Reviews · Sumbisori

Voices heard
at the surface

After every dive, a haenyeo surfaces and lets out one long breath.
The reviews divers leave us on the stores sound just like that sumbisori.

So we write back to every sumbisori. "Hoo-ee♪"

As of Oct 2026 · Ratings are from the Korean storefronts, where the original reviews live

★★★★★사**Google Play

Came from an ad, and I'm just glad I found this app early..

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

"Glad I found it early".. we're glad we met you early too. The sooner the phone goes down, the better. Your ocean is just getting started. We can't wait to see which creatures you'll meet. Have a good dive. Hoo-ee♪

★★★★★남**Google Play

Really great app. One request though: when I study I play my own music. Could music apps or YouTube not count against the breathing room..?

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

We totally get wanting music while you study! There is a way: start your music before you dive. Once the dive begins, the music keeps playing. But opening an app mid-dive to change tracks... we let the breathing room count that. The breathing room isn't our rule. It's a promise you chose before diving. Once a promise starts getting exceptions, it gets lighter and lighter. So pick your music carefully before the dive, and dive deep!

★★★★★김**Google Play

I have pretty severe ADHD, and having a guaranteed reward really helps me hold out. I'll keep using it. Also, if the creatures I haven't met yet showed only a silhouette with the description hidden, it would make me even more curious!

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

Thank you for sharing this honestly. A sure reward waiting at the end of holding out.. that's exactly why Sumbi has shells and creatures. So that time away from your phone isn't empty time, but time when something waits at the bottom of the sea. May every dive end with a happy encounter. The haenyeo is holding out right there with you.

★★★★★공**Google Play

So simple and nice to use. I'd love a way to visit my buddy's ocean though.

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

"Simple" is the highest compliment for us. ^^ You only ever choose two things, dive time and breathing room, and we cut a lot to keep it that way. Visiting a buddy's ocean: great idea. If a buddy watches over your dives, of course you'd want to visit the sea they've grown. It's on the list. Have a simple dive today.

★★★★★으**App Store

Love it 🫶

Better quality than I expected, and so cute! Besides adding a photo in profile editing, a haenyeo dress-up feature would make it even better, hehe

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

"Better than I expected".. happily received. ^^ Haenyeo dress-up! We often talk about gifting her a new wetsuit and tewak ourselves. Things like diving together are ahead in line, so it'll take a little while, but we're picturing the day you can tend your haenyeo the way you tend your ocean. Until then, she'll keep diving her hardest.

★★★★★안**App Store

Sumbi helped me study longer ☺️

I used to lose focus because of my phone. Any notification and I'd check it right away. With Sumbi on while I do homework I can actually focus, and listening to Sumbi's music helps me get in the zone. The sea creatures are adorable and make me want to raise more. Could you add gifting by nickname, not just QR code? 🥰👍

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

Hearing that homework time became focus time, and that you listen to Sumbi's music too.. it makes it all worth it. Gifting by nickname: good call. QR codes work in person, but a faraway friend needs a nickname field. We'll work on letting oceans exchange creatures across any distance. Keep raising those creatures.

★★★★★안**App Store

ㅠㅡㅠ

Downloaded it because it's adorable, but "My Ocean" kept crashing 😭 → Now My Ocean works perfectly and I love it~! So cute 💕 the best 😊

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

You came for the cuteness and your ocean wouldn't open its door... we're so sorry. 😭 We hunted that bug down and fixed it in 1.1.0. Your ocean's door is wide open now, with every creature you've met waiting inside. Five stars we barely deserved until it was fixed... thank you for giving them first.

★★★★★Y**Google Play

I set my dive to the length where the background changes from shallow to deep, and succeeded. So why am I getting shallow-sea fish?? Please check if it's a bug! Other than that it feels rewarding and I love it. Using it a lot during exams.

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

Thank you for looking so closely. It's actually not a bug. Dive time only raises the chance of reaching deep water, and it doesn't guarantee arrival. Even at 120 minutes, most days end in the shallows, and the abyss never exceeds 8% however long you dive. But we completely agree the changing background reads like a guarantee. We'll make the odds easier to see. Knowing it gives you that sense of achievement keeps us going.

★★★★★g**App Store

An app that really helps me focus 👍

It's so simple that focusing feels effortless. I naturally look at my phone less, and it's great for building a focus habit ☺

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

"Effortless" is the word we most hoped to hear. Sumbi only asks you to choose two things: dive time and breathing room. Anything more complex and people stop opening the app at all... so we cut everything from the start. Cutting things is really hard. 😭 But hearing that looking at your phone less is becoming a habit.. the thing we wished for is happening in your day. Have a good dive today.

★★★★★망**App Store

망망이

I've tried countless digital detox apps and this one is the most fun! Phone down, creatures collected... by any chance, any tips for pulling abyss creatures??

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

Tips for the abyss.. sorry, there are none. 😭 Having none is Sumbi's promise. Money... settings... friends... nothing raises the odds. Only time in the sea does, and abyss creatures never exceed 8% no matter how long you stay. So here's a non-tip tip: stay long. And remember just one thing: the abyss is always night. We're waiting for the aurora jelly to rise in your ocean too.

★★★★★s**App Store

Love it, but one thing before I go

It works surprisingly well and I use it all the time. But... the garden eel that's supposed to be buried in the sand is floating in midair..?

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

So the garden eel left the sand behind and took flight... thank you so much for telling us. 😂 We'll put it right back. Honestly, what we care about most isn't adding features. The first 30 seconds after opening the app, how a dive feels, the moment you meet a creature, the time spent gazing at your ocean. Your garden eel lives inside that list too. We'll keep polishing those four things before any feature. "It works surprisingly well" felt like proof we're on the right road. It meant a lot.

★★★★★박**Google Play

Ok so is there a bug where I only ever collect shallow-sea creatures or what

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

If you keep getting shallow-sea creatures, it's fair to suspect a bug. Honestly though, it's not a bug. That's just how Sumbi's ocean works. Dive time only raises the chance of reaching deeper water, so even a 120-minute dive lands in the shallows most days. The abyss never exceeds 8% no matter how long you stay. Like the real sea, it doesn't open easily. One tip: diving long and often is the only way down. Hope the deep opens on your next dive.

★★★★★임**Google Play

First off, this is not an ad. The quality is so clean and cute. No ads. No paid gacha. The collection grind is seriously addictive. You can add friends and gift each other, so it's great together too. Found it through an Instagram ad and it's so good I'm reviewing right away.

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

"Not an ad. No paid gacha." You put the two things we most want to protect right in the first line. That's Sumbi's promise: the only thing that moves the odds is time spent in the sea. The collection, the gifting between friends... you noticed all of it, and our ocean is anything but calm today. 😂

★★★★★곤**Google Play

I was hooked on the dopamine of Reels and Shorts and was looking for an app like Sumbi. Getting a creature as a reward for NOT touching your phone is such a fresh, fun system! The creature animations feel a bit stiff though. Polish that and this gets even better!

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

The moment Reels time turns into a sea creature... that's exactly what we wanted to build. And thank you for being honest about the stiff animations.. we've been watching them thinking "these little ones should swim smoother.." too. We'll keep polishing. Cheering for every diver who chose the ocean over dopamine.

★★★★★오**App Store

Great app for studying with friends!

Studying with a friend and sharing what we caught and sending each other gifts.. it's the best!! If this app gets bigger, I'd love a feature to make and dress up my own haenyeo hehe

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

Sharing catches and gifting with a friend.. that's the part we worked hardest on in 1.1.0, and you spotted it right away. A haenyeo of your own is something many divers are asking for, so that day will come. May diving with your friend stay this fun.

★★★★★C**App Store

No better focus timer app than this

I'm a high-school senior preparing for exams. I can track my focus time with calm music and get a digital detox while I study. Very satisfied. Like other reviewers, my sleep quality has clearly improved too.

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

Sumbi guarding a student's focus hours... no news makes us prouder. Only one thing decides which creatures appear: time spent in the sea. The longer the dive, the higher the slowly rising odds of deep water and the abyss. Long study hours become deep ocean, as is. The haenyeo will dive with you all the way to exam day.

★★★★★손**App Store

Please make a widget.

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

A widget! It's on our wish list too. We keep imagining one of your sea creatures floating on the home screen. We're thinking hard about what kind of widget makes you put the phone down instead of opening it. Diving together comes first, so it'll be a bit... but we won't forget. Your five stars are hung up safely in the sea.

★★★★★강**Google Play

An app every preschooler and elementary-schooler should try. I'm gifting my children the time to put the phone down.

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

"Gifting the time to put the phone down." That's the sentence we always wanted to say, and you said it first. With kids, start with short 10–15 minute dives. The creatures met in oceans they stayed in to the end will slowly fill their sea. And before long, diving together is coming too. May your family's evenings grow a little longer.

★★★★★하**App Store

My quality of life improved

In an age where screen time just keeps growing, I kept telling myself to stop, but once I started watching shorts I couldn't. My sleep was shrinking and fatigue piling up. Since installing Sumbi, my sleep has clearly gotten longer and I can actually stop scrolling. The background music is healing and the fish are adorable~

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

"My sleep got longer again." We read that line over and over. It's the one change we hoped for most while building Sumbi: sleep returning to the hours the phone is down. More creatures are coming. The ocean is wide. Sleep deep tonight.

★★★★★H**Google Play

This is a brilliant way to detox and get your life back on track! Love the whole diving metaphor! The UI/graphics is just beautiful!

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

"Get your life back on track".. this is exactly why we made Sumbi. Reading this from the other side of the world, it made our whole day. 👍 Thank you for diving with us.

★★★★★제**App Store

I really want to quit my phone

The moment you feel that, open Sumbi. Thank you. 👍

Sumbi's reply · Hoo-ee♪

"The moment you really want to quit your phone, open Sumbi." You said what we always wanted to say, in one sentence. We'd use it as our tagline as-is. Sumbi takes its name from the Jeju haenyeo's sumbisori, so these five stars land a little deeper. We'll keep building carefully, so the time your phone is down becomes life.

Every written review is here, translated from the Korean originals. Some nicknames are masked and long reviews are trimmed.
Tap "Show original" on any card to read the original. The originals are also on the App Store and Google Play.

We hope the next sumbisori
is yours

When you surface from a dive, leave us your sumbisori on the store.
We write back to every single one.