Focus – Productivity Timer at Mac App Store analyse

I run the Focus App on my computers, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch throughout my workday. It is an incredible app, so much better than just a timer. Using iCloud all of my devices sync my timer seamlessly. Working in discrete chunks of time with short breaks increases productivity by such a degree, and not having to fight with a timer, but rather having a single timer go across all devices with no effort at all (even showing up in the task bar), makes the experience truly irreplaceable for me. I cannot recommend Focus, especially used alongside OmniFocus highly enough.

Focus is a minimalist Pomodoro app with a sophisticated menu bar dropdown and excellent Handoff support with its iOS app. However, its statistics view is not helpful at all. It does not associate completed Pomodoros with specific tasks, and it does not allow me to estimate the number of Pomodoros per task and track how accurate I am (a key component of the Technique). In truth, if Focus could enable me to (1) assign and track # pomodoros per task, and (2) tag tasks and quickly sort by tag (as Wunderlist allows), it would be my go-to Pomodoro app. Unfortunately, because it doesn’t, I find myself continually drifting back to one that does.

The idea is great and it was in the list of best new app so I bought it. The features are very poor and it seems unfinished. $1 seems to me like the right price but it’s a lot more expensive :( To avoid until they adjust the price reasonably.

Très très bonne application qui permet de planifier les taches à faire pour la journée et à mettre en place une technique de type pomodoro. Dommage seulement que l’application ne fonctionne pas avec certains gestionnaires de tâche comme omnifocus par exemple : l’importation des taches pourrait être super pratique ! J’espère que l’application va continuer d’évoluer ! Une autre « necessité » à developper selon moi : la possibilité de calculer le temps passer sur une tache ou une autre. Peu d’application de ce type permet de le faire, et j’aimerais voir focus aller dans ce sens là.

I would give it more stars if the sessions time choices were consistent between iOS and the desktop App (40 vs 45), or better: not predefined.

Se você já o usou no iOS, certamente já sabe que é um app fraco e superfaturado… A piadinha do anúncio: “Focus takes advantage of the latest technologies and combines them into one simple yet powerful app.” Aí você baixa e vê que o tic-toc do pomodoro está fora de sintonia (parece alguém batendo numa latinha com um garfo!), as estatísticas são pobres (não há tags, gráficos nem interrupções), não tem sombra do iCloud para sincronizar com o iOS (backup inexiste, sequer importa/exporta alguma coisa), não tem o alarme tradicional de pomodoro, desconhece completamente o Calendário e o Lembretes, há um bug aqui e outro alí e… É, você se sente roubado! Ainda não é o suficiente? Você não poderá ajustar livremente as durações das sessões (múltiplos de 5, começando do 5 até o 60min, depois pula para 120, que absurdo!). O número de sessões antes da pausa maior também não é ajustável (fixo em 4 sessões). Sequer registra interrupções e o pior é que ele NÃO começa o intervalo automaticamente, isso aí, você mesmo que tem que dar play na pausa, pode? Este aqui não vale a pena e possívelmente será abandonado. Por beeeeeem menos você pode pegar o Timer-Personal Time Management ou o Tomatoes, ambos bem superiores.

PLUS: +Gutes Design +Integrierte (einfache) Todo-Liste +Hilft definitiv beim „focus“ setzen und motiviert MINUS: - Benötigt dringend Tastatur-Kommandos zum Hinzufügen von Tasks und sortieren der Todo-Liste - Als Poweruser empfinde ich es als umständlich, mehrere Tasks einzufügen bzw. diese aus anderen Programmen zu importieren VERBESSERUNGSVORSCHLÄGE: + Tastaturkommandos zum einfachen hinzufügen/bearbeiten/sortieren von Tasks (ähnlich wie bei Omnifocus) + Text-Import-Funktion zum einfachen Importieren einer Task-Liste über ein Textfeld (Import von einer Task pro Zeile) + Kontext-Menu (systemweit auf Text-Selektionen mit rechtem Mausklick anwendbar) namens „Erstelle Aufgabe in Focus App“, welches in anderen Apps (z.B. Omnifocus, Things, Evernote) aufgerufen werden kann, um von dort aus schnell und einfach Tasks nach Focus zu exportieren/transferieren + Möglichkeit zur Zuweisung von mehreren 25Min Durchgängen für eine Aufgabe (bei längere Tasks). Dies wird von Pomodoro offiziell empfohlen. Ich hoffe also auf ein schnelles Update und würde mich darüber sehr freuen! :-) Also: Thumbs up und keep on going!