Quickly after Green posted about it, “Focus Friend” scaled the App Store, eventually hitting No. 1. It currently sits at No. 3.<\/p>\n
Green also helped his odds by posting about the app’s ascension on his <\/a>TikTok<\/a>. Once “Focus Friend” reached the No. 2 position, he called out<\/a> to his audience: “Everyone stop downloading ChatGPT for just a second, okay?”<\/p>\n “Focus Friend” hit No. 1 on the App Store, topping ChatGPT.<\/p>\n Apple<\/p>\n The app’s success highlights Green’s influence, having posted to YouTube in various forms since 2007 and amassed over 2.4 million followers (and 8.2 million on TikTok). It’s also a sign of the growing popularity of focus-aid tools as people increasingly face notifications, pings, and other screen-based distractions.<\/p>\n In an email to Business Insider, Green shared the origin story of “Focus Friend” and its bean companion. To build the app, he worked with developer Bria Sullivan of mobile game studio Honey B Games.<\/p>\n “Bria suggested a focus timer and let me sit with that idea for a while. [I] came back to her saying, ‘I feel like I need to be responsible to someone besides myself’ and pitched the idea of a bean that was ‘working on something’ inside of your phone,” Green wrote. “From there, we iterated together trying to figure out what would be most motivating and balancing that with what it was possible to actually build relatively simply. “<\/p>\n What it’s like to use ‘Focus Friend’<\/p>\n Hank Green’s “Focus Friend” app overtook ChatGPT on the App Store earlier this week.<\/p>\n As a writer, my job demands long, sustained efforts of productivity with little distraction. But the lure of a quick X scroll or a text-check can be hard to ignore. Could “Focus Friend” help me write this article?<\/p>\n Related stories<\/p>\n Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n I downloaded “Focus Friend” for free and gave it my name. My bean appeared before me \u2014\u00a0small, smiley, and with a little accent on his backside that appears to be its derri\u00e8re. The app asked me to name my bean; ever the creative writer, I chose “Mr. Beano.”<\/p>\n With the brief setup process complete, I was able to start a focus session. The app’s calming classical music played in the background. (In a TikTok<\/a>, Green said that the classical music was made by gaming composer Samantha Van Der Sluis.) As my bean got to knitting, I got to writing.<\/p>\n When the 15-minute session ended, I learned of Mr. Beano’s haul. He knit 14 socks. The more sessions I endured, the more socks he would bring back.<\/p>\n After each focus session, users earn socks and scarves, the app’s currency.<\/p>\n Focus Friend<\/p>\n Staring down at my bean’s empty room, I thought that it was time to do something decidedly unfocused: go on a shopping spree. With my limited capital, I didn’t have enough for a rug or desk for Mr. Beano. A plant would liven up the barren room, though\u00a0\u2014 and would only cost 15 of my hard-earned socks.<\/p>\n In his TikToks, Green had a cat-themed companion. I hoped to spruce Mr. Beano up \u2014\u00a0but all of the alternate bean skins, from coffee to edamame, required payment.<\/p>\n While Green’s name is in the app’s profile \u2014 “Focus Friend, by Hank Green”\u00a0\u2014\u00a0he is not widely visible within the game. This is no “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood<\/a>,” where users constantly see its celebrity creator. But Green’s influence is visible in these skins: Users can pay to be “Hank Bean” or “John Bean,” named after Hank’s brother<\/a>, for $5.99 each.<\/p>\n Here lies the app’s money-making ability. When asked for the price, Green said<\/a>: “$0. Also, there are no ads. You’re welcome.” In a since-deleted TikTok, Green said that including ads was antithetical to the app’s mission. But there are ample in-app purchase opportunities, including the skins and a $1.99\/month “Focus Friend Pro” subscription.<\/p>\n Green said the income from in-app purchases will allow him to expand the app’s offerings \u2014 something he’s already working on.<\/p>\n “We’ve been working on new rooms since launch, so that’s coming soon,” he wrote to Business Insider. “We also want to have a widget that folks can keep on their screen to remind them that there’s never a bad time for focus. And, of course, we’ve got a mix of little features and big launches that we’re trying to balance with all of the other work of having a TON of new users! “<\/p>\n The app is also framed as “ADHD-friendly” in the App Store, though Green doesn’t reference any similar uses in his TikToks.<\/p>\n “Focus Friend” uses in-app purchases and not advertisements to make money.<\/p>\n Focus Friend<\/p>\n Having become sufficiently unfocused in my exploration of the app, I set another timer. This time, I turned on “Deep Focus” mode, which formally disabled my access to most other phone apps. It was just me and Mr. Beano for the next 15 minutes, no distractions.<\/p>\n My bean’s knitting session gave me time to dig into the other focus apps on the market. By now, there are dozens; I remember using the similar Pomodoro technique<\/a> site years back in high school. Apple also allows its users to set screen time limits<\/a> for individual apps, as well as a “Sleep Focus<\/a>” mode to tune out distractions.<\/p>\n Green explained to me more about why he was interested in focus and attention.<\/p>\n “We live in a world where all of the smartest people (and computers) in the world are dedicated to capturing and holding and monetizing our attention,” he wrote. “But our attention is all we have, and I think people want some of it back!”<\/p>\n With all of these apps, there’s a small irony. Focus apps posit that the best way to use our phones less is to download yet another piece of software.<\/p>\n Still, I found it helpful. I made good time writing this article, likely thanks to the 15-minute uninterrupted work stretches.<\/p>\n My last focus session came to an end. I bought Mr. Beano a hamper.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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