Pokus
Pokus started as something I built for my spouse. She’s been managing Long COVID, and one of the hardest parts has been pacing — knowing when to stop before the fatigue catches up. We found that breaking tasks into structured focus and rest intervals helped her pace herself and avoid crashes, so I built a timer around that idea.
The main design choice was making it persistent. A single notification is easy to dismiss, so Pokus keeps reminding you until you actually take your break — on the lock screen, in the Dynamic Island, wherever you’re looking.
I ended up using it myself pretty quickly. Working remotely, there are no coworkers walking past your desk or lunch crowds to signal that it’s time to step away. I’d regularly look up and realize hours had passed. Pokus fixed that for me.
It does the standard Pomodoro thing but also lets you set your own intervals. I added iCloud sync so it works across iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, and some basic tracking so you can look back at how your days went.
Screenshots
iPhone
Apple Watch