A quieter way to explore.
umbra is built for people who would rather listen their way into interesting ideas than fight bright screens, noisy feeds, and too much visual friction.
Less feed energy, more focused listening.
What makes umbra feel different.
Not faster, louder, or more optimized. Just calmer, clearer, and better suited to late-night curiosity.
Immediate playback, background audio, and lock screen controls create a calm, seamless listening experience.
Search directly, follow themed chips, or begin with something random when you want discovery without effort.
Suggestions, next articles, and smooth transitions keep curiosity moving without feeling like a feed.
Short transcript sections keep you oriented and let you tap directly to the part you want.
Keep the articles you want to return to and find them again later in your favorites.
Ideal for walks, commutes, evenings, and the last few minutes when you still want to learn something beautiful.
Why umbra exists.
I’m August Ellison, a digital brand manager based in Vienna, working at the intersection of design and technology. I created umbra for my girlfriend, who would reach for her phone at night and end up wide awake. She needed something calming to listen to, not a podcast, not music, just something gently interesting.
What began as a simple personal idea gradually became umbra: a calmer, quieter way to explore knowledge and wind down.
Try it tonight.
The public beta is available on iPhone and free to try.
The beta is still evolving, but the core is there: pick a topic, put your phone face-down, and let Wikipedia send you to sleep.
Directly on iPhone via TestFlight. Feedback to hi@augustellison.com.
For evenings with less screen time.
One last calm look at the app, then the screen can fade into the background and the listening can continue.
