Buzz
Forest is a productivity app designed to keep you engaged with your work rather than distracted by your phone. It’s perfect for completing assignments, replying to emails, or simply enjoying time with friends without interruptions. The app allows users to grow virtual trees by setting a timer, but if they exit the app before the timer runs out, their tree will wither! In this guide, we'll show you how to download the Forest app and enhance your focus habits.
Steps
Getting Started with Forest: Downloading and Setting Up
Install the Forest app. You can find the app in the App Store for iPhones or the Google Play Store for Android devices, under the name “Forest - Your Focus Motivation”.
- Forest costs a one-time fee of $1.99, and after the purchase, you will have unlimited access to all its features.
Launch Forest. Open the Forest app from your home screen and read through the quick instructions provided by the app to get started.
Create an account in Settings. Tap the three horizontal lines at the top of the screen, open ‘’’Settings’’’, then select ‘’’Log In’’’ under “Account,” followed by ‘’’Sign Up’’’ and follow the on-screen prompts.
Planting a Tree
Select a tree to grow on the app’s main page. Head to Forest’s main screen, tap the tree icon in the center of the circle, and choose a tree to plant from the available options. While your choices may be limited initially, you can unlock more options as you progress.
Set your timer and stay focused. Adjust the focus timer by moving the green dot along the outer edge of the tree’s sphere, then tap ‘’’Plant’’’ to start.
- The timer is adjustable in 5-minute intervals, with a minimum duration of 10 minutes.
- If you exit the app before the timer completes, your tree will wither, so stay focused!
Collect your tree and rewards. After finishing your first focus session, grab your coins from the pop-up notification and take a moment to appreciate your accomplishment.
Reviewing Your Previous Focus Sessions Through the Menu
Tap Forest to see your trees. The ‘’’Forest’’’ button in the menu will take you to your Forest—a lush plot of land displaying all the trees you’ve cultivated.
- Your Forest also includes trees that didn’t thrive, serving as a reminder of moments when focus was lost and as motivation to keep improving.
Sort your Forest by trees planted within different time periods to track your growth more effectively. Tap the ‘’’Day’’’, ‘’’Week’’’, ‘’’Month’’’, or ‘’’Year’’’ tabs on the “Forest” page to adjust your view of the Forest.
- This page also displays a bar graph showing when you planted your trees. The graph updates dynamically based on your selected time frame, providing an hourly breakdown for “Day,” daily for “Week,” and so on.
Click on Timeline for a detailed look at your past focus sessions. With this feature, Forest lets you scroll through a log of your planted trees. The ‘’’Timeline’’’ provides key details, including start and end times, whether your tree flourished or failed, and the tags assigned to each tree (tags will be explained in the following section).
Tap Achievements to view your milestone rewards. The “Achievements” page displays the badges you've earned for accomplishing specific milestones, such as growing healthy trees for seven consecutive days.
Claim your rewards for completed achievements. Each time you reach an achievement, you will be able to claim coins as a reward.
Tagging Your Trees for Better Organization
Tap Tags in the menu to begin categorizing your trees. To organize your trees, type the name of the desired tag into the ‘’’Search or Create Tags’’’ bar in the “Tags” section and tap ‘’’Create’’’ to make your categories.
- Consider using tags like “Biology”, “Email”, or “Reading” to organize trees based on different tasks.
Plant a tree, then use the pen icon to tag it. After planting a tree, a pen icon will appear in the top-left corner. Tap it to choose a tag and add notes for that tree.
- You can also tag trees by selecting them from the “Forest” page, then adding tags and notes.
- In the notes section, you can include additional details beyond just the tag, like writing “Mitosis” for a tree labeled “Biology” to remind yourself of your study focus.
Explore your tag statistics by scrolling down on the “Forest” page. Below your virtual land and bar graph, you’ll discover pie charts that visualize your tag data.
- This feature is particularly useful for understanding how you allocate your time, where you excel or struggle, and the times of day you tend to focus on different tasks.
Personalizing Your Experience in the “Settings”
Open Settings. You can find ‘’’Settings’’’ in the in-app menu, which is accessed via the three lines at the top left of the home screen.
Tap Planting Reminders, then add reminder times with the plus button. Once you’re on the “Planting Reminders” screen, tap the plus button in the upper right corner. Here you can set up a time for the app to remind you to plant a tree, and you can even schedule a repeating reminder.
- You can set up to five reminders, and each one can be turned on or off by toggling the switch next to it.
Activate the “plant together” feature if you want to focus alongside others. The “plant together” feature enables several people with the Forest app to sync their focus sessions and plant trees simultaneously. If anyone leaves the app before the session ends, everyone’s trees will die, so this feature is a great way to keep each other accountable.
- To enable it, simply tap the icon with two people on the home screen, follow the instructions that pop up, and select either ‘’’Create Room’’’ or ‘’’Join Room’’’.
Using Your Coins
Purchase new cosmetics from the Store. Once you open the Store, you can spend your coins to buy new trees, calming music, and other exciting items.
Plant a tree on the “Real Forest” page. Here, you can use 2500 coins to plant a real tree, making your focus sessions have a positive environmental impact.
- In collaboration with Trees for the Future, Forest has planted over 1,186,000 trees in countries such as Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, and Tanzania.
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Forest has also released extensions for Chrome and Firefox, which can be downloaded from their respective browsers. These extensions allow you to plant trees from your browser and block certain sites to keep you focused while on your computer.
