Inspiration

Staying focused often feels harder than it should. Many productivity apps either feel overly strict or turn focus into another source of pressure.

I wanted to build something calmer: a focus app that still provides practical tools like timers, app blocking, statistics, and social focus, but wraps them in a softer experience that feels rewarding to return to.

That idea became Patsspace. Every focus session contributes to a small virtual space that grows alongside your progress, with plants, decorations, and Pat as your focus companion.

What it does

Patsspace is a cozy productivity app designed to help people study and work with fewer distractions.

Users can start Pomodoro or stopwatch focus sessions, block distracting apps, use ambient focus sounds, track their progress, and focus together with friends and groups.

Completing focus sessions also earns rewards that can be used to grow and customize a personal garden with different plants, pots, and decorations.

The goal is to make focus feel less like a productivity dashboard and more like spending time in a calm space that gradually reflects the work you have done.

How we built it

Patsspace was built with Flutter and Dart for a shared mobile codebase.

Firebase handles authentication, cloud data, social features, and user progress. RevenueCat powers Patsspace Pro and manages subscriptions and in-app purchases.

The app also includes native platform integrations for features such as app blocking, as well as custom animation and illustration systems for Pat, plants, and the garden.

Challenges we ran into

One of the hardest parts was balancing functionality with simplicity.

Patsspace includes timers, app blocking, social focus, statistics, rewards, a garden system, sounds, and monetization, but I did not want the interface to feel overloaded. A lot of development time went into removing unnecessary UI and finding ways to make progression visible without turning the app into a conventional gamified productivity app.

Another challenge was implementing platform-specific functionality such as app blocking while maintaining a consistent Flutter experience across the rest of the app.

I also had to design the progression system carefully so that the garden feels rewarding without distracting from the primary purpose of the app: helping users focus.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am especially proud that Patsspace became a complete product rather than only a hackathon prototype.

It combines a functional focus system, app blocking, social features, statistics, ambient sounds, a persistent garden, customization, and RevenueCat-powered monetization in one cohesive experience.

I am also proud of the visual direction. Almost every interaction and asset was designed around the same calm, minimal style, from Pat's animations to the plants, pots, focus screens, and onboarding.

What we learned

Building Patsspace taught me that adding features is often easier than deciding what not to show.

I learned a lot about mobile product design, Flutter architecture, native platform integrations, subscriptions with RevenueCat, and building social features with Firebase.

Most importantly, I learned how much iteration it takes to make a feature-rich app still feel simple.

What's next for Patsspace: Focus Timer

Next, I want to keep improving the focus experience based on real user feedback.

I would like to expand the garden and customization systems, make Pat react more dynamically to focus sessions, improve social focusing with friends and groups, and experiment with widgets and additional ways to make progress visible outside the app.

I also want to continue refining Patsspace Pro and test which premium features users genuinely find valuable rather than simply putting more functionality behind a paywall.

Another step is releasing Patsspace: Focus Timer in the Google App Store, too.