Foca App
Pomodoro Focus Timer
Contents
From a personal problem to a product used by 300,000+ people
I created Foca as a calm, minimal focus app combining a Pomodoro timer, ambient sound, and guided breaks. I built the product end to end, from strategy and experience design to development and launch.
Available on Google Play and the App Store for iOS and macOS, Foca reached 300,000+ users across 100+ countries and earned a 4.6+ average rating.
Facts · Growth over time
The 2021 install snapshot and the later user milestone reflect different dates and metrics.
Process
Foca began with a problem we experienced during remote work: staying focused often meant sitting still for too long, while taking a break made it easy to lose momentum.
I framed the opportunity as a product challenge rather than a timer feature: how might we create a repeatable rhythm that supports concentration and makes healthy movement part of the workday?
We tested several time-management approaches and chose the Pomodoro Technique because its alternating focus and break intervals provided a simple behavioral structure.
The product decision was to make each break useful without making it demanding: short guided stretches could help people reset physically, then return to work with minimal friction.
I reviewed existing Pomodoro apps and found that many added setup steps, competitive mechanics, or visual noise around a task that should feel immediate.
We defined a focused MVP around one core loop: start quickly, stay immersed, stretch during the break, and understand progress over time. I scoped and designed that experience, then worked with my co-founder to ship the first release in three months.
UI Design
Pomodoro Focus Timer
A familiar 25-minute focus and 5-minute recovery rhythm, designed to start with minimal setup.
— A restrained interface reduces distraction
— Distinct color states make focus and break sessions recognizable at a glance
White Noise
Natural and urban ambient sounds help users shape a more immersive focus environment.
— The free experience remains useful on its own
— Foca Plus unlocks the full sound library
Stretch Exercise
Guided stretches turn the Pomodoro break into a physical reset, not another screen task.
— Clear illustrations cover the neck, back, shoulders, and hands
— Audio guidance lets users follow without watching the screen
Focus Category
Focus categories give each session a purpose and make progress easier to interpret later.
— Foca Plus supports custom categories
— Consistent color coding connects the timer with activity data
Statistics
Clear summaries show how focus time accumulates across days and categories.
— The emphasis stays on useful patterns rather than competitive scores
Customizable Timer
Flexible duration controls support different tasks without slowing down the default flow.
— A slider makes time adjustments quick
— Users can choose the next step after a session or enable Auto-Run
Outcome & Impact
2,000+ DAU at the measured milestone
100+ countries
Product judgment came from the loop between behavior and feedback. A student in Somalia told us that ambient sound helped him study and asked for categories organized by subject. That request reflected a broader need to make progress personally meaningful, so we added customizable focus categories in a later release.
Across reviews and messages, users consistently valued two deliberate choices: a quiet interface that stays out of the way and stretch prompts that make breaks restorative. Those signals helped us prioritize depth in the core experience over adding unrelated productivity features.
Foca remains a practical lesson in end-to-end ownership: define a narrow problem, ship the smallest coherent loop, learn from real use, and keep improving the product without losing its original point of view.