The Pomodoro Technique is 40 years old.

Work 25 minutes. Rest 5 minutes. Repeat.

You could use a kitchen timer.

So why are there 500+ Pomodoro apps, and why do most of them suck?

Forest

Grow a tree. Kill your tree if you touch your phone.

Clever guilt trip. Works for phone addicts.

But it’s about phone blocking, not focus tracking. And the gamification gets old.

Verdict: Good for phone addiction. Not for deep work.

Be Focused (Mac)

Native Mac app. Menu bar integration.

Looks like it was designed when Steve Jobs was alive. And not in a good way.

Verdict: Functional. Ugly. Works if you don’t care about aesthetics.

Centered

Beautiful. Has a “flow coach” that talks to you. Calendar integration.

$15/month. For a timer. That talks to you.

Verdict: What the actual fuck.

Pomofocus (Web)

Free. Web-based. Clean. Just works.

No mobile app. Loses your data if you clear cookies.

Verdict: Best free option right now. Use this if you need something today.

Toggl Track

Full time tracking. Reports. Teams.

But it’s not a Pomodoro app. It’s a time tracker for freelancers billing hours.

Verdict: Different tool. Different job.

The Pattern

Focus apps fall into three camps:

  1. Phone blockers — Forest. About addiction, not work.
  2. Time trackers — Toggl. About billing, not focus.
  3. Actual focus timers — Rare. Usually basic or ugly.

What Actually Works

Start timer. Work. Gentle nudge when done. Take break. Repeat.

That’s it. No AI coach. No tree-growing. No $15/month.

A timer that stays out of your way.

FocusTimer

Customizable work/break times. Session tracking. Daily stats.

Minimal interface. Gentle audio cues that don’t break your flow.

Start working. Stop thinking about productivity apps.

Join the waitlist — launching soon.

— Dolce