YouTuber Hank Green’s Focus App Just Overtook ChatGPT on the App Store

Focus Friend is a cute timer application from YouTuber Hank Green which recently released from nowhere to dominate the American tables of the App Store. It is currently the Application number 1 In the category of free applications, even beating the Chatgpt application. So what is the big problem?

Basically, the application gives you a friend, a cute little bean that knit for you while you focus on your work. All he really wants is to knit socks, but that can’t do it if you are on your phone all the time. Do you not focus a little while your friend Tricasse for you?

Pomodoro timer, but more cute

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Focus Friend (available for iPhone and Android) is essentially a Pomodoro application, where, by default, you concentrate for 25 minutes, then take a 5 -minute break, then repeat. But as with most Pomodoro applications, you are not limited to these figures, so when you start a timer, you can choose any calendar up to 120 minutes.

Start, you have met a nice little bean character that you can name what you want. When you start the timer, the bean will work and start knitting socks for you. The botter? It really doesn’t want to be disturbed. It’s also your time to get to work. Think about it as Body dubbing With your virtual bean.

The application also plays beautiful funky music in the background (a nice change compared to the usual Lo-Fi music found in productivity applications). But by default, it stops playing if your screen goes out. If you want to continue listening to music (like me), you will have to activate this feature from the Settings menu.

You are free to cancel your timer at any time, but if you do, you will get a contextual window caused by guilt if you are really sure. Your bean will also become sad, but don’t worry, it will be a hope for your next session.

At the end of the timer, your bean companion will present you knitted socks to add to your collection. The longer the timer, the longer the socks (my last 30 -minute session allowed me 26 socks, not to boast). Once you have collected enough socks, you can exchange them to buy things to decorate your place. You can buy a beautiful table, wall art, furniture or even different skin for your bean. Expect that it takes a while, however, to decorate your entire room, because a simple carpet costs 75 socks and prices are increasing from there.

But maybe that’s the point? When you use the application more and more, you can focus more easily and slowly decorate a pretty little house for your pretty little bean.

Visual gamification and tangible progress

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

The Pomodoro method is a proven approach, and it is certainly a nice way to do it. And if you think you could simply cheat by sliding towards another application, there is also a deep development mode that integrates with screen time to lock them. Just be careful to use the screen time features in the free version of the friend friend, as they will see you from almost all the other applications on your phone. To allow specific applications, you will have to pay the Premium version, which costs $ 1.99 per month, $ 14.99 for a year or $ 29.99 for a lifetime subscription.

The PRO upgrade also allows your companion knitting scarves and gives you three times the release of the socks. Your virtual bean is also customizable in the pro version. You can pay to unlock a skin that looks like Hank or John Green, a grain of jelly or even a coffee bean.

But if you are at least slightly dedicated, you can still get it using the free version. I use for example the Session App for my Pomodoro needs. It is an elegant Mac application that costs $ 40 / year (similar to Focus app that my colleague Justin Pot uses). But I pay the price because it keeps me focused when it really counts, because I write these items. Use Focus Friend today really asked me if this subscription is necessary.

However, there is a disadvantage of the simple attraction of the application. Focus Friend is only available on iPhone and Android, and a free version or not, there are no “pro” features here as a dashboard, personalized presets, notes or past statistics.