Things
The focus timer
Focus starts a timer on one thing and pins it to the top of the app until you finish or stop.
Focus is part of Twos Plus. Plus
Why you'd care
A list of forty things is a list of forty reasons not to start any of them. Focus takes one thing out of the list and puts it where you cannot lose it, with a clock attached, so the question stops being "what should I be doing" and becomes "how long have I got left".
It is a Pomodoro timer that already knows what you are working on, because you started it from the thing itself.
The 60-second version
- 1
Pick the one thing
Select a thing, or put your cursor in it. Focus works on a single thing at a time.
- 2
Run the focus action
It is in the More sheet of the selection bar and the edit bar. Put it on the bar itself, on a swipe, or on a keyboard shortcut if you use it often.
- 3
Work until the banner runs out
The banner sits above everything else with the thing's text, the clock, and play and pause. Tap the thing's text to jump back to it in its list.
Web, Mac, Windows, and Linux
⌘⌥F starts a session on the row your cursor is in, or on the first selected thing.
iPhone, iPad, and Android
Add focus to a swipe direction, or reach it from More on the selection bar and the edit bar.
The banner
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| The thing's text | Opens its list and scrolls to it |
| The clock | Opens the duration menu |
| −5 and +5 | Take or add five minutes mid-session |
| Play and pause | Pauses the clock, and restarts it once it has run out |
| ✕ | Ends the session |
Durations
5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 minutes are presets, and Custom takes any number of minutes. Two of the options are not countdowns at all: Count up runs a stopwatch with no end, and No limit drops the clock entirely and leaves just the thing pinned to the top, which is the mode to use when you want the reminder of what you are doing without the pressure of a deadline.
Change the duration mid-session and the new length applies immediately.
Going further
Finishing the thing ends the session. Complete, cancel or delete the thing you are focused on and the banner goes away on its own. There is no separate "I'm done" step.
Running out is a celebration. A countdown that reaches zero plays your focus completion sound and fires confetti, and the banner stays put with a restart button so a second round is one tap.
It survives a force-quit. The session is stored as an end time rather than a number of seconds remaining, so closing the app, restarting your phone, or coming back an hour later all resolve to the right clock.
Sessions are per device. Focus is not synced. Starting a session on your phone does not start one on the web, which is deliberate: the timer is about the device in front of you.
iPhone gets a Live Activity.
iPhone
The session also appears on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, so the clock is readable without unlocking. It needs Live Activities allowed for Twos in iOS Settings.
iPad, Android, Web, Mac, Windows, and Linux
The in-app banner is the whole surface here. The Lock Screen and Dynamic Island version is iPhone only.
Settings that change this
- Settings Appearance & Accessibility Default focus time sets the length a new session starts at. The default is 25 minutes. Plus
- Settings Appearance & Accessibility Focus completion sound is separate from the ordinary completion sound, so finishing a session and ticking off a to-do do not sound alike.
Tips
- Put focus on a swipe rather than digging through More. The whole point is that starting takes one gesture.
- Count up is the honest mode for open-ended work. You find out how long something actually takes, which is worth more than guessing 25 minutes.
- Focus the thing you are avoiding, not the thing you want to do. The timer is a permission slip to stop after 25 minutes.
- Pair it with Today: pick the one thing off today's list every morning and focus it before anything else opens.
If it's not working
The action has a crown on it. Focus is a Plus feature. It stays visible without it so you can see what it does, and tapping opens the paywall. See Twos Plus.
No focus option anywhere. It is off by default on every bar. Add it in customize the edit bar and selection bar, or check that focus is not hidden by an off switch in your feature settings.
Nothing on the Lock Screen. Live Activities are iPhone only, and iOS can have them turned off for Twos. Allow them in iOS Settings for Twos.
The sound did not play. A focus session uses its own sound, set in Settings Appearance & Accessibility Focus completion sound, and your device's silent switch still wins. See confetti and sounds.