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Hank Green’s Focus Friend app is climbing the App Store charts — and it’s extremely cute | TechCrunch

Hank Green’s Focus Friend app is climbing the App Store charts — and it’s extremely cute | TechCrunch

You must stay focused. You cannot open TikTok, or Instagram, or whatever little phone games you like to play. If you fail, you will make an anthropomorphic bean very sad, because its knitting project depends on your ability to stay focused.

This is the premise of Focus Friend, a productivity app created by Honey B Games and Hank Green, the longtime online creator/entrepreneur/educator/sock salesman. Though the app was soft launched last month, Focus Friend is only now gaining momentum the App Store charts — likely because Green and his brother, author John Green, are posting about it more — reaching No. 4 among all free apps and No. 2 among productivity apps.

Focus Friend, which is available on iOS and Android, has the bones of a typical productivity app. It invites you to set a timer on your phone, which will temporarily prevent you from opening certain apps (on iOS, the “Deep Focus Mode” setting connects to your own screen time settings, where you can designate which apps to block).

But what makes Focus Friend different is that it assigns you a new friend — a little bean — which you can give a cute name, like Garbanzo, or Susan Bean Anthony, or Eda (it’s short for Edamame).

Your bean needs help focusing on its knitting. And it can only focus if you refrain from opening the apps that distract you from your work. If you successfully complete your focus session, your bean will give you in-game points (socks), which you can use to buy decorations for its room — because the only thing more motivating than helping a bean knit is to buy it a cute poster for its wall.

Focus Friend has a lot in common with Finch, a popular self-care app that incentivizes users to maintain healthy habits by giving them a virtual bird companion. Your bird grows when you complete certain tasks that you set for yourself, like drinking water, brushing your teeth, or cleaning your room. Like the Tamagotchis of yore, these apps exploit our desire to protect a cute bundle of pixels by doing stuff that’s good for us.

Focus Friend is functional as a free app, but you can pay to give your bean different skins — you can make your bean look like a cat (a “Kitt-ney Bean”) or a jelly bean, for example. There’s also a subscription that allows your bean to knit scarves, which can be exchanged for premium decorations. Green posted on Bluesky that Focus Friend is “very much trying to be an ad-free experience because the mobile ad ecosystem kinda blows.” But the app still has to make money to compensate the employees who brought our beans to life.

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#Hank #Greens #Focus #Friend #app #climbing #App #Store #charts #extremely #cute #TechCrunch

After days of almost (and complete) darkness, the Moon is finally starting to reappear. We’re currently in the Waxing Crescent phase of the lunar cycle, which means each night until the Full Moon we’ll see it get more illuminated from the right side.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Sunday, April 19, the Moon phase is Waxing Crescent. Tonight, 5% of the moon will be lit up, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.

Despite more of it now being illuminated, the percentage of surface is still too little to be able to spot any surface details. Check again tomorrow.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon is predicted to take place on May 1, the first of two in May.

What are Moon phases?

NASA states that the Moon takes about 29.5 days to orbit Earth, during which it passes through eight distinct phases. We always see the same side of the Moon, but the amount of sunlight reflecting off it changes as it moves along its orbit, creating the familiar pattern of full, partial, and crescent shapes. We call these the lunar phases, and there are eight in total:

New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

#Moon #phase #today #explained #Moon #April">Moon phase today explained: What the Moon will look like on April 19, 2026
                                                            After days of almost (and complete) darkness, the Moon is finally starting to reappear. We’re currently in the Waxing Crescent phase of the lunar cycle, which means each night until the Full Moon we’ll see it get more illuminated from the right side.What is today’s Moon phase?As of Sunday, April 19, the Moon phase is Waxing Crescent. Tonight, 5% of the moon will be lit up, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.Despite more of it now being illuminated, the percentage of surface is still too little to be able to spot any surface details. Check again tomorrow.
When is the next Full Moon?The next Full Moon is predicted to take place on May 1, the first of two in May.What are Moon phases?NASA states that the Moon takes about 29.5 days to orbit Earth, during which it passes through eight distinct phases. We always see the same side of the Moon, but the amount of sunlight reflecting off it changes as it moves along its orbit, creating the familiar pattern of full, partial, and crescent shapes. We call these the lunar phases, and there are eight in total:New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).
        
            Mashable Light Speed
        
        
    
Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

                    
                                    #Moon #phase #today #explained #Moon #April

Moon phase is Waxing Crescent. Tonight, 5% of the moon will be lit up, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.

Despite more of it now being illuminated, the percentage of surface is still too little to be able to spot any surface details. Check again tomorrow.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon is predicted to take place on May 1, the first of two in May.

What are Moon phases?

NASA states that the Moon takes about 29.5 days to orbit Earth, during which it passes through eight distinct phases. We always see the same side of the Moon, but the amount of sunlight reflecting off it changes as it moves along its orbit, creating the familiar pattern of full, partial, and crescent shapes. We call these the lunar phases, and there are eight in total:

New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

#Moon #phase #today #explained #Moon #April">Moon phase today explained: What the Moon will look like on April 19, 2026

After days of almost (and complete) darkness, the Moon is finally starting to reappear. We’re currently in the Waxing Crescent phase of the lunar cycle, which means each night until the Full Moon we’ll see it get more illuminated from the right side.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Sunday, April 19, the Moon phase is Waxing Crescent. Tonight, 5% of the moon will be lit up, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.

Despite more of it now being illuminated, the percentage of surface is still too little to be able to spot any surface details. Check again tomorrow.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon is predicted to take place on May 1, the first of two in May.

What are Moon phases?

NASA states that the Moon takes about 29.5 days to orbit Earth, during which it passes through eight distinct phases. We always see the same side of the Moon, but the amount of sunlight reflecting off it changes as it moves along its orbit, creating the familiar pattern of full, partial, and crescent shapes. We call these the lunar phases, and there are eight in total:

New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

#Moon #phase #today #explained #Moon #April

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