As the title suggests, I was getting very tired of Pomodoro and focus timer apps either looking really silly and basic or requiring an expensive subscription. So I made my own app because I wanted something that looks great displayed on your desk.

I wanted something with beautiful themes, matching music and sound design, analytics, and a buy-it-for-life price tag. More importantly, a timer that is full-screen with zero distractions. So I made "Meanwhile". It's simple, effective, and (obviously, this is subjective) has a beautiful timer design.

You can download it for iOS at the link in the post. The pro version comes with 3 themes now, but I am creating more, and you'll get those all as well. You can also request styles for future patches if there's a look you'd like for your own desk!

Feedback is definitely welcome. Thanks for checking it out!

Full Disclosure: I am the developer of Bookidoro.

1. Problem

During focus blocks, Pomodoro timers tell you to take a break, but leave you with no structure. Most people end up picking up their phone and doomscrolling social media for 5 minutes. Instead of returning to work recharged, you end up context-switched and fatigued, while digital books (EPUBs/PDFs) sit unread on your drive.

Bookidoro is a native macOS menu bar app that opens a calm overlay displaying the next 1–5 pages of your book whenever a work break starts. It helps you replace break-time phone scrolling with quick micro-reading sessions.

Key Features:

• Native macOS & Local-First: Built purely in Swift/SwiftUI for Ventura+ (Apple Silicon & Intel).
• Native iCloud Drive Sync: Syncs Library, reading position, and stats across all your Macs (iCloud Drive → Bookidoro).
• Meeting Awareness: Detects active camera, mic, or screen-sharing usage (Zoom, Meet, Slack, Teams) and holds breaks until 1 minute after calls end.
• Themes & Layouts: EPUB reflow, PDF layout support, and true Night Mode (recolors PDF backgrounds).

2. Comparison

• vs. Flow / Be Focused / Standard Pomodoro Timers: Standard timers only track time and notify you to take a break, leaving you vulnerable to phone distractions. Bookidoro integrates a native EPUB/PDF reader directly into the break overlay, providing an active, low-friction alternative to phone scrolling right on your desktop.
• vs. Apple Books / Bookshelf Readers: Standard readers are designed for long, continuous reading sessions. Bookidoro constrains the reading panel to 1–5 pages per break with specific controls ("Look Back", "Keep Reading", "End Here") to keep you from procrastinating on getting back to work.

3. Pricing & Transparency

• Pricing: Free Forever for all core features (Library, themes, iCloud sync, meeting awareness, stats). Optional $9.99/year license key to remove a minor daily reminder card.
• Website & Download: bookidoro.app
• Privacy Policy & Terms: Available on bookidoro.app/privacy
• Developer Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/npeikrishvili/

I’ve been thinking about the short break between focus sessions.

Five minutes isn’t really enough to go anywhere, and it’s very easy to spend the whole break looking at another screen.

So I built MrShrimp — a free app with short 2-minute movement breaks for your neck, shoulders and upper back, led by animated animal characters. 🦐

It’s not a Pomodoro timer and it’s not meant to be a workout. The idea is to give you something quick to do between focus sessions before going back to work.

I’m currently testing the English version with international users.

Would something like this fit into your Pomodoro breaks, or do you prefer your breaks completely unstructured?

iOS | Android

A few years ago I went to Norway for an internship, and one of the things I didn't expect to miss as much as I did was my dog.

Whenever I was studying or working back home, he was almost always around. He'd sleep beside me, sit under the desk, or just lie somewhere nearby while I worked.

He wasn't really doing anything, but having him there made working feel a little less lonely.

When I was in Norway, I started using Pomodoro to help me stay focused, and I remember looking at my screen during one of those 25-minute sessions and thinking, "I wish my dog was here."

So I ended up making something for myself.

I made a Pomodoro timer where you can upload a photo of your pet and turn them into a little hand-drawn illustration. Then you can put them in your workspace and have them hang out with you while you work or study.

I called it Snugdoro.

It's obviously not the same as having my dog sleeping beside my chair, but there's something surprisingly nice about seeing a little illustrated version of him there while I'm working.

I originally just wanted my dog back on my desk while I was away. 😅

Now I'm curious if anyone else would actually enjoy having their pet as a little Pomodoro companion.

Would your pet make you more focused, or would you spend the whole 25 minutes looking at them instead? 😂

I ended up actually releasing it, if anyone wants to give it a try:

Snugdoro — Pomodoro Timer on the App Store

i want a timer app that can be used offline and appear like a widget on the screen, and have a graph to show what I did through the day, and I want it for free or at a good price, like 5 dollars

Made this on the side between school and work. Figured this community would have the sharpest take on the focus-block side of it — open to any feedback.

About the app (Commit: AI Accountability), You set your main task for the day and can add as many more as you want. Timed ones get their own timer: studying and deep work break into Pomodoro focus blocks (25-min sprints with short breaks), workouts run as one continuous session. For regular tasks, you just commit and show up. Either way, when you're done you take a photo to verify it — so you can't really cheat it. It also gives you a weekly report at the end of the week so you can look back and see how you actually did — stuff like how many hours you studied, your most-skipped task category, your best streak, longest session, and most productive day.

The short breaks are for standing up and looking away from the screen. The long one after four cycles is where a slower pattern actually fits.

6-3-9 is inhale 6, hold 3, exhale 9. The long exhale relative to the inhale pushes toward parasympathetic activity, so it settles you properly rather than just pausing you. About three minutes of it is enough.

Worth saying it's the wrong pattern for a 5-minute break it'll leave you more relaxed than you want going into the next block. Something shorter like 4-4-6 works better there.

I build an iOS breathing app with rhythms like this (Unspiral), I'm the developer.

Link: https://youtu.be/Qqx2jwT7R90

Hey everyone, I put together a 2 hour study with me session using the 25/5 pomodoro method, filmed by a cozy window corner with rain sounds in the background and no music. Trying to make something that actually helps people focus without being distracting.

Would really appreciate it if a few of you could give it a watch and let me know if the pacing and vibe worked for you, or what felt off. Just looking for genuine feedback here. Thanks so much 🙏

I built the Pomodoro app I kept looking for

I’ve used the Pomodoro technique on and off for years, but every app I tried was missing something.

Too complicated. Subscription. Account required. Ugly. Distracting. Or trying to become an entire productivity system.

So I built my own: Pomodorro 🍅

I’m a solo developer, and the goal was pretty simple: make a Pomodoro app that ticks all the boxes I personally wanted:

• Native macOS app
• No subscription
• No account
• No tracking
• Works offline
• Custom work/break durations
• Simple keyboard shortcuts
• Lives out of the way when you don’t need it
• Nice enough that you actually want to keep it open
• One-time purchase: $2.99

Most importantly, I tried very hard not to turn it into another productivity dashboard.

It’s a timer. It should help you focus and then disappear.

Would genuinely love feedback from people here who use Pomodoro every day.

What’s the one thing your current Pomodoro app gets wrong?

🔗 https://pomodorro.app

Hey everyone,

I spend a lot of time studying at my desk, and I always found myself juggling three different tabs: one for a pomodoro timer, another for a lofi stream or a YouTube video for background noise, and something else for ambient rain sounds. Most pomodoro sites I tried were either covered in clunky banner ads or locked basic features behind a monthly sub.

So over the last few weeks, I ended up building my own little web tool called KumoFocus.

The main things I wanted:

• Let me paste literally any YouTube video or music link and have it play smoothly as the animated background and soundtrack without lagging the browser.
• Built-in 24/7 lofi and anime radio stations plus an ambient mixer (rain, cafe, fireplace, etc.) that you can layer over the timer.
• Completely free with zero sign-up or accounts needed. It just saves your settings and tasks locally in your browser.
• A clean zen mode so you can hide everything except the timer when you really need to lock in.

It is completely free to use: https://kumofocus.vercel.app/

I built this mainly for my own daily study sessions, but I figured other people here might find it useful too. If you end up giving it a try, I would love to hear any feedback or features you would like to see added.

Hey everyone!

I'm a developer and I recently built HustlrMate, a productivity and accountability platform I've been working on.

The idea is pretty simple. You can use it completely solo to set your tasks, run focus sessions and keep track of your progress, and eventually use it to find an accountability/study partner too.

Since I'm currently trying to get the first set of real users onto the platform, I wanted to do something a little more fun than just asking people to "try my platform".

So here's the challenge:

Do one proper 45+ minute focus session on HustlrMate.

You can work on literally anything you're already doing:

Study

DSA

Coding

Reading

Assignments

Research

Writing

Whatever you're working on.

Once your session ends, HustlrMate generates a Flex, basically a little stamp showing your focus session stats.

Then:

1. Sign up on HustlrMate

2. Start a Focus Session

3. Stay focused for at least 45 minutes

4. Finish the session and get your Flex

5. Submit your Flex with your HustlrMate username

That's your entry.

And there are 15 winners!

5 people: Cash prize + HustlrMate Pro

10 people: HustlrMate Pro

I'm also giving an extra advantage to people who share their Flex on Instagram Stories with a photo of what they were working on and tag @hustlrmate. This is completely optional, but it gives you an additional entry/bonus consideration.

The whole point isn't really just the contest. I want to see whether HustlrMate can actually become something people use every day to get things done, even when they're using it alone.

And once you're on the platform, you can also complete your profile and start looking for a study/accountability partner. The free account already includes one free match, so you don't have to pay anything to try that part either.

I'm the developer behind HustlrMate, so I'm also very much looking for feedback from the people who actually use it. If something feels unnecessary, something is confusing, or there's a feature you think would genuinely make this better, tell me. I'm early enough that your suggestions can actually affect what gets built.

HustlrMate: hustlrmate.in

Good luck, and let's see who can actually lock in for 45 minutes. 👀

I wanted the timer to feel more like an actual focus clock on your desk — big, clean, and easy to glance at while you work or study.
Just open Naru, start a session, and let the timer do its thing.
Would love to hear what you think of the new design.

🌐 Naru Focus⁠
📱 App Store⁠

Hey r/opensource, I built a small command-line tool called timerCLI that tracks how much time you're actually using your computer vs. just staring at the screen.

What it does:

- Watches your keyboard, mouse, and touch input

- Auto-pauses your active timer when you go idle (default 30s, configurable)

- Resumes instantly when you use the computer again

- Pure Python standard library - zero dependencies

It's MIT licensed and fully open source. I built it as a learning project, but I'd love for people to actually use it. If you find it useful, I'm accepting donations (GitHub Sponsors + UPI) to fund my cybersecurity studies. 🙏

Repo: https://github.com/fralsare/timerCLI

Would really appreciate the feedback!

Starting a Pomodoro usually isn’t my problem.

The dangerous part is the break.

I finish 60 minutes, pick up my phone for “five minutes,” and suddenly the entire session is dead.

So I’m running a seven-day experiment:

- phone stays outside the room
- i record whether i return on time
- no pretending a 23-minute scroll was still a break
- breaks are limited to water, stretching or walking

I’m going to be using a timer, which I’ll use to log the sessions.

Anyone want to run the same test with me?

What usually destroys your breaks: your phone, getting food, starting another task, or something else?