Your focus, crystallized
into memories.
Essence turns every deep work session into a polaroid — a photo, a note, a permanent piece of your collection. Your effort doesn't disappear. It stays.
Join 200+ people building a focus habit that actually means something.
Morning sketch
45 min
Japanese study
1h 20m
Deep reading
55 min
You work hard. But it vanishes.
You sit down, grind through two focused hours, and when you're done — the timer resets. Nothing to show. Nothing that lasts.
Every other focus app treats your effort like a transaction. Track the time. Count the streak. Move on. By tomorrow, the session might as well not have happened.
That invisible effort is what kills momentum. When discipline has no form, it's hard to believe it's adding up.
Session complete
...now what?
Other apps
Essence
Built for people who take
their time seriously.
After every session, Essence gives you a moment to mark it. Take a photo. Write a line. The app wraps it in a polaroid card and adds it to your gallery wall. Flip a card to see the stats behind the memory — how long you focused, what you blocked, how many times you held the line. Over time, your gallery becomes something rare: a visual diary of the discipline it took to get where you are.
The moment your session starts, distracting apps go dark. No willpower required — the system holds you accountable. Choose which apps to block, and Essence enforces it. Deep Work mode locks them out completely. Tidal Flow makes them available only during your break budget.
Deep Work mode is total commitment — no breaks, no distractions, pure uninterrupted focus. Tidal Flow builds structured breaks into your session — like ocean tides, you ebb and flow between focus and rest within a capped break budget you set. Choose the mode that fits how you work best.
Have a skill you've been putting off — pottery, chess, a language, a fitness discipline? Create an Essence Plan, work your way through each step during your focus sessions, and earn a rare shell when you complete it. The shell lives in your collection permanently: a trophy for the identity you built.
Every completed focus session crystallizes into a pearl — a collectible that accumulates in your personal gallery. Pearls are the tide that comes in every day. Open the app and see them piling up. It's a visual record of every time you chose to show up.
Simple, honest pricing.
Premium enhances how beautifully you display your achievements — it never locks you out of earning them.
Free
- Unlimited focus sessions and pearls
- Polaroid memories and gallery
- Up to 3 active Essence Plans
- Deep Work and Tidal Flow modes
- App blocking
- Streaks and stats
Premium
or $27.99/year
- Everything in Free
- Unlimited active Essence Plans
- Custom shell styles, finishes, and display frames
- Custom pearl and vessel styles
- Advanced analytics and insights
- Cloud sync across devices
- Custom tag and pearl colors
- Data export
- Priority support
“Premium philosophy: the experience of becoming is free. The way you display it can be premium.”
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Unlimited sessions, pearls, polaroid memories, app blocking, and two focus modes are free forever. Premium is entirely cosmetic — it's about how you display and customize your achievements, never about gating the core experience.
When you start a session, Essence blocks the apps you've chosen to restrict. In Deep Work mode, they're inaccessible for the entire session. In Tidal Flow mode, they're available only during your break budget. It's enforced by the system — not just a timer you can ignore.
Deep Work is total commitment — no breaks, no distractions, pure uninterrupted focus. Tidal Flow gives you a flexible break budget (default 15% of session time) you can use whenever you need it. Both modes block distracting apps. Choose based on how you work best.
An Essence Plan is a personal learning journey you create around a skill or identity you're building — kettlebell training, pottery, Japanese, drawing. It's a checklist of steps you work through during your focus sessions. When you complete all steps, you earn a rare shell collectible — a trophy for who you became.
Every completed focus session earns you a pearl — a beautiful collectible that accumulates in your personal gallery. Pearls represent the daily effort that compounds into something visible and real.
Yes, Premium is a subscription at $2.99/month or $27.99/year. You can cancel anytime from the App Store or Play Store. Your data and free tier access remain intact after cancelling.
Yes. Your sessions, memories, and plans are stored locally on your device by default. Cloud sync is a Premium feature and keeps your data encrypted.
Essence is launching on Android first via Google Play. iOS will follow. Join the waitlist to be notified the moment it's live.
Your focused time deserves
to mean something.
Join the waitlist and be first to know when Essence launches.
No spam. Just your early access invite.