updated help modals

app/(tabs)/index.tsx

@@ -60,22 +60,22 @@ const FLOW_STEPS = [
   {
     label: '1',
     title: 'Subject',
-    description: 'A subject is the top-level container for one course or area you are studying.',
+    description: 'Start with the broad area you are studying, like one course or one exam you are preparing for.',
   },
   {
     label: '2',
     title: 'Assignment',
-    description: 'Each subject contains assignments like projects, exercises, or exam prep blocks.',
+    description: 'Inside that, add the bigger piece of work you want to move forward, like a project, a problem set, or revision block.',
   },
   {
     label: '3',
     title: 'Task',
-    description: 'Assignments are broken down into tasks so you always have one concrete thing to work on.',
+    description: 'Then break it down into one task that feels concrete enough to begin without overthinking it.',
   },
   {
     label: '4',
     title: 'Sprint',
-    description: 'A sprint is one focused work session tied to a single task. After it ends, you can take a break, continue the same task, or return to the dashboard.',
+    description: 'That task is what you bring into a focus session. After a sprint, you take a short pause, then come back to the same kind of focused work. After a few rounds, the app gives you a longer pause so the rhythm still feels sustainable.',
   },
 ] as const;
 
@@ -712,7 +712,7 @@ export default function HomeScreen() {
               </View>
 
               <Text className="text-[15px] leading-[22px] text-[#52606D]">
-                Build your work from the big container down to one concrete task, then use sprints and breaks to move that work forward.
+                The idea is to make getting started feel lighter. You decide what you are studying, narrow it down to one clear task, and then let the app carry you through a simple rhythm of focus and recovery.
               </Text>
 
               <ScrollView
@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@ export default function HomeScreen() {
                   {'Subject -> Assignment -> Task -> Sprint'}
                 </Text>
               <Text className="mt-2 text-sm leading-[20px] text-[#52606D]">
-                  The dashboard then helps you resume an active session, start the next sprint, or review recent study progress.
+                  In practice, that usually becomes focus session, short pause, focus session again, and eventually a longer pause when you have done a few solid rounds.
               </Text>
               </View>
 

app/(tabs)/subjects.tsx

@@ -14,22 +14,22 @@ const FLOW_STEPS = [
   {
     label: '1',
     title: 'Subject',
-    description: 'A subject is the top-level container for one course or area you are studying.',
+    description: 'Start with the broad area you are studying, like one course or one exam you are preparing for.',
   },
   {
     label: '2',
     title: 'Assignment',
-    description: 'Each subject contains assignments like projects, exercises, or exam prep blocks.',
+    description: 'Inside that, add the bigger piece of work you want to move forward, like a project, a problem set, or revision block.',
   },
   {
     label: '3',
     title: 'Task',
-    description: 'Assignments are broken down into tasks so you always have one concrete thing to work on.',
+    description: 'Then break it down into one task that feels concrete enough to begin without overthinking it.',
   },
   {
     label: '4',
     title: 'Sprint',
-    description: 'A sprint is one focused work session tied to a single task. After it ends, you can take a break, continue the same task, or return to the dashboard.',
+    description: 'That task is what you bring into a focus session. After a sprint, you take a short pause, then come back to the same kind of focused work. After a few rounds, the app gives you a longer pause so the rhythm still feels sustainable.',
   },
 ] as const;
 
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ export default function Subjects() {
             </View>
 
             <Text className="text-[15px] leading-[22px] text-[#52606D]">
-              Build your work from the big container down to one concrete task, then use sprints and breaks to move that work forward.
+              The idea is to make getting started feel lighter. You decide what you are studying, narrow it down to one clear task, and then let the app carry you through a simple rhythm of focus and recovery.
             </Text>
 
             <ScrollView
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ export default function Subjects() {
                 {'Subject -> Assignment -> Task -> Sprint'}
               </Text>
               <Text className="mt-2 text-sm leading-[20px] text-[#52606D]">
-                Subjects hold the study structure. The dashboard is where you resume active sessions, start the next sprint, and check recent progress.
+                In practice, that usually becomes focus session, short pause, focus session again, and eventually a longer pause when you have done a few solid rounds.
               </Text>
             </View>
 

notes/work-report-timer-2026-05-05.md

@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ Later in the same work session, the focus narrowed again into wording and flow p
 
 After that, the work shifted into the remaining first-time-user gap from the vision plan. The login and tab flows were tightened so incomplete users are routed into guided setup automatically, and the first guided sprint was changed into a short onboarding demo instead of dropping a new user straight into a normal 25-minute timer.
 
+The final pass of the day was smaller, but still tied to the same product goal. The help modals on the dashboard and subjects screens were rewritten so they explain the focus-session and break rhythm in a more human way instead of sounding like a rigid step list.
+
 ---
 
 ## #ImplementedFeatures
@@ -145,6 +147,22 @@ This keeps the first sprint short enough to demonstrate the flow without locking
 
 ---
 
+### #HelpModalFlowCopy
+Updated the help modals on the dashboard and subjects screens so they explain the intended study rhythm more naturally:
+- updated:
+  - `app/(tabs)/index.tsx`
+  - `app/(tabs)/subjects.tsx`
+- rewrote the flow-step descriptions so they feel less mechanical
+- added clearer wording about the actual intended loop:
+  - focus session
+  - short pause
+  - focus session again
+  - longer pause after a few rounds
+
+This better matches the app's tone and makes the focus/break cycle easier to understand from inside the product itself.
+
+---
+
 ## #ProblemsAndSetbacks
 
 ### #SessionTruthDivergence
@@ -186,6 +204,7 @@ The app now supports:
 - automatic routing into guided setup for incomplete users after login and tab entry
 - a one-time onboarding sprint demo that uses a 5-second timer
 - direct dashboard routing after the onboarding demo completes, without the normal completion modal
+- help modals that explain the study loop in a more natural way
 
 At this point, the timer/session work is closer to a finished loop, and the first-time-user path is more in line with the intended product vision. The biggest remaining work is now less about feature gaps and more about making sure the final report and final app behavior stay aligned.
 
@@ -211,6 +230,12 @@ exited successfully
 npx tsc --noEmit
 exited successfully
 
+npm run lint
+exited successfully
+
+npx tsc --noEmit
+exited successfully
+
 npm run lint
 exited successfully
 ```
@@ -223,3 +248,5 @@ Later manual testing also validated the guided-setup flow after the onboarding f
 - incomplete users were routed into guided setup instead of landing in dashboard tabs
 - the first setup sprint used the intended 5-second demo timer
 - after the demo finished, the user was sent directly to the dashboard without seeing the normal session-complete modal
+
+The final UI pass for the day was lighter and did not change behavior, but static verification still confirmed the help-modal copy changes landed cleanly on both tabs screens.