Flora - Focus Habit Tracker
By Keri Wilmot,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Stay on task, plant virtual or real trees as an incentive.
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Flora - Focus Habit Tracker
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What’s It About?
FLORA - FOCUS HABIT TRACKER requires users to have a Facebook account. Invite Facebook friends to "plant seeds and grow trees" with you by agreeing to be in the moment and completing an activity together -- without using devices -- while a timer is activated. Post to Facebook to recruit friends to engage in the app with you, share a passcode for friends to connect to your account, or find other Facebook friends who have already downloaded the app. Or use alone: Set a timer and complete any task you decide on. Completed tasks earn rewards such as creating a virtual garden or participating in the Flora Care Service, to help plant real trees around the world. The price for trees varies depending on how many hours of focus you collect. Kids can also choose a monetary amount -- from $0 up -- to pay if you use your device before the timer runs out. That money also goes towards planting real trees. All transactions are processed through Apple Pay or PayPal.
Is It Any Good?
Learning to put down your device to improve productivity is a great goal, though this method for doing that has a few pitfalls. Sure, it can be hard to live in the moment, and taking time away from devices can be a struggle. Flora - Focus Habit Tracker can help by giving kids an incentive and making them accountable when they don't live up to their goals. It's also a fun way to collaborate with friends or family to, for example, eat together and talk to each other instead of focusing on a screen. On the downside, the option to include a price tag to a mistake may be excessive for kids, and it's very easy to accidentally assign a high amount. Planting trees and improving the environment might be a worthy reward for some, but not enough of an incentive for others. Having options to customize the rewards with other incentives, including ones that don't involve money, might make Flora - Focus Habit Tracker more effective for more kids.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how effective Flora - Focus Habit Tracker is as a tool to set goals and help improve productivity. How difficult is it for your kids to put their devices away?
It can take a conscious effort to not automatically pick up a device. Track how many times you try to pick up your device in just 5 minutes. Are you surprised by your results?
There might be some times when you have to "give up." Did you set a realistic amount of time to complete the task in the first place? Did you "give up" too easily?
Does it help to work collaboratively with others on your goals? How is it different when you use Flora - Focus Habit Tracker with a friend or family member versus using it alone?
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Subjects: Hobbies: gardening
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: decision-making, Self-Direction: academic development, achieving goals, effort, goal-setting, identifying strengths and weaknesses, initiative, motivation, personal growth, self-assessment, self-reflection, set objectives, time management, work to achieve goals, working efficiently, Emotional Development: handling stress, persevering, self-awareness, Communication: friendship building, Collaboration: cooperation, group projects, meeting challenges together, teamwork, Responsibility & Ethics: fiscal responsibility, honoring the community, learning from consequences, making wise decisions
- Pricing structure: Free (Optional in-app purchases range depending on user preference from $0 to $100+ to fund planting actual tress.)
- Release date: September 29, 2019
- Category: Productivity
- Topics: High School
- Publisher: AppFinca Inc.
- Version: 2.5.19
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 11.0 or later
- Last updated: May 20, 2020
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