David Smith, the prolific developer behind apps like
<https://9to5mac.com/2021/04/07/watchsmith-for-apple-watch-gets-major-update
-with-new-complication-styles-and-more/> Watchsmith and
<https://9to5mac.com/2021/01/11/widgetsmith-update-health-and-fitness-home-s
creen/> Widgetsmith, is out with a new Apple Watch app today.
<https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ians-awesome-counter/id1562654021> "Ian's
Awesome Counter" is a new application for Apple Watch that Smith says is
"designed to help you be more focused and aware of yourself."
In a <https://www.david-smith.org/blog/2021/04/14/ians-awesome-counter/>
blog post on his website, Smith explains that this app started as he created
it to help his son, Ian, manage and regulate his attention.
My son, Ian, can sometimes have difficulty with regulation and management of
his attention. We've tried several different strategies for helping him with
this. One of the strategies that we found most successful was giving him
regular prompts throughout the day and ask whether he thought he was on task
and staying focused. This increases personal awareness and gives us a
scaffolding against which we can measure progress.
Initially this took the form of a repeating countdown timer and a hand
clicker. This worked pretty well, but was rather cumbersome to maintain.
Then something rather dramatic happened to push forward this strategy.
Back in 2019 my family and I visited Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. While
we were walking across the scenic bridge that overlooks the castle, the
clicker we were using at the time slipped out of our hands and bounced
unfortunately over the edge of the bridge and down the steep ravine beneath
us. Yikes!
While on the trip, Smith says he and Ian worked together to create an early
version of an Apple Watch app to simulate the hand clicker methodology, and
now he's releasing it for everyone. "Getting regular reminders to evaluate
if you are on task helps nudge you to be more focused," Smith explains.
"Ian's Awesome Counter" is designed purely for the Apple Watch, and you can
get started by configuring how often you want to be prompted. Smith explains
that if you turn on notifications, you'll receive a notification asking you
if you were on track for that time period.
You can set when the prompts should begin and end each day, and set a goal
for how often you want to be "on track." You can also view your performance
over the last week in the History view of the app on Apple Watch.
9to5Mac's Take
For people who struggle with time and attention management, "Ian's Awesome
Counter" could be a wonderful solution. The backstory behind the app makes
it all the more interesting. As David notes in his write-up, it's also
perfect for the age of Family Setup on the Apple Watch, which allows parents
to manage Apple Watches for their kids.
But of course, "Ian's Awesome Counter" can be used by anyone who is looking
for ways to improve attention management, including adults. I'm looking
forward to implementing into my daily routine to see how it can impact my
focus and attention throughout the day.
You can download
<https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ians-awesome-counter/id1562654021> the app on
the App Store for Apple Watch for free.
By <https://9to5mac.com/author/chmiller44/> Chance Miller at:
https://9to5mac.com/2021/04/14/apple-watch-ians-awesome-counter-app/
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