Best App Ever!
Honestly, helps me stay focused and love the features! Sometimes it takes a few seconds for my watch to sync to my iPad - but that’s the only thing that I could suggest for improvement.
Keep it up!
Keep it up!
Response from developer
Thank you for your review! I'm happy to hear that Focus helps you. We'll keep tweaking the sync, so that it gets faster on Apple Watch. Best wishes, - Kerstin
New update is fantastic, hope for more to come!
I have been an off and on user of Focus for a long time. The latest update adds much needed UI love, and works so much better, especially on my iPad. Great work!
One area I think could use some love is the Apple Shortcuts. I can only speak for myself here but being able to add new tasks using Apple shortcuts would vastly improve my workflow. For example, it would allow me to create a shortcut to import all my daily tasks from Reminders. If I had a wishlist the two shortcuts would be “Create task with title and date” and “Filter/find existing tasks” to complete the “search and sync” features using shortcuts.
Additionally, a game changing feature would be the ability to automatically trigger the app to change the OS level Focus modes when starting/stopping sessions (or maybe just trigger shortcuts instead). For now I use Apple shortcuts to start DND at the same time as starting a Focus timer in the app, but I would love to be able to exit DND during breaks and automatically resume DND when my break is over.
Overall this is a great update and I love seeing it! The simplicity of this app makes it one of the best, and with some of the features above I think it would stand above the rest for me and instant 5 star.
I am going to resubscribe for now. I know you can’t promise anything but I wanted to be sure to share my thoughts.
Keep up the great work!
One area I think could use some love is the Apple Shortcuts. I can only speak for myself here but being able to add new tasks using Apple shortcuts would vastly improve my workflow. For example, it would allow me to create a shortcut to import all my daily tasks from Reminders. If I had a wishlist the two shortcuts would be “Create task with title and date” and “Filter/find existing tasks” to complete the “search and sync” features using shortcuts.
Additionally, a game changing feature would be the ability to automatically trigger the app to change the OS level Focus modes when starting/stopping sessions (or maybe just trigger shortcuts instead). For now I use Apple shortcuts to start DND at the same time as starting a Focus timer in the app, but I would love to be able to exit DND during breaks and automatically resume DND when my break is over.
Overall this is a great update and I love seeing it! The simplicity of this app makes it one of the best, and with some of the features above I think it would stand above the rest for me and instant 5 star.
I am going to resubscribe for now. I know you can’t promise anything but I wanted to be sure to share my thoughts.
Keep up the great work!
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Response from developer
Wow, thank you, that means a lot to us! It's very motivating to see our work appreciated in such a friendly and constructive way. Regarding your feedback: we're currently working on App Shortcuts and will open a TestFlight Beta soon. If you want to check it out early, let me know via support@meaningful-things.com and I can send you an invite! Best wishes, - Kerstin
Best App to stay balanced with work and family!!!
Can’t say enough good things about this app! I’m studying for a promotional exam currently and this app has helped me know when to take breaks but not for too long. There are plenty of options to customize and very helpful to have it on many platforms to use on the go or while at a desk. Keep up the great work with the app! If I could give one suggestion, which is actually more of a request, I would like to see a kid mode or kid options in the app that could help them see a timer for brushing their teeth or bed time reading of some sort. I also have some kids that are close to being teenagers and as they use the app it would be cool for them to be able to customize the background timer as a cool image of choice. Anyway, something to consider and explore for the future. It was just a thought during my study break. I need to get back to the books. Great app, studying is rough but much better when you have something that just tells you when to do it! Thanks again!!
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Response from developer
Hi and thanks a lot for taking the time during your break to leave a review. Your kind words mean a lot to us! And great suggestions, thank you! We'll discuss how we can make Focus even more appealing for young people with more personalization options. I wish you all the best for your promotional exam! - Kerstin
The best productivity app
Focus has become the core of my productivity strategy. It’s helps me get things done faster, see where I’m spending my time (I use it for EVERYTHING, not just work) and tweak my habits to become more efficient. Most importantly, it keeps me…focused…on my task and in a creative flow state throughout the day.
I dislike subscriptions as a lot of customers do, but when you break it down it’s only a few dollars a day and if you use the app correctly, it’ll help you make way more than that!
The recent anniversary update has added a lot of great new features too, and I’ve never had an issue with bugs, crashes or downtime, which shows to me that this is a dedicated team that’s well worth the money. Their support has been excellent too (shout out to Kerstin for all her help!)
I dislike subscriptions as a lot of customers do, but when you break it down it’s only a few dollars a day and if you use the app correctly, it’ll help you make way more than that!
The recent anniversary update has added a lot of great new features too, and I’ve never had an issue with bugs, crashes or downtime, which shows to me that this is a dedicated team that’s well worth the money. Their support has been excellent too (shout out to Kerstin for all her help!)
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The only focus timer you'll want!
I have loved Focus and been a fan of its design and function since 2016. I remember thinking that I didn't need a Pomodoro timer, but that I wanted to try out the app. I'm glad I did. If you find yourself needing to focus without distraction, and want to allow your self. Some breaks in between focused sets of work, look no further. This application has a great watch app, iPhone, iPad, and Mac counterparts. The Team has really done a great job with this update! You can drag OmniFocus task right into it, or use their "Add to Focus" Share Sheet feature in Things, for example. This way you can set aside time to focus on your important tasks for the day. Keep up the great work.
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Response from developer
Thanks for your kind words! It really means a lot to us. Best, - Jan
Works OK, but has bugs on WatchOS
The app’s functionality is good, it has the features I want and the productivity tracking is good. The subscription price feels steep, but if it works then I’ll pay I guess.
Unfortunately the WatchOS app need some work before I’ll subscribe though. Bugs I’ve seen include iCloud sync failure (why does it need to iCloud sync on the watch anyway?!), complications often fail to update with the current timer status when you stop a timer mid way through, extend a timer or reset a timer. Sometimes starting a timer doesn’t update either. The app also managed to send notifications to say that a timer had finished when I’d already paused it, I then got another notification 5 minutes later to say “break over” when the timer had since been resumed.
I don’t know if the iOS app is similarly buggy, only really used the WatchOS app. It’s a shame because the features and design are nice, but I don’t need the additional distraction of things not working properly!
If the developers want to polish the watch app and fix some of these issues I’d gladly test it out again, but I’m not subscribing at the level they are asking for a buggy experience.
Unfortunately the WatchOS app need some work before I’ll subscribe though. Bugs I’ve seen include iCloud sync failure (why does it need to iCloud sync on the watch anyway?!), complications often fail to update with the current timer status when you stop a timer mid way through, extend a timer or reset a timer. Sometimes starting a timer doesn’t update either. The app also managed to send notifications to say that a timer had finished when I’d already paused it, I then got another notification 5 minutes later to say “break over” when the timer had since been resumed.
I don’t know if the iOS app is similarly buggy, only really used the WatchOS app. It’s a shame because the features and design are nice, but I don’t need the additional distraction of things not working properly!
If the developers want to polish the watch app and fix some of these issues I’d gladly test it out again, but I’m not subscribing at the level they are asking for a buggy experience.
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Excellent Timer App
At first I thought this was rather basic and not worth the subscription, but actually it works better than most types of these apps. The sync with the Apple Watch is ideal for when you’re focusing away from your laptop or phone. And actually means I can put my phone in another room and purely use the watch app, thus further reduction distractions. Truly game changing for me and enabled me to enter flow state much more often than before. Thanks.
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Response from developer
Thank you very much for this review! We're glad to hear that Focus has been helpful for you! I agree, the Apple Watch app is great for reducing distractions. I like to keep my phone in my backpack when working and use Focus on the Apple Watch and my Mac. Again, thank you, and enjoy working with Focus! Best wishes, - Kerstin
Missing option
It’s strange that the app stops after each break. I find that lazy side tries to exploit this by taking a longer break or by simply forgetting about the timer altogether— to far too much of an “out.”
There should at least be an option in settings that allows the user to set the app so that the work session begins automatically following each break.
It would also be nice if the breaks had a distinct sounding tick so that they could easily be distinguished and so that you can always know whether you are working or on break.
There should at least be an option in settings that allows the user to set the app so that the work session begins automatically following each break.
It would also be nice if the breaks had a distinct sounding tick so that they could easily be distinguished and so that you can always know whether you are working or on break.
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Response from developer
Hi and thanks a lot for your review! This is good feedback and I've opened feature requests for your suggestions. I hope that we can add these options eventually. Thank you for suggesting! Best wishes, - Kerstin P.S.: If you have other functionalities that you miss in Focus, you can also send us your feedback via support@meaningful-things
Helps me get in work mode(s)!
I love Focus! It's an elegant pomodoro-style platform for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. The sync works great and it gets me in the zone to focus on one task at a time, knowing that there will be a break at the appropriate time. It helps me measure my work week's production too with its reporting feature.
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Good app, bad widgets/complications
The lock-screen widget / apple watch complication are generally broken. The widget shows a progress bar that seems to sync but the timing does not move. The complication straight up doesn’t work or is out of sync (showing break when a focus session is in progress, or just a white bar)
