I needed to focus and write this article. Hank Green had just the bean for me.
YouTuber Hank Green surprise-dropped his app “Focus Friend,” saying in a TikTok that it was “the best idea I ever had.” The app’s premise is simple: The more time spent off your phone, the longer your virtual bean can knit its scarves and socks. Users can eventually trade in their knitwear for virtual room furniture.
Quickly after Green posted about it, “Focus Friend” scaled the App Store, eventually hitting No. 1. It currently sits at No. 3.
Green also helped his odds by posting about the app’s ascension on his TikTok. Once “Focus Friend” reached the No. 2 position, he called out to his audience: “Everyone stop downloading ChatGPT for just a second, okay?”
Apple
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.
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.
“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. “
What it’s like to use ‘Focus Friend’
Focus Friend
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?
Related stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
I downloaded “Focus Friend” for free and gave it my name. My bean appeared before me — small, smiley, and with a little accent on his backside that appears to be its derrière. The app asked me to name my bean; ever the creative writer, I chose “Mr. Beano.”
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, 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.
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.
Focus Friend
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 — and would only cost 15 of my hard-earned socks.
In his TikToks, Green had a cat-themed companion. I hoped to spruce Mr. Beano up — but all of the alternate bean skins, from coffee to edamame, required payment.
While Green’s name is in the app’s profile — “Focus Friend, by Hank Green” — he is not widely visible within the game. This is no “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,” 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, for $5.99 each.
Here lies the app’s money-making ability. When asked for the price, Green said: “$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.
Green said the income from in-app purchases will allow him to expand the app’s offerings — something he’s already working on.
“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! “
The app is also framed as “ADHD-friendly” in the App Store, though Green doesn’t reference any similar uses in his TikToks.
Focus Friend
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.
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 site years back in high school. Apple also allows its users to set screen time limits for individual apps, as well as a “Sleep Focus” mode to tune out distractions.
Green explained to me more about why he was interested in focus and attention.
“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!”
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.
Still, I found it helpful. I made good time writing this article, likely thanks to the 15-minute uninterrupted work stretches.
My last focus session came to an end. I bought Mr. Beano a hamper.
