FLIP: Not your regular Pomodoro app
FLIP is a productivity app that actively reduces your mobile phone usage by employing the Pomodoro technique. Generic Pomodoro mobile apps utilize a timer for timing study sessions and breaks. In principle, this should minimize phone usage as the user should be keeping their phone away until the timer runs out. However, much too often, we’re caught using our phone again unproductively, during study sessions.
FLIP’s active measuring mode (their unique selling point) tries to reduce phone usage by enacting the activity of putting down your phone. The measurement only starts once your phone screen is placed flat against a table. FLIP utilizes your phone’s proximity sensor/ambient light sensor (the same one used to prevent accidental presses during calls) right above your display to do this. This exercise of putting your phone down “keeps it away” for the duration of the session. In fact, your FLIP in-app timer pauses once your phone is picked up.
Notice how in the figure below, the screen goes black when the phone is kept down. This activity is the auto-measuring mode in action. Once the phone is picked up, the timer automatically pauses.
FLIP is available on:
TL;DR
Rinasoft
FLIP is an app developed by Rinasoft Inc, a Korean corporation that aims to solve the problem of smartphone addiction (as stated on rinasoft.co.kr on Jan 2021).
“Linasoft is a company that realizes social value based on mobile app development and big data technology.” — rinasoft.co.kr (2021)
- Rinasoft on the Google Play store
- Rinasoft on the Apple App store
Rinasoft has also created another app called “UBhind: №1 Mobile Life Tracker/Addiction Manager,” that tracks smartphone usage on Android. However, this app seems to have been rendered obsolete after the introduction of “Digital Wellbeing” on android phones.
What does FLIP do?
FLIP utilizes the Pomodoro study technique. This technique, developed by Francesco Cirillo, aims to induce focus by breaking down study sessions into smaller intervals of 25 minutes each with 5-minute breaks between them. It intends to reduce interruptions and alleviate cognitive boredom via timeboxing and regular breaks [1].
As mentioned earlier, FLIP’s utility of this technique is vastly different from the majority of Pomodoro apps. Their auto measure mode integrated well with my Pomodoro routine and helped cut down my phone usage. “Keeping the phone down,” unsurprisingly, seems to be quite an effective strategy for not using my phone.
Disclaimer:
I’ve been using the FLIP app for over a year now. However, I’ve been on and off the app several times. I initially used the iOS app before I switched to a OnePlus in September 2020 and have been using Android ever since. The app version I’m using while writing this review is 1.19.16 on Android 10. It should further be noted that I’m currently running the free version of the app.
I won’t point out any bugs in the article unless they disrupt the app experience. Additionally, I haven’t found any major bugs within the app neither on Android nor iOS as of publishing this article.
The views included in the article are in no way influenced by Rinasoft, and I haven’t been paid to do this review.
Starting up with FLIP
Homepage
Upon opening the homepage, you’re greeted by FLIP’s lovely study mascot (I don’t know what it’s called). On the homepage, you can use the Floating Action Button (the plus sign) to add “goals” to your study portfolio or use FLIP’s “quick measure” feature. Currently, the app only allows two goals per free user; however, a premium account will enable you to add unlimited goals. So if you find the app beneficial, it’s worth investing in the premium account.
Note: New users can get a week of premium for free if they complete 2 hours of focus time for 14 days in the first month of usage (This might change over time).
If you already have goals defined, click on the goal. A study timer will open up. This screen is where you place the phone down to enable “auto measure mode” or click on the timer itself to start it. If you choose to place your phone down, don’t pick it up until the timer ends.
Above the timer is a “LIVE” panel with a number next to it. This number represents the number of users who are currently in a Pomodoro session with you. Click on this button to view their profiles and check the study time they’ve elapsed. This feature is an exciting way to “simulate” a study group. Study groups pose the benefit of influencing your motivation to study [2]– when you’re surrounded by serious students, it can help drive you towards completing your goal. However, I haven’t noticed the same while using the app. I still prefer starting up a virtual study session over Skype or Google Meet with my friends. I consider seeing someone study more reassuring than just knowing someone is studying.
If you’re using an Android phone and have started the timer manually, you can use the floating timer. The timer is useful for those who study using their phones–watching a lecture or viewing a PowerPoint. In that case, I would also advise you to turn on your phone’s “Do Not Disturb”/”Airplane” mode for an uninterrupted study session.
Setting up a Profile
To sign up, click on “… More” on the bottom of the app’s homepage. Once you’re in this section, click on the Sign-up button, where you’ll be directed to enter necessary information such as your email, password, and nickname.
FLIP collects a relatively small amount of data, which seems harmless at face value. The lack of data collection is also reassuring. It looks like their primary focus is to generate money via in-app ads and premium services and not by selling user data. You also have the option of deleting your profile in case you don’t need it anymore.
FLIP also collects your school information if you choose your occupation as “Student.” This data is entirely optional. Furthermore, FLIP uses your school information to determine your ranking among fellow students.
FLIP Talk: Social Networking
I found FLIP Talk a bit unnecessary, given that FLIP’s primary focus is reducing smartphone usage. However, for those who enjoy socializing and would like to be part of a community, FLIP Talk retains some benefits. You possess the ability to post your study log (to obtain points), post comments, and message your friends. Albeit, the UI seems a bit dated, and buttons such as post and attach image are too small to click. Furthermore, there’s no integrated translation option for posts. This is highly problematic since FLIP aims to be an international platform and a significant number of posts aren’t in English.
FLIP Talk doesn’t seem very promising and appears as a feature that can be quickly discarded for another messaging or community-based service such as Discord, Slack, or Reddit. Users can simply focus on using the app for productivity alone and switch to social apps during their free time. Rinasoft can also encourage volunteers to participate in these platforms to maintain discipline. Furthermore, bots can also be used on discord and slack (for free!) to enhance the platform’s experience. Finally, external services also minimize app development and maintenance efforts for Rinasoft. Since maintaining a social media portal is a lot of additional work.
Ways to check your progress
FLIP poses an abundance of ways to display progress on the app. The most basic being the main home page–it indicates the progress you’ve made under each goal. Furthermore, the page shows the total focus time for the day. This timer automatically resets at midnight (by default, you can change this on the settings page). For example, If you’re studying at midnight and running the timer, any duration measured past midnight will be carried forward to the next day.
The other ways to check your progress are:
Statistics
The statistics section on the app is promptly available as an option on the bottom bar. These statistics can be viewed on a daily, weekly, and monthly. The x-axis (or the horizontal axis) displays the time of the day/week/month while the y-axis (or the vertical axis) represents the focus duration. Focus duration is the amount of time elapsed for each Pomodoro session. In layman’s terms, it’s your study time.
Each bar displays the focus duration at specific points in time. Sliding your finger across the graph reveals an annotation that tells you the exact duration a Pomodoro session took. A “break” is any time you press the pause or “||” button on the timer or flip the phone to stop measuring (in auto measure mode).
Finally, the average time is the average time you spend per Pomodoro session, and the maximum time is the maximum time spent in a single Pomodoro session.
Timetable
The timetable is a paid feature available to only premium users. The timetable is a page, available as an option, on the home page’s bottom bar. I wasn’t able to test out this feature since I’m not a premium user. But based on FLIP’s pop up, it’s an automated way of summarizing today’s measured goals. I don’t see any significant benefit of this over the regular statistics page. This feature might be useful for users who like to view their Pomodoro sessions in a school timetable format. School or college students who have online classes might see benefits here if they’re trying to focus on their lectures. These students could visualize how often they got distracted during a class period.
Other Options
Finally, the “More” view also provides a set of options to view your daily progress. A lot of these are variants of the statistics view in one form or another. Here’s a summary of each option:
- My Goals: Essentially, another way of showing goals, similar to the one displayed on the home screen. The goals are divided into self-explanatory sections called “In Progress” and “Completed.”
- Timeline: A clean way of viewing your focus time, very similar to the statistics section.
- Daily Report: This report is a comprehensive way to view your daily focus sessions. It includes a pie chart that shows the breakdown of your focus duration by the goal. It even compares the current day’s focus time with the previous day’s time. Other features include your focus level, number of breaks, average Pomodoro session time, and your ranking. The weekly and monthly levels are available only to premium users. You can take a look at the image below for your reference.
- Calendar View: Gives you a day-wise break up of your goals and Pomodoro sessions, one week at a time.
Measuring Modes and Focus Levels
FLIP currently has three ways of measuring your focus time:
Auto measure mode
The Auto Measure Mode is FLIP’s unique selling point. The auto measure mode aims to make you place your phone screen down, as mentioned earlier.
Manual measure mode
You can manually start the timer by clicking on the pause or “||” button. You have the option of exiting the app and using your phone for studying in this mode. Upon leaving the app in manual measuring mode, you can use the floating timer (only currently available on Android).
Quick Measuring mode
These are any sessions that are not related to your goals. These don’t contribute to your goal but will be included in your statistics. You can choose whether you want quick measurements on the home screen within the settings menu.
Important Configurations
Before you start your timer, it’s essential to know some of these configurations in the settings menu. However, it’s a bit difficult for new users to find where the settings menu is. The settings can be found by going to the “… More” section on the app and clicking on the gear icon in the top right corner.
Once you’re in the settings menu, select “General Settings,” and you’ll find a page similar to the one displayed in the image below. Auto measuring mode is turned on by default, but you have the option of disabling it. You should also select your desired Focus Duration here–this is the length of each Pomodoro session. Setting this is vital as this will directly impact your focus level.
The break duration is the amount of time the app will take to send you a notification that your break has concluded. It would be nice if FLIP could add a break timer into the app. However, according to FLIP’s page, “FLIP uses Pomodoro techniques, but it does not force the required rest periods,” which explains why this feature hasn’t been implemented in the last year. Also, note that you can select whether you would like the time measured from the quick measure mode displayed on the home page.
Focus Level
The Focus Level is perhaps the most confusing part for any beginner. It can be seen almost everywhere across the app. This level is essentially a letter grade from A to F (A obviously being the best), denoting your ability to maintain your focus during a session. These grades are calculated according to the number of breaks you take between a Pomodoro session. Remember how you set the “Focus Duration” in the settings menu? If you leave a session amid the duration, you drop a grade. E.g., If you set the focus duration for 25 minutes and leave a session after 20 minutes, your level will drop from A to B.
But does that mean my grade will not improve? If you continue defaulting, your grade will continue to drop. However, if you study equal to or longer than the set focus duration, your grade improves.
Points and their value
FLIP uses a points system as their equivalent of in-app currency. The only micro-transaction that was visible to me in the app was purchasing premium services using the points. After exploring the app, I found two primary ways of earning points — watching ads and uploading your study log on the FLIP Talk page.
Therefore it would take 17 days of intensive study and following all the above instructions to get a month of a premium for free. So get cracking!
Other Premium Services
Apart from the above mentioned premium services such as the timetable, FLIP’s premium account offers:
Backup and restore
If you lose access to your phone, you can always continue with your progress. Backup as a premium service was a bit scary to discover because this implies that the free accounts could permanently lose their progress. So if you consider your progress history valuable, I recommend purchasing a premium account.
FLIP widget (on Android)
Home screen widgets can be unlocked on your Android phone with a premium account. These are particularly useful if you want to access FLIP directly from your home screen.
Themes
The first thing that popped up in my mind when I saw this option in the settings menu was a ‘dark mode.’ FLIP doesn’t natively support dark mode, but this can be altered via the Themes option. Given below is how the app looks like with the “black” theme.
FLIP also includes other premium themes, which I suggest exploring on the app.
If not having these features are deal-breakers for you, I would recommend purchasing the app’s premium version. Studying intensively for 17 days to acquire it for free is another way of unlocking premium.
Cool quirks
Apart from the essential features, FLIP includes a variety of cool features that could enhance your experience.
Quote of the Day
You can find the Quote of the Day section on the “…More” page and change the notifications settings to notify you of the quote of the day. Quotes are a great way to get motivated. If you’re feeling low or want an extra bit of focus, this section should suit you well.
Study schedule
The study schedule is an excellent way for you to plan your day. You can add your timetable here and then view it from time to time. This feature is available under the “…More” page of the app.
Though this is a nice feature to have, I still prefer using Google Calendar or Apple Calendar to set up my schedule for the day. It also helps that Google Calendar has a “repeat event” feature. You just have to set your timetable and plan for the week, and the calendar will fix it as a recurring event. It would be more convenient if FLIP used Google and Apple Calendar integration instead of their inherent scheduling feature.
D-day
D-day is FLIP’s equivalent of reminders and notifications. This seems like a great idea in principle because students rely on reminders for submission of their assignments. However, several apps, such as Microsoft To-Do, Apple Reminders, and Google Tasks, do the same. FLIP can just integrate these into their app rather than have the user re-enter their reminders.
White Noise
Sometimes, a little white noise helps people focus. This theory might not work for everyone, which is why FLIP appears to have made this optional for users to adopt. I prefer pin-drop silence while studying, but there are sounds such as cafe and rain to choose from if you like white noise.
Final Verdict
FLIP is an excellent app for people who want to put their phone down. Their Auto Measure mode is a godsend if you’re going to place your phone screen down. The app is straightforward to set up and start using; this way, you spend less time on the app itself. Additionally, FLIP only requires a few permissions to be accepted, so you’re less anxious about what data is being collected.
However, the app can do away with many features such as D-Day, FLIP talk, and the study schedule. Alternative solutions for these already exist (e.g., Google Calendar and Microsoft To-do), and several users would prefer integrating them into FLIP rather than re-entering information.
I would prescribe anyone who likes using Pomodoro apps to give FLIP a try.
