Focus4Life vs Kihya Memo

Focus4Life turns scattered days into focused ones. A Pomodoro timer, a real task planner and a distraction blocker in one calm app — no ads, no account, and it works completely offline. WHY IT'S QUIET Focus4Life doesn't run on anxiety. No punishing streaks, no guilt, no noise. Its timings and limits come from published research and from the original authors of each technique, and the research-backed settings carry an (i) with the source behind them. FOUR RHYTHMS, EACH WITH A REASON • Classic — 25 / 5 / 15, Cirillo's original technique • Deep Work — 50 / 10 / 30, after Cal Newport's "Deep Work" • Sprint — 15 / 3 / 10, a low-resistance way into a hard task • Ultradian — 90 / 20, the Basic Rest-Activity Cycle (Kleitman; Lavie) • A live countdown on your Lock Screen — and in the Dynamic Island on iPhones that have one — drawn by iOS itself, so it costs almost no battery • A gentle heads-up when a task runs past the limits research links to fatigue FOCUS LOCK — IT ACTUALLY STOPS YOU • Block distracting apps — and websites in Safari — during a session using Apple Screen Time: a real, system-enforced shield, fully opt-in, and only while a focus phase is running • Choose gentle friction or a firm block, per session or for good • Flip your phone face-down to drop straight into focus, and get a nudge if you pick it up too soon • Never during a break. Never while you're paused. Never without a permission you granted yourself A REAL TASK PLANNER, NOT A CHECKLIST • Priorities, due dates and repeats — daily, weekdays, weekly or monthly, ending never, on a date, or after a set number of times • Estimate a task and the app works out how many pomodoros it needs • Today, Week and Month views; on iPad, Week and Month list your actual tasks under each day • Notes on any task • Nothing reschedules itself behind your back. Overdue work is a count and a button, never a scolding PROJECTS WITH SOMETHING TO FILL Group tasks into colour-coded projects, each with an optional note on when and where you'll do the work — an “implementation intention”, shown to make follow-through markedly more likely (Gollwitzer, 1999). Give a project a goal image, estimate its tasks, and the image uncovers itself as you focus your way through the estimate. A GARDEN THAT REMEMBERS Every finished session uncovers part of a hidden picture, and longer sessions uncover more. A quiet record of effort — not a leaderboard, and not a plant that dies if you take a day off. Missing a day never takes anything away. HONEST STATS Minutes focused, sessions completed, tasks done, and your longest single session — for today and the last 7 days. Pro adds 30-day and all-time history, plus a breakdown of which apps interrupted you. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Works fully offline — no account, no sign-up, nothing in the cloud • Your data stays on your device • No ads. Not now, not ever. ONE APP, EVERY SCREEN iPhone, iPad and Mac, each running the same app with the same calm. Every device keeps its own data on itself — there is no cloud and nothing to sign in to. FOCUS4LIFE PRO Free covers the whole core loop: unlimited sessions, all four research presets, the entire task planner with repeats and notes, two projects, the Garden, and flip-to-focus. Pro is a one-time purchase — not a subscription — and unlocks unlimited projects, the full focus blocker, 30-day and all-time stats, custom timer durations, and your own photos in the Garden. It comes with a 7-day trial that asks for no payment card and simply ends. We'd love your feedback — reach us anytime at phan.business.nl@gmail.com.

Kihya Memo is a lightweight, offline-first Markdown notepad. Write the source directly, use focused formatting tools, and switch to a beautiful native preview while every note remains a file you can keep. Markdown is the heart of the app. When needed, the same plain-text editor also opens safe UTF-8 text and source documents without converting them to a proprietary database. There is no Kihya account to create and no required Kihya memo server. Google Drive sync and remote server folders are optional. KEY FEATURES • Switch instantly between Markdown source and native preview • Toggle task checkboxes directly in preview • Use focused Markdown tools for headings, lists, bold, italic, strike, code, links, attachments, and underline • Convert pasted rich text into clean Markdown • Create, edit, rename, move, and share HTML, JSON, XML, CSV, PHP, ASP, JavaScript, SQL, and other UTF-8 text or source files when needed • Live syntax colors and line numbers without adding formatting to the file • Static HTML/SVG, pretty JSON/XML, table, calendar, contact, and color-source previews • Plain-text copy and paste for code; rich-text conversion only inside Markdown • Import photos, PDFs, archives, and other files from Photos or Files • Drag, rename, move, and safely remove nested folders in a dedicated manager • Search file names and full note contents • Find, Replace, and Replace All from the title menu, with case options, regex, and capture groups • Choose Save, Discard Changes, or Keep Editing when leaving an unsaved note • Move, rename, trash, or open past versions from the title menu • Open Recently Deleted from the folder list to restore items to their original location or delete them permanently • Optionally protect Recently Deleted with Face ID, Touch ID, or the device passcode • Keep pre-save versions locally and load one into the editor without saving it immediately • Recover the latest local edit draft after an unexpected app termination • Optional marker-texture highlighting for bold and underlined preview text • Preview local images and open clearly marked local-file links • Open and share editable text, source documents, and stored files through the system Files app • Optionally sync original files through a visible app folder in your own Google Drive • Add SFTP, plain FTP, explicit FTPS, or implicit FTPS servers as remote folders, with local recovery drafts, history, conflict detection, and verified saves • Export the visible folder tree as a ZIP without trash or private history • Start writing instantly from a resizable Quick Note Home Screen widget • See a sourced daily thought matched to morning, afternoon, evening, or night • Continue writing beneath a thought and share it as a 4:5 image card • Open a favorite document in full-screen reading mode from the Home Screen • Five bundled Korean typefaces in addition to the system font • Native phone navigation and an iPad three-pane or full-screen editor PRIVACY BY DESIGN • No Kihya sign-up or required login • No ads or cross-app tracking • Google Drive connects only when you choose it; notes are never sent to a Kihya server • Remote connections go directly from your device to the server you enter; credentials use device-only protected storage and remote contents, hosts, paths, and user names are excluded from analytics • SFTP and FTPS are encrypted. Plain FTP is visibly marked and requires a separate warning because its credentials, file names, and contents are not encrypted • Firebase usage events never include note text, file names, searches, or Google account details • Access is limited to local files and files the user explicitly selects • Normal history and recovery drafts stay on device; pre-overwrite sync text is also protected in hidden app data in your Drive