Parents' Guide to Focus Dog: Study timer

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android Free to try Productivity
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Common Sense Media Review

Mieke VanderBorght By Mieke VanderBorght , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 14+

Gamified tool rewards screen-free focus; has purchases.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Focus Dog: Study timer App: Screenshot #1
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age 7+

Based on 1 kid review

 

 

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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
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What's It About?

Open a session with FOCUS DOG: STUDY TIMER by tapping Focus to start the clock. Then put away your device and focus on whatever task you're working on. Come back to your device and tap Stop to end the session and categorize what you spent your time doing (work, study, or social). Every 10 minutes on the timer earns a donut. When the timer isn't going, explore the gaming parts of the app. Feed collected donuts to the dog, set specific goals, look at your focus time data history and streaks, or join a group to compete for focus time logged. Use earned coins and donuts to level up, upgrade option such as the speed with which you earn donuts. The premium version offers additional functionality like the turning on a "stop cheating" option that stops the timer if you close or switch out of the app.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say ( 1 ):

For teens looking for a tech-based way to help them focus on offscreen tasks, this gamified focus timer provides an easy solution with lots of built in rewards and level up opportunities. The free version of Focus Dog: Study timer works as a fancy timer that lets teens categorize what they've spent their time focusing on and gain a clear sense of progress and accomplishment as they earn donuts and coins. The community function may provide some additional motivation to collect more and longer focus sessions. Of course, the success of this tool really depends on teens using it honestly. And it would be super simple for teens to just set the timer, go do whatever -- whether focused or not -- then come back to see how much they've earned. The paid version offers some options for limiting users' abilities to "cheat," such as a setting that stops the timer automatically if teens close or switch out of the app. Another criticism is that for an app that attempts to provide incentives for users to put their device away, there are lots of reasons to continue checking the app to see progress. On the other side, there's a small connection to the real world in the option to use 185 coins to make a small donation to a dog-focused non-profit organization. Overall, Focus Dog: Study timer can be a fun way to encourage teens to achieve distraction-free focus sessions -- particularly if they buy the premium version.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how using Focus Dog: Study timer might help them meet their goals. What are their main distractions? How much time can they realistically stay focused on a task?

  • Talk about the ways phones can be distracting. Which apps do you find yourself checking when you're trying to get something done? Are certain activities more distracting than others?

  • Be a good role model around device use. Make sure to stop looking at a screen when you're interacting with your kids and try to illustrate how to stay focused on one thing at a time.

App Details

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