For cold sores and HSV · iPhone · Coming soon

Private cold sore and HSV tracker app for iPhone. Catch the first tingle.
Keep it to yourself.

Antivirals work best in the first hours of a tingle, and by the time you have found your pills that window has often closed. Aura is built for those first minutes, and for keeping every bit of it private.

Get notified at launch See how it works
Nothing leaves your deviceNo account, no serverFace ID and a disguised icon
Aura screen showing the I feel something button, the user's own prescribed plan displayed back to them, a countdown to the next dose, and a note that Aura never sets a dose
Why this app exists

The hardest part is rarely the symptoms.

Research into what people with HSV actually experience keeps finding the same thing: the emotional weight outlasts the physical episode. Around one in six adults lives with genital HSV-2 and more than half carry oral HSV-1, yet the tracking apps that exist have almost no reviews, and people are managing it on paper because paper does not sync anywhere.

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The window is hours, not days

Antiviral labels are clear that treatment started at the first signs works best. Finding your prescription details while it is happening wastes the part that matters.

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Consumer apps are not covered by HIPAA

A health app is not a doctor's office. After a period tracker was fined by the FTC in 2021 for sharing data, trusting a server with this is a reasonable thing to refuse.

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The conversation nobody prepares you for

Telling a partner is the part people describe as hardest. Most apps ignore it entirely, or put it behind a subscription.

How it works

Built for the first five minutes, and the long quiet after.

The moment it starts

One tap, then your own plan

The moment you notice a tingle, one tap records the time and shows the plan your clinician gave you, word for word as you entered it, with a countdown you set yourself.

Aura never picks a medication and never sets a dose. It shows you back what you entered, at the moment you are least able to go looking for it.

Aura tingle button screen with the user's prescribed plan shown back to them and a live countdown to the next dose
For the appointment

A number instead of an impression

Aura counts your episodes over 12 months, so "I think I get them quite often" becomes a figure you can put in front of a clinician. That number is usually what a conversation about daily therapy turns on.

Export it as a one-page PDF. Nothing else about you is in it unless you choose to add it.

Aura doctor summary showing episode count over twelve months and a one page PDF ready to export
Patterns

Plain counts, never a black box

Log a few seconds a day and Aura counts which things showed up before your own episodes: short sleep, illness, stress, sun, cycle. It reports them as counts you could re-derive by hand, such as three of your four episodes following a run-down day.

It does not predict, and it does not claim causation. Your log is small and honest arithmetic is the only thing that respects that.

Aura patterns screen listing factors that preceded past episodes as plain counts from the user's own log
The hardest conversation

Words you can borrow, free always

Scripts for telling a partner, sourced facts so you can answer their questions accurately, and a risk-reduction plan written to be read together rather than delivered.

This part is free and always will be. Charging for the sentence someone needs at the worst moment of their week is not a business model we want.

Aura disclosure toolkit showing conversation scripts and sourced facts for talking to a partner
Privacy features

A lock, a decoy, and an ordinary icon

Face ID or a PIN to open, plus a decoy PIN that opens a blank screen. A disguised app icon so your Home Screen shows something unremarkable. Notifications that never mention the condition, only a check-in.

Any AI summaries run entirely on your iPhone. Nothing is sent anywhere, because there is nowhere to send it.

Aura privacy settings showing the disguised app icon options, Face ID lock and decoy PIN

Privacy is not a feature here. It is the product.

HIPAA does not cover consumer apps, so the only real protection is an app that holds nothing worth requesting. Aura has no account and no server. The App Store label reads Data Not Collected.

Pricing

The part that helps most is the part that's free.

Aura Free

$0
Including everything above
  • The tingle button and your own plan
  • Daily check-ins and episode log
  • 12-month episode count
  • The full disclosure toolkit
  • Face ID, decoy PIN and disguised icon
Notify me at launch
Optional depth

Aura Premium

$3.99/month
or $29.99/year with a 7-day free trial
  • Your trigger patterns in full
  • Before and after view of daily therapy
  • Encrypted healing photos
  • The doctor PDF
Notify me at launch
FAQ

Questions people would rather not ask aloud.

Does the app name mention herpes? +

No. The App Store name is Aura: Cold Sore and HSV Log, and on your Home Screen it is simply Aura, or whatever disguised icon you choose. This matters more than it sounds: Apple's purchase receipts, Purchase History and Family Sharing prompts show a store name to people who never open the app.

Does Aura tell me what medication to take? +

Never. You enter the plan your clinician prescribed, and Aura shows it back to you at the moment you need it, with a countdown you set. It does not choose a medication, a dose or a schedule, and it is not a substitute for medical care.

Does any data leave my phone? +

No. There is no account and no server. Your log stays on your device, any AI summaries run on the iPhone itself, and the App Store privacy label reads Data Not Collected. Put the phone in Airplane Mode and everything except an App Store purchase still works.

What is the decoy PIN? +

A second PIN you set that opens a blank screen instead of your log. It exists for the situation where someone is watching you unlock your phone, and it is deliberately indistinguishable from the app having no data in it.

What does the trigger pattern feature actually do? +

It counts which things you logged in the days before your own past episodes and reports them as plain counts, such as three of your four episodes followed a run-down day. It does not predict future episodes and it does not claim one thing causes another.

Is the disclosure toolkit free? +

Yes, permanently. Scripts for telling a partner, sourced facts and a risk-reduction plan are all free. Premium adds full trigger patterns, a before and after view of daily therapy, encrypted photos and the doctor PDF, at $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year with a 7-day free trial.

Ready before the next one starts.

Aura is coming soon to the App Store. Leave your email and we'll tell you the day it's live.

Get notified at launch

Aura is a personal log for general wellness. It does not diagnose, treat or prevent anything, and it is not a substitute for medical care. It reminds you of the plan your clinician prescribed, and nothing more. Always follow their advice, and speak to a healthcare professional about diagnosis, treatment and transmission risk. Read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Related reading: The Cold Sore Prodrome: Why Those First Few Hours Matter