What Niven does, with all the numbers.
Niven is a focus timer with a pixel buddy that lives off your work. This page lists every mechanic the way it runs in the app: durations, treats, fullness, affection, friends, coach, notifications and the difference between Free and Pro.
Free account by email. All Pro features included in the browser.
Focus sessions
Pick 15, 25 or 50 minutes and start. The timer keeps running when you close the app or put the phone away. On Android you see the counter in the status bar. Afterwards a break of 5, 10 or 15 minutes.
If you cancel, there are no treats. From one minute on, the session is still logged in the Times tab so your day stays visible.
- Focus
- 15, 25 or 50 minutes
- Break
- 5, 10 or 15 minutes
- Background
- timer keeps running, app can be closed
Treats
Every finished session earns treats: 2 for 15 minutes, 3 for 25, 9 for 50. Long sessions pay off far more. Take a break of at least 5 minutes within 2 hours after the session and you get 1 more.
Treats cannot be bought. Everything your buddy eats comes from your time.
- 15 minutes
- 2 treats
- 25 minutes
- 3 treats
- 50 minutes
- 9 treats
- Break of 5+ minutes
- +1 treat
Fullness and feeding
Your buddy loses 4 fullness per hour, from full to empty in about a day. One treat gives 10. Roughly 65 focus minutes a day (one 50 plus one 15) keep it up.
Below 30 it is hungry, below 20 very hungry, below 10 it calls for help, also to your friends. At night, from 22:00 to 7:00, your buddy sleeps: no calls for help, but fullness keeps dropping.
- Fullness
- minus 4 per hour
- One treat
- plus 10
- Hungry
- below 30
- Call for help
- below 10
- Sleep
- 22:00 to 7:00
Three animals on the meadow
Cat for everyone, dog and fox with Pro. Each buddy has its own pixel art animations: sleeping, eating, celebrating, wandering, cuddling. The meadow has a sky that follows the time of day, with sun, moon, birds and fireflies.
Petting and affection
Tapping cheers your buddy up, stroking makes it cuddle. Affection drops 2 per hour. Petting gives 5, at most once every 5 minutes. Below 20 it feels lonely and shows it.
- Affection
- minus 2 per hour
- Petting
- plus 5, every 5 minutes
- Lonely
- below 20
Friends feed too
Invite friends by link. You see each other's buddies, can give treats and get a notice when a buddy is starving. When fullness drops below 10, a call for help goes out to your friends.
Coach and weekly plan
Your buddy answers in the chat as itself. It knows your sessions and tasks, adds tasks from the chat and writes a weekly plan every Sunday: tasks, backlog, leftovers from last week, fixed blocks.
Free has 10 questions a day, Pro 50. Messages up to 8000 characters. With Pro you can rebuild the plan anytime and get a short reflection after sessions and a greeting in the morning.
- Coach Free
- 10 questions a day
- Coach Pro
- 50 questions a day
- Weekly plan
- every Sunday, with Pro anytime
Notifications
At most 4 notifications a day, never before 8:00 and never after 21:00. Your buddy checks in when it is hungry, when a friend has fed it and when the weekly plan is ready. Everything can be switched off in the settings.
- Per day
- at most 4
- Time window
- 8:00 to 21:00
Ad-free, EU-hosted
No tracking, no ads, no sharing with ad networks. Data lives in Frankfurt. The account is free by email and can be deleted in the settings with one tap. Details in the privacy policy.
Free or Pro
| Funktion | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Focus timer 15/25/50, treats, streak, Times tab | yes | yes |
| Buddy | Cat | Cat, dog, fox |
| Fullness, affection, petting | yes | yes |
| Friends and feeding | yes | yes |
| Coach in the chat | 10 questions a day | 50 questions a day |
| Weekly plan | every Sunday | Replan anytime |
| Session reflection, daily greeting | no | yes |
| Price | 0 EUR | 7.99 EUR a month or 59.99 EUR a year, 7 day free trial. Pro+ Lifetime 149.99 EUR one-time |
In the browser all Pro features are currently free. Prices are store list prices, rounded per country.
Boost packs
Need more coach questions? Buy a boost pack from 2.99 EUR, one-time and without a subscription. The quota stays until it is used up.