Pomodoro - Focus Timer

In my opinion, this software is the best Pomodoro software on Apple Watch, thank you very much for creating such good software. But now (version 8.5(39)) there are two problems on Apple Watch: 1. When the countdown is 25 minutes, it is normal to click to start, but during short or long breaks, clicking to start has a high probability of jumping to the next step; 2. I remember the previous version, you can play white noise and end prompt sound without connecting a Bluetooth headset, but maybe because the AW directly plays the sound too power-hungry, so you changed it to the current one. But you can add the function of play end prompt sound without connecting a Bluetooth headset back? Or vibrate after the end. In addition, the end of the reminder on the Apple Watch is not a notification to remind, I hope this function will never be deleted.

I absolutely and positively endorse this app for anyone, who has to study for a difficult Exam. I’m currently studying for CFP exam. It’s so complex and hard that I needed an App and specifically Pomodoro Technique oriented App. Wow! I just found it. It’s Fantastic! It’s beyond Fantastic! I can study for 25 min, then take a break with the App… then get back to it… I am not getting overwhelmed like before. I enjoy all the sounds that the App comes with. I love all the nature sounds. I paid a little extra for Premium version, but I think it’s the Best Investment I made in the Apple App Store the entire time I had the Apple Products, which is close to 16 years now!!! Thank you so much you guys!!! Where was this app before? I am so relieved I found it!!! I highly recommend. It took a lot of my stress and anxiety, due to the Exam Preparation. I love it!!!❤️🤗🙏👍👌

This app got me started writing every day. Two things about it helped me: one: that no matter how hard it was to write, I’d only have to do it for 25 minutes, and two: the time pressure that kept me going the whole 25 minutes. Once I did 25 minutes and took the 5-minute break, it was easy to do another 25 minutes, and pretty soon after a couple of weeks of this I had a stack of filled pages. This was the beginning of the book I hope to have published. I was motivated to use this app when I found out that it was a modern update on 19th author Anthony Trollope’s same method. He was a prolific and wonderful writer. I was surprised to find that he used such a simple method, but the reason he did was that it works.

I used this app for a few days with just the free features, and I liked it so much that I bought premium for life. Unfortunately, it was only after that point that I started noticing some serious shortcomings. Most importantly, the focus timer appears to stop counting down if you switch apps or lock your phone. I had a few sessions today that felt suspiciously long, so I checked the timer and saw that only a couple of seconds had elapsed. That’s a big enough drawback by itself to cause me to look for a different focus timer app. Additionally, you can’t rename the default timer from “Pomodoro”. I wanted to create a “Work” timer and rename the default timer to “Study”, but I had to create two new timers to accomplish the same. Annoying, but not a huge deal. Unfortunately, the statistics tab does not break down focus time by timer as I had hoped it would. You can go through the itemized history to see which timer you used for which focus session, but the visualizations combine all timers into one. Without premium, you can’t create additional timers, so I wasn’t able to check this before going premium. I’m giving the app 2 stars instead of 1 because the ambient sounds are nice, and it works okay if you use only the basic features and are careful to always leave the app open when you’re using it. Still, I would recommend finding a different focus timer app.

You can’t even try the app without paying for it. It’s fairly useless. The screen images make it impossible to see the timer (the timer is in black text on an image, so practically invisible and there’s no option to change it). If you want to adjust the timer, it’s on a circular motion with your finger on the screen and you literally cannot get it to stop at 25 minutes if you decide that’s what you want. 24 minutes and 59 seconds then it’s back to 00:00. What if you want longer than 25 minutes? The sounds don’t sound much like they’re supposed to. The “gentle rain” sounds like a downpour. None of them are sounds I’d use. No white, brown, or pink noise option. Also, there is ZERO guidance when you open the app. You just have to click around until you figure it out. I can’t believe I spent $10 on this. The timer on my phone works better and it’s less complicated. If I could give zero stars I would considering you HAVE to pay for it. There’s no 3 day free trial or anything.

I’ve been using this app for about a week. It’s very easy to use, and helps me be more productive. Would definitely recommend buying premium. It’s only five dollars and you only pay once. Not an annoying subscription that you have to pay every month. Also, with the premium comes lots of customization options and the rest of the sounds that play during the timer. However. A few improvements could definitely be made here. It would be nice to be able to use things already on my phone for the customization, such as backdrops for the timer and the alarm sound (because i like piano but that’s not an option). But overall, great app.

What more could you ask for? Customizable time intervals, separate timer setups, weekly focus summaries, no essential features locked behind a paywall (not gonna mention a certain app that makes you pay just to change the timer). The paid option actually has some good offerings with the ambient noises, and the cherry on top is that they have a “pay once” option instead of forcing you to keep a subscription just to stay productive and organized. From a fellow software engineer, this checks all the boxes. 10/10

I do work on my iPad every day and used this timer for months. It worked extremely well. Today, I updated it and I was sorely disappointed. The timer doesn’t count down anymore when I switch apps on my iPad to do work. How am I supposed to use the timer when it doesn’t even count down? I would have rated it 5 beforehand, but no more. It’s no longer usable for me. This is so sad; the app was perfectly fine and I don’t understand the need to fix something that worked perfectly before. Unfortunately I’m going to have to find a new timer app. My rating is 3 because it still works well if you stay on the app. But my work is all online/digital now and I can’t really do that, so minus 2 stars. Thanks for the app while it still worked.

I’m just posting this because I paid do .99 premium whatever so I could hopefully use all the functions and it still? Doesn’t work? I had the noise functions which don’t work and I was only able to get 1 to work… the auto break/work sessions don’t seem to work and every time I start a timer it wants to connect to a device for listening? I’m not wearing my air pods/headphones 24/7 I just wanted a simple pomodoro app that would ding to alert me of breaks and when to work. I reached out to the developer but the app hasn’t been updated in months and their website hasn’t either so I’m not confident I’ll ever hear back… if it didn’t constantly try to connect to a device and the paid for features actually worked then I would have been totally fine paying money for this app but it’s not.

This app is great when it works but at least once I’ve experienced a broken version update that completely crashed the app every time I tried to open it. And there is no way to contact the developer to repot the issue. The “App Support” link in the App Store just goes to the app Privacy Policy. Which doesn’t list an email to contact the developer, either. So minus one star for the lack of support capacity. Since I’m always worried before updating this app that it will break again. And it doesn’t have a big user community that I’m aware of to be able to check and see if there are know issues reported by others before updating.

Overall the app has gotten better I overtime with updates. However there are a few things that still need to be dealt with. The main one is a ringtone that is less annoying. Even just a simple beeping like an old school bedside alarm would be fine. The ones here are really bad. Another issue is for the price you should really be able to see how much time you spent on each timer. The stats groups it all together. And last, probably the worst one, even on a brand new iPhone 13 with empty storage this app still crashes during certain tasks. It’s really annoying. Overall it’s pretty good but not worth the 11 dollars for the full version unless a couple things are changed.

I started doing this technique a while ago but didn’t start using the app until recently- up until then i was just using my phone. But this experience is seamless every time and the stats page is really helpful. It, unlike other pomodoro apps, is perfectly effective without the premium version, and honestly I only bought the premium version (priced VERY reasonably, by the way) just so I could support the developer because I love this app so much. highly recommend for anyone who needs help focusing and staying oriented with a goal!!!!

This was the BEST pomodoro app to use on Apple watch. Features like Voice feedback, auto continue, and the ability to switch between the working session and the break session without having to complete the timer, and the focus enhancing white noise collection are AMAZING! However, about 2,3 weeks ago, it stopped functioning properly. As soon as my watch goes to sleep, the timer STOPS. and a lot of times, the white noise won't play either. I desperately want this watch to work so I made sure that the OS on my phone and my watch are updated as well as the app itself. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app. And reset my connection setting, too but unfortunately, nothing worked. Like I said, it is THE BEST pomodoro app when it did work. I am patiently waiting for the bug to get fixed!!!

*update* hitting the “restore” link returns premium features without having to pay more money. Still not thrilled about that so -1 star. Otherwise, the app does as advertised. I am using the premium version of this app. But now I’m locked out of premium features and it’s asking for more money?! Not cool. I purchased this awhile ago as it helps with keeping track with the Pomodoro method. I enjoyed the white noise options (with noise canceling headphones) especially when working in a distracting environment. It worked for what it said it does (hence giving 2 stars), but I am not happy with the surprise cash grab.

update: i began to see ads this week although i bought it a while ago. what is wrong? i emailed support but got no reply, hence took one star back. This is my second day and i purchased it! the interface is simple and easy to use with no distractions, and it serves me right! i studied 5 hours yesterday and another 5 hours today. another thing i like about the app is that the ads are not annoying or intrusive and the app is still functional even if it's free use. thanks.

I have just recently been diagnosed with ADHD. And it’s been nearly impossible to get myself to be motivated to do any task I was enthused about. At first I could even make it 25 min. I need to do 5-10 min focus sessions. However, once I got the momentum going, I could really see the difference in my productivity. There’s lots of background sounds to chose from. Personally I love listening to ocean waves while simultaneously playing another song in the background. The combination of the two has really cut my need to keep looking for just the right playlist and I can just focus on the task at hand. My only criticism is I wish the voice when the timer is up wasn’t so robotic. It’s very jarring to be in a positive space than the mechanical voice throws me back to harsh reality. But I manage to overlook it because it’s such a good deal and I am getting stuff done!!! Hooray! Thank you to whoever designed this. It’s been a game changer for me.

I downloaded that other pomodoro app at the top of the list but then realized that they wanted you to pay to change any settings so I downloaded this one. And I LOVE IT! The interface is so simple and it’s very customizable- and you don’t have to pay a dime. I can also see my history and connect it to Siri. You set it to continue automatically and just use Siri to notify you, which is what I do. Just be careful though I once left it on running in the background for almost 22 hours!

I have felt like I was in a rut of laziness and lack of principle for the past three months… like I knew assignments were due, I simply did not care. One day I woke up and the sheer guilt of my lack of academic integrity had been crushing my soul, so I downloaded the app to keep me focused… so far I am 3 missing assignments through (2 of which were essays) out of the 10… I’m getting through it, but the Pomodoro timer really has helped keep me on task when I need to be! Thanks!

I am exploring productivity tools that provide organization and mindfulness, like this Pomodoro app. The scenes and relaxing tunes are wonderful and diverse. It is straight forward too. However, I would have loved to create my to do list, perhaps have a priority component, while I tune out all distractions with the amazing, mindful white noise in the same app. I have to have go between this and a separate priority app, which in itself can be counterproductive to my goal to be focused. I would gladly learn along if this function already exists, before I give it any more props. Thanks, GAgyap

The white noises are great but fade out to mute after a few seconds when the ads switch, yes ads even tho I have the premium. It’s not hard to fix but so so so annoying to restart the sound 4 or more times every hour. I just give up and leave it on mute when my house is quiet. I would never repurchase this, I am only using it because I bought it. At least the timer has worked the last few months, it used to stop counting. There is no website for assistance. I don’t recommend this app unfortunately, which is too bad because I love the idea of it and there are five sounds that work well for my studying. I will update this when they fix the ad-muting problem.

I’ve never understood why it was so hard to find a simple Pomodoro app. 1- keeps the display awake will the Pomodoro is running 2- you can adjust the time of the Pomodoro in the main screen 3- in the bottom you can find how many Pomodoros you already completed in the cycle 4- you can choose your background and noise (I don’t understand why most of the other apps choose a red background, which is bad for concentration). 5- lets you choose if you want the pomodoros to start continuously or you have to select to start them. Some other apps you have to jump through hoops to start a Pomodoro this one is simple, straightforward and serves its primary function without any of the complicated or extra gadgets. Fully recommend trying. Really looking forward to the Apple Watch companion.

First of all, it should be noted that this is a spyware app. Look at the privacy info - it tracks you across websites and other apps. Most of these positive reviews were left prior to them completely overhauling the app. They’ve ruined it. Most of the features have been stripped out; they now charge for them. I have an old version of it on my primary phone, and haven’t felt the need to update it, because I haven’t been experiencing any bugs. After downloading this onto an older iPhone, and seeing the newest version of the app, I am really glad that I haven’t updated it on my other phone! It is so ugly now, and of very little use.

Trying to use the Watch iOS version so I can focus while using my phone for dictation. Each day is a new experience. Sometimes it’s fine, next day the app won’t launch; today there is only one option for sound. This is the paid version. Support says to hit restore. I have done that in the past successfully but now it is not even available. At least I did not pay much for it. When it works, it is great! Edit: OK I found the “restore” button but why does the app keep doing something different all the time?

I prefer a simple notification to let me know that my pomodoro timer is done. When I turn off the voice feedback and leave it in the background and work on my IPAD, there’s no notification that rings to indicate I’m done? I’ve even set the notification to “spell” in settings. Am I doing something wrong? How can I just get the timer to ring one of the simple ringtones once the timer is done? Can I get the white noise sound to turn off after the timer is done instead? I would give this 5 stars if the solution is found. Thanks! Update: Thanks for the advice, notification tab was off ... works perfectly now, great app

The app functions nicely and watch app is also nice. I think 2 things can be added for improvement 1. Sync between the phone app and the watch app would be really useful. Now, each apps work kind of separately, and only the number of tomatoes are synced. 2. I cannot change remaining time on the watch app. In the phone app I could change the remaining time when paused. For the watch app, I couldn’t find a way to do it.

So I downloaded this app and after I had used the 25 minute timer they have I realized they didn’t have a 5 minute break timer so I was like oh let me go create one and I had the button on the top right that enable me to make another timer but I found out that you had to pay like a monthly subscription thing and I was like so you actually pay money..:. But it’s a mobile app you shouldn’t have to pay a subscription for this type of app it’s so simple there’s nothing special about its just a timer. Though if you took away the payment it would be great👍

Love this app, it’s simple, sleek, works for what I need. But if the creator of the app wants people to subscribe monthly or pay for the premium version, they NEED to update the functionality. I shouldn’t have to press the + button 120 times to get to 2 hours for a timer. There also should be an option to use whichever emoji we want for any new timer we create. I’ve subscribed for one month of premium, but I will cancel that if these things don’t change cause they are quite frustrating.

I just bought this and already have issues. I figured the 9.99 lifetime would be worthwhile, but all I want is a simple timer that will ping me from my Apple Watch. However, it pushes me to connect my AirPods which I don’t need or want to use constantly while working, and if I do use them, it’s to listen to music, not the ambient choices offered in the app. If I close the connect device screen on the watch, the timer works a little while then prompts me to connect my AirPods again. I close it, and it stops working. Not happy, hoping Apple will refund me.

I really like this. It’s simple, easy, elegant, and worth the money for the additional focus sounds. However… …can you please add the option to switch into one of the Do Not Disturb settings? It should be an option to use or not use, rather than automatic, and ideally, I could also choose which of the DND settings I want to use for the focus timer, because I have different DND options for my different scenarios where I don’t want to be bothered.

I bought this entirely for the Apple Watch and it has two main problems: 1.) There’s no way to turn off voice alerts (“You have completed a Pomodoro! Take a break.”) on your watch. I wish there was a way for it to vibrate when the session is over and see that text message when I look down at my watch like any other notification. 2.) If you start a timer on your phone/watch/iPad, it has to finish on that device. For example, if I start the timer on my phone, I can’t check how much time I have left on my watch. Once that Pomodoro cycle is complete, the devices will sync and it will show as having completed that cycle, but nothing before then. If those two issues are fixed, it’s easily a 5 star app.

This app works great sometimes but lately it has been failing to keep track of my time and show notifications, resulting in me wondering if my time is close to being done and clicking into the app to see it ended long ago and I was never notified. This defeats the entire purpose of the app. I have tried quitting all other apps and it doesn’t seem to help.

I purchased the premium version of the pamodoro app just so I could select a colorful background that would make me feel better during my studying. It worked for about a week and then all of a sudden just went to a pitch black screen and won’t let me change the background. It also erased my entire study log history and almost seems to have locked me out from changing any of the settings. I’m so frustrated and there is no link that allows me to reach out to tech support to help me with my account. Please don’t waste your money on purchasing the premium!

I was really satisfied with the free version and had no complaints but noticed I couldn’t use it on landscape mode or better said, just wouldn’t rotate. So I bought the app thinking it would be an extra feature but nope. It still wouldn’t rotate. I’m hoping the developer could implement this which would make the experience with the app a whole lot more satisfying.

I love this app!!! I’ve used it a lot to help me take appropriate breaks during work and stay focused. Simple and easy! I had an issue with one of their updates and shared my feedback. They took my feedback and updated the app per my comments. Very very happy with this tool! Version 5.4 update to the way the app looks is awesome! Great job with this update! Looks super clean!

I downloaded this app last year. At the time there were a few free sounds that you could play without having to purchase them. Now, they have reduced the free files to just either mute (no sound) or rain, neither of which to me are relaxing or help me focus. Was VERY disappointed with their decision to further restrict sounds that were available for free. If I have to pay $8.99 to unlock the other sound files In the app, I might as well go with one of the other Pomodoro apps that also provide other types of tracking and features.

This app has everything I need from a Pomodoro app. Plus, it’s free and it doesn’t have any ads. I don’t really use the statistics feature, but it’s interesting anyway. You can customize the length of the work sessions or the breaks. There’s also an option for a longer break every few sessions. It also has a Siri shortcut, which is very helpful. Overall, this app rocks.

Used to be able to mute it once , but now you have to mute every time you switch between timers. Who thought ticking clock sounds were a good idea for a focus app anyway. Edit: given the responsive developer and the fact that the app does everything i need very well, I have changed my rating. Good developers need our support

overall i really like this app, it has been very helpful. you have a lot of freedom to customize the timer settings, and even the aesthetics there are a lot more ads now than when I downloaded it, which has really degraded the experience. after a focus timer concludes (or when you manually stop it), an ad automatically plays which seems counterproductive

Love the idea that Pomodoro Timer is using, but it’s too customizable through payment only. For younger students who need the app and cannot work for money, this definitely limits the amount they would use this app. As I am older, I can work to pay for this, but it’s surely unnecessary, as I can just use my computer to do these pomodoros. Developers, I suggest having a wider variety of choices for background sounds. Thank you for reading this review. Sincerely, Anonymous.

This is a wonderful app! Beautifully designed and very versatile! Only one ask for future features (if this doesn’t already exist and I missed it): a way to sync your data/history between your iPhone/iPad to pick up your history/focus session where you last left off. Again, love it and thanks!

I’ve enjoyed the app a lot. Recently, I’ve noticed that the timer stops on the Apple Watch when I am looking at another app - the timer doesn’t seem to be working quite right in the background anymore. It would be great to have it back up and running again!

Several times I’ve had the issue that I start a Pomodoro timer and as soon as it goes to stand by on my watch - because I moved my wrist - the timer stops. I have to enter the app on the watch so it continues the count. Seems that it happens with a software update. When it works the app is great. But if it continues to do this error it’s useless to me because it fails me when I need it the most.

It used to be that you could adjust the volume of the background noise relative to your overall volume (i.e if I was listening to music or a lecture on top of the noise, I could increase or decrease the volume of the white noise as I chose.) This created a flexibility that was helpful for a variety of work sessions. The latest update has either removed this functioning or has covered it with an ad banner.

The app is beautiful and I love the voice prompts. The good stops there. The app has a version for each of my devices but none of the timers sync up. It feels like a tease. Along with that, I’m using the watch app for the first time and the haptic does not always vibrate. Maybe I’m not using the proper settings but that’s hard to say since customer service is non existent. Emails never get answered. Although, judging from some of the developer’s responses here, a curt reply now wouldn’t be unexpected.

I have a hard time focusing, especially when reading dense theory stuff (common in my major). The only thing I found that worked were ambient noise videos or apps and setting a timer. I can do both in this app. The verbal notification feature (when a session is done) is also SUPER helpful.

Fantastic tool - free and very inexpensive to upgrade for additional sound options. I am 48 with ADD that inhibits my productivity at work daily. I don’t want to take meds. Here’s a simple, effective solution. This is so helpful for me to focus on tasks and projects - in part by simply having headphones to eliminate background distractions.

I don’t usually write reviews but this app is amazing! I’ve been using another Pomodoro app and I didn’t like their new update so I tried this app and it’s incredible! I love being able to customize the timers and having a ticking sound for the focus timer and no sound for the relax timer.

I use this app almost every day and love it. However, the latest update has the app resetting every time so if I don’t keep track of my pomodoros manually, I won’t know how many I’ve gotten done. It’s not showing up in my statistics section, either. Just fix that and it’ll be back to five stars.

Update: After several months of not using the app I have started using it and the Siri voice that announced the completion of the studying time has disappeared. The setting shows the voice and vibration notification on but the Siri voice doesn’t come up. It’s quiet annoying as I have to keep checking the time. The app doesn’t record the studying time accurately. Hopefully they fix it soon.

Great app for keeping time. Only problem is that I have to uninstall and re-install every month or so because once I start the timer it will stop playing whatever podcast/music I have in the background, which is annoying. But I’ve had no other issues with it.