Focused Work 5

Back in action, focusing on one thing, launching, and what's to come in 2024.

Hi everyone, it’s Michael here again! 👋

In case you’re new here, I’m an indie developer from Melbourne, Australia that creates productivity apps on the App Store. 🇦🇺

It’s been a hot minute since I last shared an update on my journey, and I’m super excited for 2024!

Today I’m announcing Focused Work 5 - a complete revamp of the focus timer app that kicked off my indie journey four years ago. 🥳 (more info here) (download link)

I whipped out the iPad in early October and sketched ideas asking myself:

“If I were to start over, how would I make a focus timer that’s far easier to use and integrate with productivity routines, but retain its signature flexibility and personality?”

After a few months I was finished and launched in silence to iron things out before making a public announcement (which I highly suggest).

I was also recommended to test the waters with Apple Vision Pro in early January, and was curious to see how well Focused Work’s redesign ported to a native visionOS app.

I was pleasantly surprised with the results, and by the end of this week Focused Work 5 will also be available on Apple Vision Pro!

If you’re grabbing one, be sure to try it out and let me know your feedback.

2023 In Summary

My favourite part of 2023 was turning my back on freelancing at the end of April, and going full-time on my own apps. No more meetings, hustling for projects, and chasing down boring bugs.

After writing my first line of code for Focused Work back in March 2020, it was surreal to think a few years later it would be my main focus.

I largely spent the year trying new things, experimenting with my apps, designing new apps, learning how to build backends, learning ads, learning ASO, all which have sharpened my product nous.

However with my attention split across different ideas, I felt like I was half-assing each and unable to take my chances.

So I decided to do the one thing my main app was ironically designed to help people with…

Focus on one thing.

Focused Work 5

I was hoping the rebuild would only take a few weeks (not 3 months, thank you feature creep), but I had to take the punt to properly improve the app’s UX to improve things like retention.

Feedback suggested the app was too complex to use for those needed a simple focus timer, but for others who “got it”, it was the best productivity tool in the world.

Redesigning the core experience to cater for simple and complex productivity workflows was tricky, but early feedback suggests I made the right moves.

Focused Work feels great to use on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and now, Apple Vision Pro. And I feel genuinely proud about my efforts.

I made a nice little announcement page for it with a little promo video at the end. Rotato is a great tool for this! https://focusedwork.app/apple-vision-pro

What’s next for 2024?

Marketing. My biggest challenge and current flaw as a creator.

Coding is my comfort zone but i’ll need to step out of that if I want to grow Focused Work.

There are plenty of avenues to explore; social media, content creation, ads, each requiring their own focus and attention.

But I’ll stick to my philosophy above; pick one and focus.

If you’re a maker, what was the best marketing play you made for your work?

I’d love to hear about your experience, reach out and let me know!

Cheers, Michael

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