# Tend: Pixel Tomato Timer — One question. Go deeper. > One question. Go deeper. (iPhone/iPad app by Houfu Chen.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tend-pixel-tomato-timer/id6827232455 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Houfu Chen](https://appshunter.io/developer/6813510397) - Category: Productivity, Education - Price: Free - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 17.0 · 1 MB - Released: 2026-10-31 - Data updated: 2026-11-06 ## What is Tend? One question. Go deeper. Tend is a focus timer for thinking work: reading a paper, writing a chapter, working through a proof. Begin each session with one question and end it with a note on where you stopped. That note becomes your next question, so your work keeps a thread from one session to the next. WARM UP FIRST One short attention task a day, a new one at midnight: follow a few ripe tomatoes as they move, tap only the ripe ones, find which way the middle arrow points, name the ink and not the word, remember where the square was two steps back, or count seconds with no clock. Each takes a minute or two, says which part of the brain it works, and keeps your best score and a streak. The tasks come from attention research. Practice makes you better at each one, and Tend doesn’t claim more than that: think of them as a warm-up before a session. REST DURING BREAKS When a break starts, Tend offers rest instead: sigh it out (two breaths in, one long breath out, following the tomato), look far away for 20 seconds to rest your eyes, or write down one good thing from today and keep it to read back. LEAVE A THREAD Note what you learned, where you’re stuck and the next small action. Every field is optional, and the next session starts from where you stopped. Export the week’s notes as Markdown for a meeting or your lab book, or keep a full backup. STAY OFF YOUR PHONE Your session runs on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island: your question, a pixel tomato and the countdown, with Pause and Done. When the time is up, leave your note from the notification without unlocking. Pick the apps that pull you away, once: while a session runs they stay behind a “Tend is on” screen, and Done or the end of the session opens them again. Tend never learns which apps you chose. You can start a session from Siri or the Action Button too. A LITTLE PIXEL ROOM Big pixel digits, a ring of blocks that empties as the minutes pass, and a tomato that ripens from green to red while you stay with it. Quiet view hides everything else. FIND YOUR RHYTHM 15/3, 25/5 or 50/10, or your own lengths. A longer break follows four full sessions, and a quick timer fits between sets (“plank 90 seconds”). PARK A THOUGHT A new idea, a worry, another tab to open: write it down without leaving your question, and come back to it later. ROOTED IN SOURCES Short, linked notes on Deep Work, Slow Productivity, the Pomodoro Technique, if–then planning and research on breaks. Tend says which parts are its own adaptations; no interval is presented as best for everyone. YOURS, ON YOUR DEVICE Works offline. No account, no ads, no analytics, no AI service. Your notebook stays on your device until you export it. Your question shows on the Lock Screen while you focus; notifications never show your notes. Tend is an independent app by Houfu Chen, a PhD researcher, and is not affiliated with the authors it cites. Timer minutes record elapsed time, not attention or research quality. The warm-up is not a medical or diagnostic test. ## Is Tend safe? Not enough ratings yet to assess Tend. ## Is Tend legit? Tend: Pixel Tomato Timer appears legitimate, with a few gaps. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Tend is 65 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data. ## Version history (last 2 releases) ### 1.1.0 — 2026-11-04 A warm-up for your focus: one short attention task each day, from following moving tomatoes to naming the ink and not the word. Each takes a minute or two and keeps your best score and a streak, and you can play any of the six whenever you like. Rest for your breaks: sigh it out, look far away for 20 seconds, or write down one good thing from today and keep it to read back. Your session now lives on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island: the question, the pixel tomato and the countdown, with Pause and Done. When the time is up, leave a note on where you stopped right from the notification. Block distracting apps while you focus: pick them once in Settings, and they stay locked until the session ends or you tap Done. Start a session from Siri or the Action Button, or a quick timer between sets ("plank 90 seconds"). Tend's actions are in the Shortcuts app too, so a shortcut can keep Do Not Disturb on until you're done. ### 1.0.0 — 2026-10-31 No release notes. ## More apps by Houfu Chen - [Phloem: Paper Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/phloem-paper-reader/id6813510395) - [Manilha](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/manilha/id6821476915) - [Game Life: Cellular Worlds](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/game-life-cellular-worlds/id6821541367) - [Qi Zi: Go, Chess & Mahjong](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/qi-zi-go-chess-and-mahjong/id6821608519) All apps by Houfu Chen: https://appshunter.io/developer/6813510397 --- *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 2026-11-06.*