Opal Team Updates 📰

[kenneth]

2022-07-31T22:00:00Z

Hi all,
This is where we are this week.

July goal:
Our goal was to release Opal iOS16 to Testflight with onboarding, setup, settings, a new feature called MileStones. Finish brand assets, website, launch organic growth and SEO processes.

Aug 1 Status

• Opal iOS16 is TestFlight but c. 50% functional, without focus score, onboarding and MileStones. We are hitting a few roadblocks due iOS 16 Beta bugs (we filed a total of 19 Radars - Apple’s version of a bug report), and may need to work around them by changing features.
• Brand assets are finalized (we released a preview), but the website is not done yet (delayed).
• SEO process has been kicked off both from us writing our own content Opal | Blog and kicking off work with an agency this week (on Slack: #SEO )
• Organic content: we have 2 winners, first-person Tips Instagram Reels (like the urge surfing one) and joint posting with relevant partners (like with log off movement). We still need to figure out how to produce this content at scale 3-4X weekly.

Aug Goal
In August, we are working to get Opal iOS16 from 50 to 90%, which means solving a lot of iOS16 bugs together with Apple, releasing MileStones, expanding our testflight to 200 people, build our new Focus Score and Screen Time stats features (we call it Focus Report and Daily Focus). We will also release this community board, improve our Instagram organic process to post 3-4x winners per week, grow our SEO process, secure 2 partnerships with leading Screen Time organizations, and get everything polished for public launch (iOS16 is set to launch mid-Sept).

We’re more excited than ever to help 1Bn people focus day to day (and accomplish their dreams).

[kenneth]

2022-08-07T22:00:00Z

Hey everyone,
Here is where we are at the end of the first week of August. As a reminder here are our goals for the month of August.

Feeling
Need to go faster! We’re behind schedule on testing (due to iOS16 beta issues), can’t wait to be able to get in the hands of more people because the New Opal will be a game changer.

Updates

• iOS16 Testflight: we are testing with a small group of people but this is held back by 2 critical Apple bugs. Currently, we can’t test most of the product. We are working with Apple to get them resolved ASAP.
• iOS16 features: we made some progress on MileStones (a feature to reward gems), Stats screen, invite friends to unlock PRO.
• Agreed on a set of goals with Antoine Choussat our brand designer to expand our brand in the next 6 months.
• Instagram: we created a brief to hire a video editor to help with the production of our reels (goals is 3-4X per week) and expect to select and start work this week
• Launch prep: we reviewed our launch timeline, we’re working on website design and launch video, but also worked with our brand designer about ways of making the new home view of our app more “telegraphic”. We can’t wait to share the new design with the community.

[kenneth]

2022-08-14T22:00:00Z

Hi All
Here is where we are this week.

• iOS16 Opal: We have now added focus score, stats screen and MileStones to the iOS16 app, which we should release to Testflight by end of week. If you are not on the list don’t forget to register on opal.so/waitlist.
• Bugs. We are still waiting for answers from Apple on iOS 16 Beta bugs (we filed a total of 19 Radars - Apple’s version of a bug report), and may need to work around them by changing features.
• New Home has been designed with more emphasis on the feedback we give gems, to answer the question how focused am I?. We spent a lot of time on this screen. Our goal is to make this screen “telegraphic”, so that at a glance anyone can understand what Opal is and how it’s useful. Teaser below.
• Onboarding and Focus Report: New Home took precedence on these two other roadmap items. We are set to finish the design on these by end of this week, for implementation next week.
• SEO process: work with an agency is slow to pick up, we need to reevaluate the process and deadlines.
• Organic content: we have hired an editor and started posting Reels 3X weekly on instragram.com/withopal. We are finetuning for format and delivery.
• Community Board: we have been working on posting on this board, and next we expect to (a) import feature requests from ideas.opal.so and (b) share community.opal.so to the community by email!

Looking forward,
Kenneth

Aug Goal
In August, we are working to get Opal iOS16 from 50 to 90%, which means solving a lot of iOS16 bugs together with Apple, releasing MileStones, expanding our testflight to 200 people, build our new Focus Score and Screen Time stats features (we call it Focus Report and Daily Focus). We will also release this community board , improve our Instagram organic process to post 3-4x winners per week, grow our SEO process, secure 2 partnerships with leading Screen Time organizations, and get everything polished for public launch (iOS16 is set to launch mid-Sept).

We’re more excited than ever to help 1Bn people focus day to day (and accomplish their dreams).

[kenneth]

2022-08-21T22:00:00Z

Hi All
Here is where we are this week.

• iOS16 Opal: We added New Home, Stats Screen and MileStones (congrats @matt @randy @lilpit ). We released the app to a small group of Testers! If you are not on the list don’t forget to register on opal.so/waitlist.
• Bugs. We are still waiting for answers from Apple on iOS 16 Beta bugs (we filed a total of 19 Radars - Apple’s version of a bug report), and may need to work around them by changing features.
• Onboarding and Focus Report: We finished the design last week and are implementing this in the app this week. We took a lot of time to think about the right tone for this. It will be a much more comprehensive onboarding with a personal Focus Report based on historical screen time data (although there is currently an iOS16 bug for this) and set up.
• Brand: we have been working on App Store assets to prepare for the launch in September. @Anton also built a gant chart with deadlines for all projects for our upcoming launch.
• SEO process: no progress this week.
• Organic content: posted some cool reels instragram.com/withopal . We are finetuning for format and delivery.
• Community Board: @ramy imported 234 feature requests from ideas.opal.so! now on #feedback:feature-requests . Check it out!
• Team Meeting: we had a full team standup Meeting last Friday which was a lot of fun, and allowed us to review our progress on all projects.

Interesting new posts from this week:

What can you automate in your life to be more productive?

I realized I’ve become super reliant on Opal’s work focus schedule, especially on the chrome extension, so that’s gotten me to wonder what else in my life I can free up and automate so I can actually focus on my priorities! Recently, I’ve set my alarm to trigger along with a Google Assistant routine – it plays my morning playlist on my Google Home and reads me my schedule for the day. It’s honestly really disorienting lol, but I noticed it’s gotten me out of bed a lot easier. I used to scroll o…

Famous paintings, but if people were on their phones

“An Edouard Cortes painting of streets in Paris, but people are on their phones”

Let’s go!
Kenneth

Aug Goal
In August, we are working to get Opal iOS16 from 50 to 90%, which means solving a lot of iOS16 bugs together with Apple, releasing MileStones, expanding our testflight to 200 people, build our new Focus Score and Screen Time stats features (we call it Focus Report and Daily Focus). We will also release this community board , improve our Instagram organic process to post 3-4x winners per week, grow our SEO process, secure 2 partnerships with leading Screen Time organizations, and get everything polished for public launch (iOS16 is set to launch mid-Sept).

We’re more excited than ever to help 1Bn people focus day to day (and accomplish their dreams).

[Opal]

2022-08-28T22:00:00Z

Hi All!
Here is where we are this week.

• iOS16 Opal: We made progress on New Home, we released the app to more Testers! If you are not on the list don’t forget to register on opal.so/waitlist.
• Onboarding and Focus Report: We implemented this in the app, it should be live this week.
• Brand: Finetuning MileStones assets and working on our new Website.
• SEO process: new articles live on our blog, how to block X app is an interesting direction for us.
• Organic content: trending reel about Atomic Habits, it’s one of the most mentioned books by our community, so it makes sense. Shoutout: Ramy for Reel
• Community Board: we posted about this board on welcomed new gems here (welcome @Romney_Manassa @YT_Berlin )

Interesting new posts from this week:

The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score

Across industries and incomes, more employees are being tracked, recorded and ranked. What is gained, companies say, is efficiency and accountability. What is lost? Check out the article here!

Maker of Doom, Quake and Occulus CTO on Focus

Focus is a challenge, even for the best. (John is a video game legend maker of Doom, Quake and more). https://twitter.com/withopal/status/1562728722956173312 Interesting that John uses a custom made DNS kill switch to remote Twitter access. https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1562104567415951361 This is what Opal does, automatically, for any app and anyone in a few seconds. https://twitter.com/kschlenker/status/1562129248835584000

Let’s go!
Kenneth

Aug Goal
In August, we are working to get Opal iOS16 from 50 to 90%, which means solving a lot of iOS16 bugs together with Apple, releasing MileStones, expanding our testflight to 200 people, build our new Focus Score and Screen Time stats features (we call it Focus Report and Daily Focus). We will also release this community board , improve our Instagram organic process to post 3-4x winners per week, grow our SEO process, secure 2 partnerships with leading Screen Time organizations, and get everything polished for public launch (iOS16 is set to launch mid-Sept).

We’re more excited than ever to help 1Bn people focus day to day (and accomplish their dreams).

[kenneth]

2022-09-04T22:00:00Z

Hi All!
Here is where we are this week.

• iOS16 Opal: we are now moving to bug fixing and polishing. Thanks to everyone for their feedback! A testflight will come very soon.
• Brand: We finished building incredible MileStone assets (preview below) and designing our new website, which we are now implementing. We are also working on a launch video. You heard it here first: we are going to launch the New Opal on September 15 at 12PM EST.
• SEO process: new articles live on [our blog ](Opal | Blog
• Team: we were sad last week to say goodbye to our Founder Associate interns @ramy @gretaopal9 , but excited about the amazing contributions they did over the last 4 months! Blog posts coming soon to summarize their work.
• Community Board:

Overall looking back at our goal for the month (below), we were able to get Opal iOS16 to 80% I would say - we’ve been help back by some Apple bugs, especially the fact that we couldn’t release on Testflight for testing. The next 10 days ahead of launch will be intense, as we need to get over a list of 50+ fixes on the app, and prepare launch assets. We’re very excited though!

Aug Goal
In August, we are working to get Opal iOS16 from 50 to 90%, which means solving a lot of iOS16 bugs together with Apple, releasing MileStones, expanding our testflight to 200 people, build our new Focus Score and Screen Time stats features (we call it Focus Report and Daily Focus). We will also release this community board , improve our Instagram organic process to post 3-4x winners per week, grow our SEO process, secure 2 partnerships with leading Screen Time organizations, and get everything polished for public launch (iOS16 is set to launch mid-Sept).

Interesting new posts from this week:

And now for September goals:

Sep Goal
On September 15, we will release the New Opal on the app store and announce it publicly. In order to do this, we need to go over a list of fixes and improvement, expand a testflight to collect feedback and prepare and release launch assets (including a video, a streaming event and press release). The second half of September we will be iterating and reading data to improve conversion and retention on the first iOS16 cohorts.

Finally, interesting posts from last week:

Community Features: what do you want?

Tips on effectively block our time at work and remain focus on activities which require thinking.

Meet Clo S., Founder of This Too Shall Grow

That’s awesome! We should invite Clo to be a member of the community and share a weekly post @gretaopal9 !

Flow-state for more monotonous tasks

Adding complexity to a mundane task is interesting – just not sure how applicable it is for some tasks. That’s a really good observation re fidgeting while watching lectures! I think you’ve articulated the working memory threshold very well, I have never looked at it like that before. Thanks for sharing, Ramy!

Let’s go!
Kenneth

We’re more excited than ever to help 1Bn people focus day to day (and accomplish their dreams).

[kenneth]

2022-09-11T22:00:00Z

Hi All!
Here is where we are at this week.

• iOS16 Opal: we now have over 120 gems testing Opal on Testflight (Thank you for your invaluable feedback!) and we are getting ready to release a gold master version, final sprint for Release on September 15 at 2PM EST..
• Brand: Website and launch video in final phase for launch on September 15. It’s looking really good we can’t wait to release this to the community.
• Team: we’re hiring for a Founder Associate - Marketing! opal.so/careers
• Community Board: Welcome @Rebecca_Ross @flawnson @Inga_Reichelt @kapild @Mlcash @Oceaneyez @pegah_hajizade @Thchua @Ayanna47 @Annie74 @YT_Berlin @alec @Romney_Manassa !

Sep Goal
On September 15, we will release the New Opal on the app store and announce it publicly. In order to do this, we need to go over a list of fixes and improvement, expand a testflight to collect feedback and prepare and release launch assets (including a video, a streaming event and press release). The second half of September we will be iterating and reading data to improve conversion and retention on the first iOS16 cohorts.

Finally, interesting posts from last week:

[🚨FIRST STEP] Introduce Yourself and Meet the Community

Hi everyone, so nice to be here! I’m Clo, founder of This Too Shall Grow and digital wellness coach! Pro: My background is in tech, as a UX researcher & UX designer. I created This Too Shall Grow to teach designers how to build products that are more mindful of users’ wellbeing & mental health, and to help people build healthier relationships with their devices. Work setup: From my lovely flat in Berlin! I use Opal to: Make sure I don’t get side-tracked when I’m working My schedules: 9-5, M…

Tagging Events in Calendar to Create Sessions

Rescuetime has a great integration with calendar. when I add #focustime to my synced calendar, it automatically enables flow mode. There should be a good way to enable flow mode using a calendar.

Rediscover your talents!

Hi Gems! I was reading this article and I thought I’d share some thoughts about it, sometimes in this fast-paced life, we forget about the essentials things that bring joy to ourselves and others. We all have talents and skills! But sometimes we forget to value them, even though it is a source of happiness. The talents/skills listed are for example communicate, make people laugh, paint, tinker, cook, play an instrument, reason… Used regularly, they strengthen our self-esteem. However, their n…

Let’s go!
Kenneth

We’re more excited than ever to help 1Bn people focus day to day (and accomplish their dreams).

[kenneth]

2022-09-18T22:00:00Z

Hi All!
We launched the New Opal for iOS16 last Thursday! TechCrunch Article for Opal!

Here are our main learnings since launch:

1. Brand refresh: our community is aware of the brand and mission of Opal, we have a statement article on TechCrunch that covered us as the “First Screen Time API app”. Lots of positive reviews via DMs and on social media.
2. Conversion/retention: Very promising early conversion and retention data. This is to be confirmed in the coming week with cohorts post-launch. Our main goal is to increase retention over the VPN version of the app, which is a measure of Product Market Fit.`

3. Feedback: The ‘apps not returning to folders’ bug #1 blocker to adoption: it caused negative reviews and surprised some gems. People LOVE the onboarding experience and focus report, especially projection years of your life starting at a screen.
4. Low new download volumes for launch, the biggest opportunity is to improve web funnel

Next steps
1. Improve web funnel
2. Fix folder bug education: better onboarding
3. Kick-off ads for steady flow on DLs
4. Reorder roadmap priorities based on product data and feedback

Sep Goal
On September 15, we will release the New Opal on the app store and announce it publicly. In order to do this, we need to go over a list of fixes and improvement, expand a testflight to collect feedback and prepare and release launch assets (including a video, a streaming event and press release). The second half of September we will be iterating and reading data to improve conversion and retention on the first iOS16 cohorts.

Finally, interesting posts from last week:

The New Opal is Live!

Hey gems, Today is an important day for Opal. We’re introducing a completely new Opal which uses Screen Time API. Here’s a video to tell you more about it: The New Opal! For you gems. - Watch Video [image] We are also introducing a community board to chat with other members of the community, share feedback and more. If you’re on iOS16, you can update the app today. Kenneth Founder and CEO

Tagging Events in Calendar to Create Sessions

Rescuetime has a great integration with calendar. when I add #focustime to my synced calendar, it automatically enables flow mode. There should be a good way to enable flow mode using a calendar.

[kenneth]

2022-09-25T22:00:00Z

Hi there!

Here are a few updates from our team!

• Following feedback from the community on Apps Not Returning to Home Screen Folder Issue - #6 by connerdrew, we decided to change how apps are blocked in Opal - this will fix the issue. Here is a detailed explanation Apps Not Returning to Home Screen Folder Issue - #5 by kenneth . We expect to be able to release this next week for everyone to enjoy!
• Integration with iOS Focus Filters: we had a great conversation with a few of you on this topic, and we’re looking to build this in. Integration with iOS 16 Focus Filter [done in v3.1.1]. Please note you can already sync your iOS Focus Mode with your Opal sessions, here’s how Integration with iOS 16 Focus Filter [done in v3.1.1] - #7 by kenneth

When you update to the latest app version, you will see the following changes:

• In Focus Score, Pickups are now correct, they were previously over counted by 2-3x
• Fixed a potential issue that could cause blocking not to work between overlapping schedules / sessions
• Lockscreen widgets will now update more frequently in sessions
• Added browser category
• Better Focus Score explanation in the Score tab: you will now see how different apps are rated and affect your score.
• Minor fixes across the board

Please share any thoughts you have or questions, let’s do this!
Kenneth

[kenneth]

2022-10-02T22:00:00Z

Hi there!

Here are a few updates from our team this Monday.

• We fixed Apps Not Returning to Home Screen Folder Issue - #6 by connerdrew with the latest app version - 3.1. Update your app today!
• Integration with iOS Focus Filters: making progress here. Integration with iOS 16 Focus Filter .
• Opal is live in the French Language, and we got some coverage from French media Opal is now live in French

When you update to the latest app version (3.1), you will see the following changes:

• Shielding instead of blocking: Blocked Apps will now be “shielded” instead of removed.
• Attempted to fix a Paywall issue
• Changes to help center

Please share any thoughts you have or questions, let’s do this!
Kenneth

[kenneth]

2022-10-13T22:00:00Z

Hi there!

Here are a few updates from our team this week:

• We introduced iOS Focus Mode and Filters sync: . Integration with iOS 16 Focus Filter .
• New video demos on YouTube
  Introducing the Opal iPhone App - The #1 Screen Time App. Real Focus, in Real-Time. - YouTube
  How to Block Apps with iPhone Focus Mode and Focus Filters together with Opal - YouTube

When you update to the latest app version (3.2), you will see the following changes:

• Introduced Opal Focus Filter
• Improved onboarding: sign up screen, and dedicated onboarding when you paid on opal.so
• Better way of viewing which apps are being blocking while in a session
• Changed shielding phone image in onboarding
• Fix for loading spinners not displaying sometimes
• Fixed duplicate calendar issue
• Fixed an issue where home screen would show your profile photo while settings would show as logged out
• Prevent focus session from being ended via shortcuts
• Added visibility for when friends you invite have opened Opal but not yet set up an account
• Added google and apple maps to Focus Score (shouldn’t show as distracting anymore)
• Improved handling of Score on home + Score screen when day changes
• Improved blocking to allow sessions & schedules less than 15 minutes
• Improved Focus Report
• New feedback input on Score screen to allow you to rate accurate of Focus Score

Thank you for sharing your requests/report. Some standouts this week:

[Planned] Block access to facebook through a browser such as safari

Hi, I am noticing a similar issue with Twitter not being blocked in a browser. News sites aren’t blocked, either. I mostly access Twitter and FB via the apps, but I access news websites mostly via browser (Firefox for iOS), so I’d love to know how to block those again. Thanks!

We fixed this thanks to your report:
https://community.opal.so/t/deep-focus-can-be-broken-with-shortcuts/401/3

We are working on this:

A level between deep focus and the default

Thanks for this, it’s interesting, also seems to correspond to this request Focus Setting Break Time - #2 by kenneth

Please share any thoughts you have or questions, let’s do this!
Kenneth

[kenneth]

2022-10-27T22:00:00Z

Hi there!

Here are a few updates from our team this week:

• We re-introduced Pomodoro for Opal by using Shortcuts: How to Start a Pomodoro with Opal - #4 by kenneth
• Opal now works on iPad iPad Support for Opal - #8 by cadegore
• We’re growing fast! Many more gems are starting on their journey this week.

When you update to the latest app version (3.3), you will see the following changes:

• New onboarding setup hints push notifications, paywalls, and age-based onboarding. Updated screentime permissions screen for iOS 16.1
• Sessions: fixes icons design not showing correctly
• Improved Leaderboard to remove the way that overlapping sessions can count double towards screentime
• Changed “Create Account” to “Sign In / Sign Up” in Settings

Thank you for sharing your requests/report. Some standouts this week:

[COMPLETED] App Limit / Time Limit / Budget use of distracting apps

We should be able to set an app limit for the entire day. For example I want to be able to only use instagram for 1 hour throughout the entire day and when i’ve used it i’m done. Instead i can only set to not use it through whatever time i set

https://community.opal.so/t/improve-focus-score-app-ratings/438/3

Bring back Intention setting in Breaks

I second that. Setting an attention is important before using the internet because it keeps you focused on the task at hand. Additionally, it would be a good idea that the intentions are saved in a log along with the time spent on the internet and in apps. It’s helpful to keep track of the reasons for internet/app usage as well as the time spent.

[Unassigned] Do X fitness routines to unlock a distracting app

Feature Requested By: Amrith Shanbhag Number of Votes: 17 View Original Post: Do X fitness routines to unlock a distracting app · Opal Feedback “need an app that forces me to do 10 crunches before i can open twitter, will get ripped in no time” - @_metallurgist “hey @withopal, feature request: exercise mode :wink::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:"need an app that forces me to do 10 crunches before i can open twitter, will get ripped in no time” - @keccers

[RELEASED] "Vacation Mode" Pause / turn off / snooze Schedule Session for several days for holidays

Feature Requested By: Anonymous Number of Votes: 0 View Original Post: https://opal.nolt.io/242 I love this app but I wish I could pause / stop my schedule for let’s say several days if I finished my work for the week without having to go in and edit the schedule and turn it off for the days I don’t want to use it. Or if I could skip days without needing to remember to turn them on for the next week.

[Planned] A desktop app for Opal 🖥️ (Mac, PC)

Hi Kenneth, thanks for dropping that in here… im a new premium user of your product and love it! it looks great and I love the integrations into iOS/iPadOS! Great job to you and your team!

Great question:

How do YOU set up your app groups? How do YOU set your schedule?

How I organize my weeks with Opal and why Thank you for writing @joshhawaii. I’ve tried and iterated a lot over the last months to fine-tune my setup, here’s how I organize my weeks with Opal and why: 1. Work Time: 8:00am - 5:00pm, Monday to Friday Here I block my Fun Apps [social media apps, especially Instagram for me, youtube and news mostly]. I use Normal protection level and typically take 4-5 breaks during the day. Reality check: Using the break timer helps me use the apps more mindfull…

Please share any thoughts you have or questions, let’s do this!
Kenneth

[kenneth]

2023-01-01T23:00:00Z

Happy new year! What a year 2022 has been. In short, we built and launched the New Opal in September. Since then our community has been growing faster than ever!
We wish everyone a beautiful year ahead. This year we will push Opal forward to another dimension, and get closer to our goal to help 1Bn people focus better each day so they can accomplish their dreams. I’m beyond excited about the impact we’re about to have on so many people’s lives.

Here are a few updates from our team this week:

• App Limits are live for 10% of gems as a test 🔥 [Planned] ⏱ App Limit / Time Limit / Budget use of distracting apps, we plan to roll it our in coming weeks to everyone
• Our team met in Chamonix, France just before the holidays to map out the roadmap for coming months. We plan to address many features requested by the community like "Vacation Mode" Pause / turn off Schedule for several days - #4 by kenneth [PLANNED] Block Custom Domains, For Apps That Are Not On the List - #6 by kenneth and also new areas which I plan to share here soon. We will share the high level roadmap.
• Growth: we now have over 5,000 new people installing the app every day, and we are fixing many issues linked to stability and support.
• Simplification of UI: we are working on simplification of core flows (for example to create a session and the weekly focus report).
• Hiring: we are hiring a marketer with 3-5 years of experience to join our team. Kenneth Schlenker on LinkedIn: I started my career as a product marketer at Google in 2008. It brought…

Looking forward!
Team Opal