This Time Boosting App Just Hit Number 4 on the App Store
Focus Friend
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A famous science YouTuber, Hank Green, recently released a free productivity app on the App Store. Today, it sits in fourth place after briefly dethroning ChatGPT from the number one spot for free apps.
The app, Focus Friend, is simple, but it works! Your Focus Friend is an animated bean who you get to name. Set your focus timer to your desired focus period, and your bean will begin knitting socks. If you complete your specified period without interrupting your bean, your friend will give you the knitted socks that you can exchange for decorations for their room.
During my first try, I set the timer for 15 minutes and made it until the end. In exchange, I received 13 pairs of socks from my friend, “Beanster.” This wasn’t enough to start furnishing Beanster’s room with a basic white bookcase (75 socks) or a footstool (50 socks), but it’s a start.
Focus Friend also includes a “Deep Focus” mode that allows you to block specific apps. While the app is free, there are opportunities for in-app purchases, such as giving your bean a different skin and upgrading to Hank, his brother, John, a pack of jelly beans, a Jell-O bean, and others. The app does not feature any ads, but there’s a premium subscription, Focus Friend Pro, which is $1.99 monthly, $14.99 yearly, or a lifetime $29.99. In Focus Friend Pro, your Focus Friend will knit scarves instead of socks that you can exchange for premium decorations.
According to Business Insider, Green plans to use the in-app revenues to build out the offering. This will include a widget that will remain on the user’s screen to remind them to “focus” and prompt them to add additional rooms for furnishing.
Is this app merely a cute gimmick or does it have true staying power? We’ll see. Either way, focus and productivity tools are gaining popularity as users search for ways to most efficiently minimize screen time and limit the despair of doom scrolling. If you think this app could help you, give it a try. According to the App Store, it’s “ADHD-friendly” and suitable for ages 9+. Time to focus?
