requests except to Apple for purchases.
- Accessibility: works with VoiceOver and Switch Control. Nothing depends on reading. Nothing times
  out or punishes. A Big key option grows the touch area without changing the art.
- App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6808148924
- Try it without installing: https://hele.toys/try/

## How it works

There are no buttons on the child's screen. Every control is the object itself: the brass key winds
it, the lever on the right stops it, and the knob on the roof winds it back to the start. Everything
for parents sits behind a press-and-hold gate labelled Parents.

Sleep mode turns the riders slowly without winding, fades the light down and stops after 15, 30 or 45
minutes. The screen stays warm and dim. There are no sparkles, no stars and no rewards.

## What it is, and what it is not

Hele is a toy the child operates, not a player the parent presses. There is no list to scroll and
nothing to press: the key, the lever and the knob on the roof are the whole of it. It is an object,
not a scene: wood, brass and lamplight, modeled and lit like a real music box, with no stars, no
glow, no sparkle and nothing that looks back at the child. It is bought once, not rented: named
packs, no subscription, no ads, no account, and nothing leaves the device.

## How it feels

The brass key clicks at every notch, and the clicks get sharper and firmer as the spring loads; near
full wind the key hardly moves, then stops dead with a wooden clack. Letting go kicks the key back
six degrees with one soft knock, and a low hum runs under the first bar. Winding slowly makes the
spring creak. The comb is modeled on an eighteen-note movement, each note in its own place across
the base, so on headphones the comb sits inside the box and the ratchet sits up at the key. Haptics
are iPhone only, can be turned off in the Parents area, and stay off under Reduce Motion and in
Sleep mode.

## Packs

Extra riders and tunes come as packs in a later update, each bought once behind the parent gate
and shared with Family Sharing. Seasonal riders are free. Nothing is for sale inside the app yet.

## Pages

- https://hele.toys/ : what the toy is
- https://hele.toys/try/ : the music box running in a browser
- https://hele.toys/packs/ : every rider and tune pack
- https://hele.toys/lullabies/ : every tune, where it came from, and its rights status
- https://hele.toys/accessibility/ : how it works with assistive technology
- https://hele.toys/support/ : answers to common questions
- https://hele.toys/privacy/ : the privacy policy
- https://hele.toys/made-by/ : who made it, and why it works the way it does
- https://hele.toys/press/ : press kit and contact
- https://hele.toys/whats-new/ : every version as it shipped

Contact: hello@hele.toys