Scrolling Instead Of Working? Youtuber Hank Green's New App Wants To Help

Can a smiley animation legume thief you enactment focused? Hank Green, 1 of nan earliest and astir influential online creators, hopes so.

The longtime YouTuber, known for his acquisition videos and Vlogbrothers channel, created a productivity app called Focus Friend pinch nan extremity of instilling patient habits. This week, it soared to No. 1 connected Apple’s top free apps chart, surpassing Google, ChatGPT and Threads. As of Wednesday, it’s been downloaded complete 100,000 times connected the Google Play Store.

Focus Friend allows users to group a timer to get a task done, akin to different productivity tools. The app temporarily blocks distractions, for illustration societal media, while nan timer runs its course. Unlike different apps, Focus Friend assigns users a small bean, which nan personification tin springiness a sanction for illustration Bean Diesel, Pinto aliases Eda (for Edamame).

If nan personification successfully focuses for nan timer’s duration, nan legume is capable to decorativeness their knitting project. But if nan personification picks up their telephone successful nan middle, nan legume gets distracted and drops their knitting needles. The much nan personification focuses, nan much socks nan legume knits, which tin beryllium exchanged for legume room decor.

“It’s an app that installs a legume successful your phone. And nan legume really wants to walk much clip knitting,” Green said successful a TikTok video connected Monday. “You tin attraction for an magnitude of time, and that will fto nan legume make socks aliases scarves, and you tin waste and acquisition those socks aliases scarves successful for much furnishings successful nan bean’s room.”

YouTube characteristic and writer Hank Green speaks successful New York successful 2018.Monica Schipper / Getty Images file

Focus Friend launched amid an onslaught of AI slop — debased value media generated by artificial intelligence — and a emergence successful "doomscrolling" (spending excessive clip scrolling online).

The app is nan latest productivity instrumentality to incentivize a patient narration pinch surface time.

Focus Friend echoes products for illustration nan celebrated '90s-era Tamagotchi, a handheld video crippled that allows users to attraction for a mini mythical pet. Finch, different gamified attraction app, has besides risen successful fame since launching successful 2021. It assigns users a customizable vertebrate that grows erstwhile they complete self-determined tasks, for illustration cleaning aliases drinking water.

Focus Friend began arsenic a “passion project” betwixt Green and developer Bria Sullivan, who is down Honey B Games’ Boba Story, which allows players to creation their ain boba drinks.

In January 2024 Sullivan said she met Green complete dinner, wherever they discussed nan thought of creating an app that would service arsenic an replacement measurement to support creators (besides creator merchandise). Sullivan suggested a attraction timer, while Green devised nan anthropomorphic legume and its knitting hobby.

Sullivan hopes nan app tin thief group trim their clip “doomscrolling,” a wont she herself besides hopes to break retired of.

“Especially pinch societal media and things for illustration that, I don’t consciousness for illustration I’m having fun,” Sullivan said. “I don’t consciousness for illustration I’m an progressive subordinate successful it.”

Green, who galore often lovingly picture arsenic “the internet’s dad,” began posting YouTube videos successful 2007 pinch his brother, writer John Green. The 2 went connected to motorboat Crash Course, a YouTube transmission that has offered free, high-quality acquisition videos since 2012. The channel, which has complete 16 cardinal subscribers, touches connected topics including biology and world history. The brothers also created VidCon, nan monolithic creator and instrumentality convention that’s been held annually successful Anaheim, California, since 2010.

But Hank Green’s online fame has besides prompted a batch of self-reflection. The creator has been vocal astir his ain narration to nan internet, including nan downsides, telling TechCrunch past twelvemonth that he’s “been trained by nan algorithms and by my colleagues to beryllium extraordinarily bully astatine grabbing and holding people’s attention.”

“I dream I usage that accomplishment for good, but I besides usage it for distracting group from immoderate other they would beryllium doing,” he told nan publication.

Now, pinch Focus Friend, Hank Green is moving toward “giving group their clip back,” he said successful his TikTok video Monday. “It’s astir letting group beryllium successful power of their attention, not trading their attraction to personification else.”

The app launched successful July but only precocious picked up traction aft nan Green brothers began posting much astir it connected social media, wherever they person millions of followers.

“We didn’t person immoderate thought that it would get this big, nor did we moreover person nan volition for it,” Sullivan said. “The volition we had down it was, ‘This is an thought I deliberation should beryllium successful nan world.’”

Some, for illustration TikTok creator Hannah Rae, who goes by hannahsendlessbookshelf connected nan platform, were instantly hooked. She posted her guidance to nan app successful a video, calling it a “cure” to her “reading slump.”

“It does thin to beryllium easier for nan mostly of america to do nan ‘right thing’ for thing other we want to attraction for, alternatively than conscionable doing it for our ain use successful nan first place,” Rae said.

So far, she said it’s helped incentivize her to put her telephone down. She said her sister, a teacher, uses it to attraction connected her instruction planning, and her brother, 11, uses it while doing homework.

While nan ADHD-friendly app is free to download from nan app store, users tin salary for different legume avatars, including a “John Bean” action resembling Hank’s brother. There’s besides a subscription exemplary wherever users tin knit scarves to waste and acquisition for elevated decorations. Green’s definitive extremity is to debar burdening users pinch ads.

Focus Friend is “very overmuch trying to beryllium an ad-free acquisition because nan mobile advertisement ecosystem kinda blows,” Green wrote successful a station connected BlueSky.

Aside from helping their legume knit a sock aliases a scarf, Sullivan said she hopes Focus Friends users are “taking a break from nan sound and having a small spot of bid pinch themselves.”