Foqos
Productivity
focus and distraction blocking
SHOW HN2025
225points
109comments
#276of 3,837 in 2025
Top 8%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
16 positive, 26 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 9 critical, out of 53 comments about the project. Thread score +0.12.
Idea: 6 for, 3 againstPricing: 3 for, 0 againstPerformance: 0 for, 2 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 againstDocs: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Physical NFC commitment device is a useful idea
From 3 comments
necessary for those of us who forget what they're doing whenever they open their phone. The ability to tell my phone "shut up I'm at my desk" without opening it and being…
dingnuts on HNThis is awesome, now I can switch between work and home with just a tap.
vednig on HNNeat implementation! Big fan of integrating more NFC into apps. There's something satisfying and reassuring about the physicality of it all. I'll add a vote to whoever has the…
Unearned5161 on HN
Useful for parental app lockdown
From 1 comment
This is a fantastic way to lock down an app for kids.
tzm on HN
Objections
Not available in many countries
From 4 comments
Cool idea, wanted to try it out but it's not available in my country. Any reason for this? :)
whatsthatabout on HNIs it not available in the EU?
Dansvidania on HNApp not available in my country (Australia)
realityloop on HNcool, but can't use it : ( since it's not available in every country
s_k_ on HN
Apps can be unblocked easily in software and Apple Shortcuts/Focus already does this
From 3 comments
I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all? Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without…
tigereyeTO on HNyeah 100% you can totally just use whats built into your phone, there's actually no need for any of these apps. I found that having this physical deterrent keeps myself…
awaseem on HNYeah 100% I think I commented this somewhere else as well. Your phone already has this natively built in, you don't need any of these apps at all. Over the break I wanted to…
awaseem on HN
NFC scanning is slow and produces ghost scans
From 2 comments
I'm finding that scanning NFC tags is pretty slow with iPhone. There's this automatic flow that's pretty cumbersome and slows me down. Then when it fails there's some annoying…
amanda99 on HNYeah I also find Ghost scans happen, it happens where I try to scan a tag and it says something has been scanned even though I'm no where close to the tag. I think its an issue…
awaseem on HN
Requests
Make available in more countries
From 4 comments
Add more regions for the app, maybe european countries too?
uhlhosting on HNWould be great if it was available in the UK too!
parkersweb on HNWhy isn't the app available in the Netherlands?
1f60c on HNCool idea! Any chance you’ll make it available in New Zealand? I’d love to try this out.
dperrin on HN
Android port
From 2 comments
I was intrigued by brick, now this, and can't use either. is there seriously no android app like these? :(
compootr on HNNeat implementation! Big fan of integrating more NFC into apps. There's something satisfying and reassuring about the physicality of it all. I'll add a vote to whoever has the…
Unearned5161 on HN
Demo showing blocked apps and real NFC use
From 2 comments
It would've been nice to see what the apps looks like when they're blocked.
GOATS- on HNIt would be nice to see a demo of the app working in the real world with an nfc tag, not just an app recording.
fuddle on HN
QR code and Bluetooth beacon triggers
From 2 comments
So this is just a wrapper for Automations and Profiles (or how Apple calls it: Focus). But i like the idea to make such features accessible to the everyone and not only people…
atVelocet on HNwould it be possible to trigger profiles with Bluetooth Beacons?
chrisbrandow on HN
Questions
How to switch profiles without NFC tags
From 2 comments
Couldn’t figure out how to switch profiles without nfc tags even after installing the app. Could you please let me know?
timisthief on HNHow do I do this?
timisthief on HN
Why NFC tags are needed at all
From 1 comment
I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all? Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without…
tigereyeTO on HN
Alternatives named
Apple Focus and Shortcuts
From 2 comments
For those curious, this is called Focus and is pretty highly configurable after a little learning curve. You can use automations to switch modes by calendar, date/time, GPS…
runjake on HNI might be misreading what you are asking, but I just went into Shortcuts app and tried creating a new one, and there are both “Get Current Focus” and “Set Focus” actions. Is…
filoleg on HN
Brick
From 2 comments
This is awesome, yay for an open source https://getbrick.app/ I'm curious if you have an NFC tag that you'd recommend or that you like to use?
mikodin on HNI use the brick app: https://getbrick.app/, and it works pretty well, but they have this weird bug where selecting certain apps on a block list crashes the app. They have a…
ajoseps on HN
ScreenZen
From 1 comment
ScreenZen works great. One would have to convince the dev to include NFC support.
high_priest on HN
Tasker
From 1 comment
Tasker has NFC reading capabilities and is programmable to do stuff when it detects an NFC ID, I don't know if it can lock the phone though (there's an app called Lock My Phone,…
netsharc on HN