Search for an attention training app and most of what comes back is not the Attention Training Technique. “Attention training” is a phrase used by concentration games, children’s focus programmes, and meditation apps — all different things from Wells’ twelve-minute auditory protocol[1].
Disclosure, since it belongs at the top: this site is published by the makers of Heed, which is one such app. The checklist below is drawn from the published protocol rather than from our feature list, so you can use it against any app including ours.
The checklist
An app delivering the documented exercise has to have all of these.
| Check | What the protocol specifies |
|---|---|
| Three phases, in order | Selective attention, then rapid switching, then divided attention[1] |
| About twelve minutes, split 5–5–2 | Approximately five, five and two minutes[1] |
| Several sounds at once | Between six and nine, depending on the level of demand required[1] |
| Sounds at different distances | At least three in the room, two nearby, two in the far distance[1] |
| A voice naming them | The script directs attention to a named sound and instructs a refocus when attention is captured[1] |
| An accelerating switch | About every ten seconds, increasing to every five[1] |
| A different layout each session | Sounds and arrangement varied between sessions, to offset the effects of practice on task difficulty[1] |
| Eyes-open instruction | Gaze held on a fixation point throughout[1] |
What should make you suspicious
It is sold as relaxation, calm, or sleep. The manual specifies that the exercise should not be employed as a distraction, avoidance, or symptom-management strategy, and is not intended as an emotion-management strategy[1]. An app promising calm is aimed elsewhere, whatever it calls itself.
It has levels, streaks, or a score. ATT is designed to stay attentionally demanding rather than become easier[1], and its measure of a good session is whether you kept bringing attention back[1]. A number that goes up is a different product philosophy — and progress-checking is exactly the self-monitoring the underlying model treats as part of the problem[1].
It is one fixed recording. The protocol asks for variation between sessions[1]. A single track you replay works against its own design.
It promises to treat something. ATT is one component of metacognitive therapy[1]; an app is not a course of treatment, and any app claiming otherwise is overstating what it is.
It cites no sources. The protocol is published and specific. An app describing “attention training” without pointing at Wells is probably describing something else — see who invented ATT for why the attribution matters.
What an app can and cannot add
Can: control the sound layout instead of depending on what a room offers; vary it every session as the protocol asks[1]; place sounds at genuinely different distances and directions; keep the phase timings exact; and record that practice happened, which the protocol treats as homework[1].
Cannot: make it a treatment, make it easy, or make it work in the moment you feel bad. The protocol has practice happening when you are not in a state of anxiety or acute worry[1], and no software changes that.
You may not need one
Worth saying on a page published by an app maker. ATT began as a therapist reading a script in a consulting room, and the manual records that recorded versions of sounds have been used in its implementation[1]. Any faithful delivery is a delivery — see ATT audio: what to listen to, which includes a full session you can hear without installing anything.
Heed is a self-practice tool inspired by ATT research — not therapy, and not a medical device.
For the actual options measured against this checklist, see the best attention training apps.
Questions and answers
- Is there an app for the Attention Training Technique?
- Several apps use the phrase "attention training", but most deliver concentration games or meditation rather than Wells' protocol. The things to check are the three phases, the 5–5–2 timing, several simultaneous sounds at different distances, and a voice that names them.
- What disqualifies an app?
- No voice directing attention between named sounds; a single unchanging soundscape; framing as relaxation or sleep; or a scoring system, since the exercise is designed not to get easier.
- Do I need an app at all?
- No. ATT was originally delivered by a therapist in a room, and the manual notes that recorded versions of sounds have been used. An app is one delivery route, not a requirement.
References
- Wells, A. (2009). Metacognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Depression. Guilford Press. Chapter 4: Attention Training Techniques.
Published by the makers of Heed, an app for practicing ATT-style sessions. iPhone · Android. Heed is a self-practice tool inspired by ATT research — not therapy, and not a medical device.