time management with audio
My goal: create an app that helps people focus. I had a lot of ideas for possible future features, but too many options will defeat the purpose of a tool designed for focus, so I started small with the first version of FocusSound and will build upon it as needed. Creating a musical pomodoro app to help me focus on the work at hand seemed very useful to me as a college student, as I don’t know of any other app that offers musical pomodoro sessions.
I found several focus-related apps, and most just had countdown timers and another (often premium) feature such as planning and time tracking with reports and infographics. One, called Flora, even made a social game to provide accountability by using virtual consequences for losing focus and rewards for maintaining it. Nothing focused on using music as the timer.
Previously, a major app for playing playlists of music had been Apple’s Music app before they turned it into a streaming service. I tried using it to play music on my device, but it wouldn’t import them. The only music that I can access through that app is some of what I’ve purchased through the Apple store. That’s always been a disappointment to me; I listen to music all the time and it would be great to have an app that could play focus-appropriate music in timed segments.
So I decided to create my own solution by developing FocusSearch for iOS. Controlled through a music player user interface, the UI of my app is designed to feel familiar so the user enjoys interacting with it. Too many options here would detract from the purpose – focus – by sending the user into a rabbit hole of submenus and settings.
Check it out!
FocusSound is my iOS app project that plays background music in sections using the pomodoro method. Its main purpose is to let you focus on your task and remember to take breaks. I use it for studying, programming and designing.
Give it a try! Here’s a sample audio file you can listen to.
What do you think?
Your feedback is greatly appreciated; please share your thoughts in the comments below.