FAQs

Half Nine is a daily habit check-in that comes to you via WhatsApp every evening at 9:30pm. You set your goals once — fitness, diet, lifestyle, or any combination — and each night we ask you three simple yes/no questions. That's it.

There's no app to download. No dashboard to remember to open. The check-in lands in your WhatsApp like a message from a friend.

Because you already open WhatsApp. Every habit tracker we've tried has the same problem: you have to remember to use it. Half Nine removes that friction entirely — it finds you instead.

The research on habit formation is clear: the cue matters as much as the behaviour. A WhatsApp notification at the same time every night is a much stronger cue than an icon you can ignore on your home screen.

They're based on your goals, which you set during onboarding. So instead of generic questions, you get something like:

• Fitness — run 3x this week? YES or NO
• Diet — no alcohol, max 2 coffees? YES or NO
• Lifestyle — 10 mins meditation? YES or NO

If you only want to track one or two goals, that's fine — you'll only be asked about the ones you set.

After answering your yes/no questions, Half Nine asks if you want to add anything. This is completely optional — most nights you'll just reply DONE.

But on the days something happened — you nearly had a drink, you had a great run, you were unusually stressed — the note captures the context. Over time, those notes become a journal of what's actually driving your habits.

About 20–30 seconds if you just answer yes/no. A minute or two if you write a note. We've deliberately kept it this short — if it starts feeling like work, you'll stop doing it.

Nothing bad. Your streak resets, but all your previous data is still there. Half Nine doesn't guilt-trip you — the next evening you'll get your check-in as normal.

Missing a day is information, not failure. That's what the data is for.

Yes, any time. Just message Half Nine something like "I want to update my goals" and it'll walk you through each one. You can update, keep, or remove any of them.

Every month, Half Nine will also check in to ask if your goals still feel right — so you don't end up being measured against something that no longer fits.

No. You can track one, two, or all three — and switch between them any time. If fitness isn't something you're working on right now, just skip it during onboarding or remove it later.

Whatever you decide. Lifestyle is intentionally broad — it's the catch-all for things that don't fit neatly into fitness or diet. Common examples:

• Alcohol-free days
• Daily meditation
• Sleep by a certain time
• Screen-free evenings
• Journalling

You can track one thing or bundle a few together into a single goal. The binary yes/no forces you to make a call — which is the point.

It's the only way to send you your check-in. Your number is stored securely and used for one purpose only: delivering your 9:30pm message and any replies within that conversation.

We will never use your number to send marketing messages, never sell it, never share it with any third party except Twilio — the service we use to send WhatsApp messages on your behalf.

Only you. Your responses, notes, and goals are stored in your private account. Nobody at Half Nine reads your individual check-ins.

Your notes are processed by Google's Gemini AI to automatically extract themes and tags — this happens automatically and no human reviews the output. See our privacy policy for full details on how this works.

Yes. Message Half Nine "delete my account" or email hello@halfnine.app and we'll delete everything — your profile, goals, check-ins, and notes — within 48 hours. No awkward retention, no dark patterns.

Everything is stored on Google Cloud Platform in europe-west2 (London). Your data never leaves the UK.

Yes. We take your privacy seriously and operate in full compliance with UK GDPR. You have the right to access, correct, export, and delete your data at any time. See our full privacy policy for details.

Half Nine is currently in private beta with invites going out in small batches. Join the waitlist on the home page and we'll email you when your spot opens up.

When you're invited, you'll sign in with Google, verify your WhatsApp number with a one-time code, set your goals, and that's it — your first check-in arrives that evening.

You get a 14-day free trial — no card, no commitment. After that, we ask you to become a Ko-fi member to keep your check-ins coming.

£4.25/month — about the price of a Starbucks latte. Cancel any time directly from Ko-fi.

We'll message you 2 days before your trial ends so nothing cuts out without warning. If your membership lapses, your data stays safe — you can export it or resubscribe any time.

Anywhere WhatsApp works, which is most of the world. Check-ins are sent at 9:30pm in your local timezone, which we detect during onboarding.

We're a UK-based product and our privacy practices reflect UK and EU law, so you're particularly well covered if you're in the UK or Europe.