Show IH: Mind Focus, and Android app to focus instantly and reclaim your attention
I'm a solo dev and some time ago I created an Android app for personal use, called Mind Focus, that helped me work much more focused and reclaim my attention.
And I've finally gathered the courage to publish it, because I think it can be useful to others.
In it I've combined the two things that have worked best for me and that the data also corroborates:
- The Pomodoro technique (and time-boxing in general as a task management approach).
- Isochronic tones (along with other sounds and soundscapes like pink or brown noise) to sync the brain with focused states of mind.
Personally, isochronic tones worked much better for me than other options like binaural beats and the emerging science also seems to show a greater effectiveness (yes, I'm a data nerd, here's an article about the science behind the app).
The main innovation is that the tones used are not looped mp3s, but generated on the fly, with an adaptive ramp system to naturally accustom the brain to the right focus state.
Likewise, that tone generation takes into account the time of day (and people's natural ultradian rhythms) to generate the optimal frequency.
I also gradually gathered what has worked best for me to tame my anxiety (for example, breathing techniques like the physiological sigh) or recover an attention ravaged by the tyranny of the algorithm.
I'm old(ish). I lived without the Internet and then with it, so I hate the endless scam of paying all the time and owning nothing, so there's a very cheap PRO version, but no subscriptions of any kind.
Although, honestly, the free part of the app is very generous for most people.
There are also no ads of any kind in that free version, it also doesn't collect statistics of any kind (not even anonymous ones) and the app works 100% offline.
I could keep writing, but what for? Mind Focus can be downloaded for free from the Play Store and everyone can check for themselves whether it works for them or not.
That's it, thank you very much for your time... and the attention, of course.
Focus apps solve the symptom. The cause is usually that you sit down and don't instantly know what to work on.
When your projects, priorities, and commitments aren't visible in one place, your brain does triage every session - and that overhead is what breaks focus before it even starts. The app can block distractions, but it can't give you a clear next action.
I've been building around the layer underneath: a Notion OS for solo founders where the weekly review surfaces your top 3 priorities and Projects connects to what's actually in motion. When you open your workspace, 'what to work on' is already answered.
What trigger does Mind Focus use to know when focus mode is needed?
I totally agree about symptoms vs. causes, and that the greatest power is knowing the next action to take.
But work and life are chaos, and tasks are not always clear.
Mind Focus simply promotes a conducive context for concentration, no matter what you do. And above all, to focus quickly.
In fact, the induced mental state can bring clarity about what that next task should be.
Love the focus on offline use and no data grabbing. One thing that might help folks stick with it is a tiny nudge system, like a gentle reminder if they keep skipping sessions. I’d also be curious about a quick calibration option so users can tweak the tones if they feel a bit off for them. Little quality of life stuff like that can go a long way for daily use.
Thank you very much for your kind words. I'm not very fond of notifications myself, but I'm probably the first person who needs those nudges in many situations...
In my personal version of the app, I'm working with more complex tones. Right now, users can adjust the tone volume and the brown/pink noise volume independently, so they can choose more subtle tones or fine-tune them to blend better while listening to music at the same time, since Mind Focus can be used together with Spotify or any other music app.
This is stronger than a normal Pomodoro app because the real angle is not “timer + sounds.” It is adaptive focus recovery: tones generated around time of day, ultradian rhythm, anxiety regulation, offline privacy, and no-subscription ownership.
That positioning feels more premium than the name “Mind Focus.” The name is clear, but it also sounds like a generic focus app, while the product itself has a calmer, more serious wellness layer underneath. If you ever move beyond Android into a broader focus/wellbeing system, a name like Zenvarya.com would carry that direction better because it feels more like a dedicated brand than a feature label.
Thank you very much for your feedback.
One practical thought after my earlier comment.
Your product has a stronger positioning problem than a simple name problem.
“Mind Focus” is clear, but it makes the app sound like another generic focus timer. The more interesting direction is adaptive focus recovery: rhythm-based tones, anxiety regulation, offline privacy, no-subscription ownership, and a calmer wellness layer.
That difference matters because if the product keeps growing, the brand can either stay in the crowded productivity-app bucket or move into something more premium and ownable.
I’m doing a few focused naming/positioning audits for early products at $99 while refining the format.
For your app, I’d break down:
current name risk
category framing
premium wellness positioning
domain/name ceiling
whether Zenvarya-style branding makes sense
what to change before more users, store listings, and product memory build around Mind Focus
Not a long consulting thing. Just a sharp written decision memo so you know whether to keep the current name, reposition it, or prepare a stronger brand direction.
If useful, connect here and I can put together a clear outside read:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aryan-y-0163b0278/