Focus To-Do: Focus Timer&Tasks Reviews

by Chilllaaa

After marking a task complete, multiple days (ALL PREVIOUS ENTRIES) of data just disappeared!!!! You’ve got to be kidding!!! The sync function is completely worthless if it’s not possible to recover past backups….. I’m guessing this happened because I marked a task complete that has been ongoing for more than one day (who knows for sure…..), but whatever happened, the fact that data was REMOVED AT ALL is still completely unacceptable!!! I was excited to use this tool to improve my daily efficiency but unfortunately it has only left me disappointed & frustrated….. P.S. the apple watch features are not terrible, but the interface/text layout is clumsy. The mark complete & start task buttons are in the way so the text is always cut off. It’s also disappointing how it’s not possible to view or start any subtasks…

by Tolin111

I’ve been using FocusToDo for a while; I chose it specifically because I thought the Forest game was a fun and motivational feature that I didn’t see on other timers. However, on two occasions now, my streak in Forest had been reset to zero after many months, and my progress in the game has been lost. On both occasions, I sent multiple emails to customer service and received no response. This is unprofessional and unacceptable “service” for a paid app, and having my progress randomly reset to zero is the opposite of motivational. I will now be looking for a different product that may not have all the bells and whistles but is at least functional.

by RustVel

Old review: It’s helping me not only plan my work sessions but it helps me log my time too so that I know how much I’ve been putting into each area or project. It’s nice to see every task or category of what I could be doing in those almost half hour chunks. It makes it super easy to get a sense of my time when I haven these “blocks” of time to work with called Pomodoros.

Update: I really loved FocusToDo but it’s unacceptable that multiple times I’ve started a Pomodoro and come back like 35 minutes later to see that the Pomodoro looked like I never even started it. My guess is that my iPad is struggling with memory so it closes FocusToDo and it’s incapable of functioning in the background. I have other timer and alarm apps that work in the background so I don’t understand why this is an issue for this one.

by Frienger-I

Love the Kanban feature, and ability to make tasks and sub tasks. Also, the ability to make a task that is over 1 line long (that doesn’t get replaced with “...”) is super helpful. This one of the reasons why I left the BeFocusedPro Pomodoro app.

One feature that I was hoping FocusToDo would have is a “Landscape Mode” for when you do pomodoros. This sounds a like a small inconvenience, but my iPhone gets low in battery if I’m using FocusToDo for an extended period and I have to charge it. If I’m charging it, the cord prevents me from propping the phone in vertical view, so I have to prop the phone in “landscape view”. This gets irritating on the eyes to watch the pomodoro timer stuck on “vertical view” while I have the phone in landscape.

For this reason I’m gonna give FocusToDo 3/5 stars and hope to change it to 5 stars when they add this feature (mostly to get the developer’s attention).

by SadieProductive✌🏻

Its a really good app for timers, and has everything you might want. A pomodoro timer, a section for each time you want to finish something, a forest to motivate you, a ranking system to motivate you, and a chart of your progress. Its cool that they tried to fit all this in one app, but it doesn't work. It makes it complicated to navigate and slightly stressful as well. I enjoy some features, like being able to do “today, tmrw, someday, etc” but that also gets clunky. It would be much better if FocusToDo got rid of some of the features, or at least allowed you to turn them off if you wanted. It seems very unnecessary to have a ranking system and a plant thing while there are already apps out there that do that for you.

by Baby.chick<3

I love FocusToDo . I’ve been looking a lot for stuff to manage my time better, and so far I’ve found very few that are free. They usually say free, and then charge a fee after you download FocusToDo . I was impressed by this one. For one thing, it’s actually free. It looks very highly developed and the features on it are great. It’s very organized and scheduled. Plus, you get to grow little virtual trees. I wouldn’t change anything there. The only thing I would change is the fact that there seem to be no notifications. (I tend to be quite forgetful and notifications are extremely handy.) Other than that, I love it.

by Oriongsp

So, first I love and recommend FocusToDo frequently. I use it daily to help me stay on track with my work and find I can avoid brain fry and get more productively out of myself with this technique. One extremely annoying bug is that every few weeks or months, it quits working, you start the timer and it starts counting down, but then at some point in the interval it resets to “ready to work” and doesn’t count the time in your report. It does this frequently once it starts. To fix it you have to sign out of FocusToDo and then sign back in. Caveat, that also restarts your daily login streak. I was bummed when I had over a sixty day streak, which affects my daily sunlight gamification motivator boost. Still love it and am still motivated, it’s been great for my dissertation.

by JaXisAwesome

My only gripe is that we can’t block people from the group chats. I’m in a group with a lot of people that I get along with and then there’s ONE person who keeps insulting everyone (to include racist comments) without cause. We all want her out and can’t do it. I would really love to have it to where at least the creator of the group chats can eject people.
Otherwise, VERY great app. I love that I can keep track of my hours and gain points towards growing a tiny tree ☺️ I feel like my hours count just as much as the outcome to the work itself.

by BabyBeak27

I’m currently a first year college student and I was having a hard time grasping the 3 hours outside of class concept for homework and would only set aside a small amount of time for work. So far FocusToDo and the pomodoro method (goes far beyond just FocusToDo) has been extremely helpful with keeping track of what assignments I have left to do, how long it takes me to complete an assignment, and how much time outside of class I’m spending on work. Only weird thing is that before I got premium I changed the timer to 45min thinking it would help me and could not change it back unless I purchased the premium. Outside of that great app that I can use on my phone, laptop, etc.

by Mniw

I think FocusToDo is great and really good for motivation. There are a few things though, one if you delete a project the time you did doing that project is gone. I was organizing my classes in projects then decided to put it all in one place so I deleted the projects and my time also got deleted. I think if you have a short project and then are done with it it shouldn’t delete your progress. Also I think it would be nice to be able to join more study groups. And maybe also have the option of a stopwatch. Sometimes you don’t know how long you will study for and something like a stopwatch option would be good for that.

by WS7733988

I use FocusToDo for todo lists, scheduling events and habit tracking. Overall the to do and focus sessions are great but the phone app to computer app syncing doesn’t translate accurately. On the laptop there may be 5 more minutes but the phone is already beeping. For habit tracking, the item can be repeated everyday but the notifications doesn’t: if you set a notification, it will only notify you the day of. I also think the forest game is a great idea! One possible improvement would be being able to choose different plants to grow: ex one could grow a flower for 1000g sunshine instead of a tree for 10,000g sunshine.

by Mo Diddy66

I’ve been using Focus app for over a year or more, was very happy then they tweaked it and ruined it. It gave me a chance to try out other options out there, they were too expensive for such a simple task??

This one however, has so many amazing features for a lifetime fee of $ten bucks!

That’s a deal I wouldn’t leave on the table, so amazing and simple with great flexibility, don’t hesitate I’m a master of the Pomodoro and this is my choice.

by Kaymck87

I have a tendency to go on productivity app sprees as I feel I am constantly trying to find tools to help me stay focused especially since I am ADHD. It helps me breaking my tasks into smaller parts and I have noticed that I am actually more productive since finding FocusToDo and implementing it with my other apps.

I did pay for the lifetime access as like many of these apps to be able to organize the way many people like you have to either sign up monthly or yearly with this one being a rare exception being lifetime access (and it was on sale! #winning) so I had to take advantage!

It did have an issue with upgrading after I paid for it but i was able to get into contact with the developers and they activated it for me with no issue! Like I said love FocusToDo so far!

by Funnylookinpenguin

This is the only review I’ve ever written on any app (that’s how good this is...) Has a lot of alert sound options and does its job. I love how it has the leaderboard/study groups because it motivates me even more to put in my best effort to beat everyone else (hehe). Utilizing the Pomodoro Technique has really helped me run my old procrastinating self into extinction. I never realized how unhappy I was before I started to live each day mindfully. Overall, probably the best app I have on my iPhone. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

by Starfire11lily

I’ve been using this for about a week and it has been so helpful and motivational to see where I’m spending my time. I love the different projects and tasks. The charts it self generates are colorful and easy to understand. It makes me feel proud to see what I’ve accomplished. I wish there were a way to bulk export the raw data in spreadsheet form, just because I’m a bit of a data nerd and would love to run my own analyses on my productivity and time spent on certain activities. Also, I read someone else’s review and you can manually add in things that you forgot to start the Pomodoro for. You just have to go to the completed section and tap on the time that you want to add an event for. It’s easy to customize with different task lengths too (though I think no matter the time length you stretch it to, it will still only count as one Pomodoro in the averages and summary section). Five stars have already recommended it to all my friends and I’ll confidently recommend it to you too!

by Anonymous Zoroark

I’ve been using FocusToDo since my university decided to move to remote learning for the rest of the spring semester. I’ve been using the pomodoro method for about a year now, but FocusToDo really elevates the experience since it allows me to see how much of each subject I’m studying. You can also use it to keep track of your assignments due date, which is a nice bonus. I can’t wait to use FocusToDo next semester as I will be able to use to it to estimate how long my normal homework assignments will take to complete.

by Deccanxx

FocusToDo is PERFECT for me!! I struggle with my adhd and time gets away from me constantly. I also have such a hard time getting work done in any kind of decent timeframe. FocusToDo lets me keep track of everything. I can set multiple reminders. Everything can be easily moved around and edited as needed. I tried several apps and this is the one i ended up loving. I’ve actually managed to use it consistently which is not something I usually manage. Great app. Price is super reasonable too

by 4jalee

I have a hard time imagining how much time it will take me to do my tasks in a day. With FocusToDo, I can list out all my tasks, guesstimate how many pomodoros(25 min. segments) it will take me to finish each task, and it calculates how many hours my task list will take. I can separate the tasks into categories, so I know how long it will take me to clear all tasks in one category. (For example, I am a teacher and it tells me that it will take me 10 hours to finish all my tasks in the “Grading” category, so I know I should break it up into multiple days).

by I_kiko

It’s great to see a visualization of the tasks you’ve done and how long you were productive throughout the day, weeks, month, etc. it boosted my productivity because I am able to see how much I actually worked for the day. It’s satisfying to see all the past task done and the hours of effort you put into it. I’m a university student, so it’s very important to keep track of all the materials and exams I have coming up. I can keep track on how long I actually study and work. I’m able to pace my work out, meaning I don’t procrastinate as much. Pomodoro technique is a way to study!!

by Hongpastry

This is one of if not THE best productivity apps i’ve ever used. Chinese app companies are just so generous compared to american ones. FocusToDo is packed with great functions- planting, scheduling, to do, pomodoro, relaxing sounds while pomodoring, list organization, study groups with friends, time stats/reporte, and a rankings list to boot -all for free! It is such a great app and i hope nothing changes. I have only used it a day and it made such a difference in my focus and helped me organize my time better. PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE OR TAKE AWAY ANY OF THE FUNCTIONS. THEY ARE PERFECT AS IS.

ONE SUGGESTION: the only annoyance is that there is no dark mode （想要夜間模式求求了）for the general screen. Would be flawless with this added in.

by Quaintcoconut

I love FocusToDo. I use it on my iphone, on pc, and on chrome extension. But there seems to be a sync issue. I completed tasks on my pc and synced it but on my phone which says it’s synced just now still has all the tasks I completed on PC. Please fix the sync problem!

Also, I can’t see my historical reports (aka daily reports) for previous days. I only see today’s one and when I go back to yesterday or any previous days it shows me a blank page. I wanna be able to screen capture or download my historical pages to keep track of my records!! Pls help!

by TrinidadianFury

i would start using this and get rid of todoist IF there was the ability to sync it to google calendar. once that’s created, i’ll change it to 5 stars. this would be amazing for me bc it keeps me from losing track of tasks if i don’t go into todoist cuz if i go into google calendar i see everything on todoist’s list as well. but this focus timer would really help me because it would literally combine two of my most essential apps for getting everything done

by Justusthane

FocusToDo has revolutionized my task management practices. I love being able to focus on a specific task for 25 minutes at a time, and I like how it tracks how much time has been spent on each task. Apple Watch integration is pretty good too, although the Complication doesn’t always update until tapped.

I wish you could manually record time spent on a task, since sometimes I forget to start the timer or keep working after the timer has ended. I wish the reporting was more robust and could show the amount of time (and specific hours of the day) spent on a given task. I also wish the timer synced between MacOS and iOS.

by Real Kyan Pepper

FocusToDo is incredibly simple to understand and has an interface that’s very easy to use. Definitely for people who have self discipline issues. However whenever I close FocusToDo the timer stops tracking my progress. That makes the whole experience very frustrating. I also wish that there was a stopwatch feature in addition to the alarm. Other than that a very nice app.

by JacobPeters25

Okay, the free version is amazing in FocusToDo, but my word, premium is fantastic!!!!
You only have to purchase it one time and then presto! This has helped me manage my goals and become super productive! Only thing that would be cool is if you connect with your friends on this and see how they are doing at staying productive. But that’s so minor and not reallly a need so much as a cool idea.
I would recommend trying the free version and maybe go premium if it’s working that well for you!

by Cgshipp

A seemingly simple App, but VERY useful and MUCH appreciated! It allows the user to do the following: Create tasks (as many as needed or desired for the day, the week, or the month), Color-code them, Prioritize/Arrange them, Allocate a time to work on one you presently wish to focus on, Designate a break, and Assign sounds to signal the end those times. In one day, I accomplished more than I have otherwise been able to do because FocusToDo kept me FOCUSED on my task! My thanks to the Developer!

by Nicoleta506

I seriously hit the jackpot in finding FocusToDo - the perfect Pomodoro system and task management system all at once. Plus the forest feature is so fun (for me anyways). FocusToDo is the closest you’ll get to finding everything you need in a to-do list and pomodoro system. Definitely worth the lifetime premium subscription. I’ve already been using it for a month and I’m looking forward to the new year with FocusToDo by my side.

by RCpen

I tried a lot of different apps to help me focus on work. I’m 35 and still learning how to work with my ADHD. FocusToDo is amazing! The timers both the gamier plant ones or the more business ones, didn’t have enough functionality, clunky, not easy to use, would not work with music apps, didn’t have task list, etc. With this one my work routine is start my Beatfulness app (great science based music to align your brain), start FocusToDo, enter my priorities in the tasks for the day and then start the timer. I love rolling between 25mins on and 5mins off because I Im rushing in a good way to finish something before the timer goes off and I can start because I know it’s going to go so quick. Way more productive hours in my day now. I also love that it times each task you are focused on rather then just a standard timer. It really keeps me focused on one thing at a time. God send, so glad I found this finally :)

by Ordubisdad

I need FocusToDo that would do a continuous work/break cycle. FocusToDo does exactly that. I have not use the tax so I cannot speak to that but the timers work great for me. I went through several other apps trying to get one that will continuously repeat the work/break cycle and some came close, but just didn't do exactly what I needed. This one does. And the watch interface is icing on the cake.