# Nooklo — Deep Work — Focus timer that blocks apps

> Remote shared focus sessions with friends for productivity. (iPhone/iPad app by riley lau.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nooklo-deep-work/id6766001878 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [riley lau](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896158528)
- Category: Productivity
- Price: Free
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 26.0 · 18 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-05-12
- Data updated: 2026-08-19
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nooklo-deep-work/id6766001878/reviews.md

## What is Nooklo?

Houseparty for studying.  Most study apps are timers. Nooklo is a place where your friends already are. Open the app, see who's locked in right now, and join them with a tap. Same synced timer, same room. No chat, no video, no pressure.  HOW IT WORKS The Tonight feed shows which friends are in a session right now. Tap one to slip in beside them. You'll run the same focus blocks and breaks, in sync. Or start your own session, and your friends get a push the moment you lock in.  BLOCK THE APPS THAT PULL YOU AWAY Pick your distracting apps once. Nooklo blocks them at the iOS level every time a session starts, lifts the shield at breaks, and re-locks when focus resumes. It survives force-quits and phone locks. You never touch the picker again. You can also set recurring windows (sleep, class hours, deep work) where your picked apps stay blocked automatically.  PLAN THE WEEK TOGETHER Schedule Nooks on a 7 day grid and invite up to 4 friends. Your existing calendar (iCloud, Google, Outlook, Exchange) shows through as ghost blocks so you never double-book, and scheduled Nooks mirror back to your calendar.  A JOURNAL THAT WRITES ITSELF Every day pulls in what you actually got done: completed Nooks, checked-off tasks, session reflections. Add your own to-dos, check them off mid-session, and get quiet receipts, not a scoreboard.  PROOF YOU SHOWED UP A heatmap of when you actually study, hours per subject, weekly rhythm, and share-stats cards. Stats are intimate, not competitive.  FOCUS MECHANICS THAT HOLD UP • Pomodoro (25/5 by default, 50/10 or custom) and free study • Lock Screen Live Activity and Dynamic Island countdown • Home screen widgets to start a session without opening the app • Session intentions: capture what you want to get done, check it off mid-session  PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Only friends you add can see when you're in a session. No public profiles, no follower counts, no algorithm. Calendar and reflection data stays on your device.  Everything is free right now, including app blocking. Plus is free until September.

## Key features

- Live feed of friends working
- One-tap session joining
- Synced Pomodoro timer
- Session recaps
- 7-day commit grid

## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nooklo-deep-work/id6766001878/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Pretty nice. Underrated ngl

*2026-05-18*

I started using this app like last week. I like how this app allows me to take pomodoro sessions, and invite frienda to a private room, called a “nook”. Pretty cute idea actually. It forces me to lock in for that session optionally with friends. Looking forward to see more friends and features on this app soon haha

## Frequently asked questions about Nooklo

### What is Nooklo?

Nooklo is a productivity app that allows you to work or study alongside friends remotely. It features synchronized focus sessions and breaks, with no chat or distractions.

### How does Nooklo work?

You can see which friends are currently in a focus session and join them with a single tap. Both users will then run the same 25-minute focus blocks and 5-minute breaks in sync.

### What kind of sessions does Nooklo offer?

Nooklo offers synchronized Pomodoro timers, typically set for 25-minute focus blocks followed by 5-minute breaks. This cycle repeats for a set duration.

### Can I chat with friends on Nooklo?

No, Nooklo is designed for distraction-free work. It explicitly states 'no video. No voice. No chat.' The focus is solely on shared presence during work sessions.

### What information do I get after a session?

After a session ends, Nooklo provides a quick recap showing who you worked alongside and what you accomplished during that time.

### Is Nooklo private?

Yes, Nooklo is private by default. Only your friends can see when you are in a session, and you add friends by handle and accept requests, with no public profiles.

### What devices does Nooklo support?

Based on the data, Nooklo is currently supported on iPhones.

### How often is Nooklo updated?

The latest version of Nooklo is 1.2.2, and it was last updated on June 22, 2026. This suggests a relatively active development cycle.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.4.0 — 2026-08-17

your nights, sharper.

— draw your own profile picture — pick a color, a font, or go backgroundless
— pin the to-dos that matter most
— a cleaner in-session notepad, your list front and center
— faster launches and smoother calendar scrolling
— custom colors for your subjects and circles
— fixes across nook invites, circles, notifications, and friend history

### 1.3.0 — 2026-07-14

Section E — new gentle nudges. Pair streaks with a friend, plus a reminder before you break one. RSVP reminders. Locked-in-alone catches a friend studying solo.

Section F — the widget nudge lands after your first co-study session. One glance, back at your list.

Inbox — clearer separation of received / sent circle invites, tap X to clear one, "clear all" to nuke a section. Bug fixes for the reappearing invitation loop.

Journal — drag a to-do onto the sidebar and it appears instantly. Circle tasks now schedule with the circle scope preserved AND auto-invite every member (togglable).

Bug fixes throughout — session start reliability, notification prompt behavior, appearance mode locked to dark while we finish the light-mode palette.

### 1.2.2 — 2026-06-22

fixes a bug where new users couldn't sign back in after closing the app mid-signup. plus smaller fixes to the verify-code screen.

### 1.2.1 — 2026-06-14

• Tap an app to see Nooklo's own block screen instead of iOS's generic "Restricted" message.
• Adding an app to your blocklist now takes effect instantly — no more relaunching a session to pick it up.
• First-launch tour walks you through Journal, Sessions, Blocking, and Tonight. Replay any time from You → Settings → "How it works".
• Sentence-case copy across the whole app — buttons, sheets, notifications, and the blocking shield.
• Calendar week now hard-caps at midnight so the day doesn't stretch past your last event.
• Tap a task's circle in the Nooks-tab journal drawer to mark it done without leaving the calendar.
• Drag-and-drop haptics and the move-time pill now work when you move an already-scheduled Nook on the grid.

### 1.2.0 — 2026-06-02

Polish on top of V1.2:

• New Journal Today widget. Small and medium sizes. Today's to-dos at a glance on your home screen. Tap to jump into the Journal tab. Flips light or dark to match the appearance you picked in You → Appearance.

• Journal is now the home tab — opens first instead of Tonight. New order: Journal · Study · Tonight · Nooks · You.

• Day headers read Monday, Tuesday again. Editorial typography pass on the journal page — every mono label swapped to Charter Italic so the page reads like writing in a book.

• Daily summary moved to the bottom of the to-do list. Quiet when nothing's happened yet.

• "12 min" / "1h 23 min" duration stamps on completed journal tasks.

• Long-press to drag-reorder manual journal tasks.

• In-session to-do list now shows today's journal tasks alongside session intentions. Check off in either place, the other syncs.

• Onboarding drops the school question — straight to username + display name → done.

• Faster cold launch. User profile + summary heatmap cache locally.

• Session summary no longer shows a streak tile.

• Better recovery when a session gets reaped server-side during a long away period — auto-routes to the summary instead of stranding you on an error screen.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-19.*
