Quick Start Guide
Everything you need to know to get the most out of PomoPals — from your very first pomodoro to hosting a room with friends.
What is PomoPals?
PomoPals is a social Pomodoro timer that helps you focus — alone or alongside friends. It is built around the Pomodoro Technique: work in focused 25-minute sprints, take short breaks in between, and take a longer break every four sessions.
What makes PomoPals different is the social layer. You can create a shared room, invite friends, and work together with a synchronised timer — everyone sees the same countdown, transitions together, and stays accountable to each other.
You can use the timer without an account. Sign up to unlock analytics, intentions, achievements, rooms, and friends.
Solo Mode
The timer on the homepage is your solo workspace. By default it runs a classic Pomodoro cycle:
- 🔴Work — 25 minutes of focused work
- 🟢Short Break — 5 minutes to rest
- 🌿Long Break — 15 minutes after every 4 work sessions
Controls
▶ / ⏸Start or pause the timer⏭Skip to the next phase↺Reset the current phase (visible when running or paused)
Customising the timer
Click the chevron (∨) at the bottom of the timer to expand options, then the gear icon to open Settings. You can change work, short break, and long break durations, set the long break interval, choose a notification sound, and toggle auto-start for breaks.
If you skip or reset a session after at least 1 minute has elapsed, PomoPals will ask whether to count that partial session toward your analytics.
Setting Intentions
Before starting a work session, you can set an intention — a short note describing what you plan to focus on. Intentions help you stay on track and build a habit of purposeful work.
How it works
Click the pencil icon next to the timer (requires a signed-in account and intentions enabled in Settings).
Type what you will focus on — up to 280 characters. The field expands as you type.
Press Enter or click the edit icon to confirm, then start the timer. Your intention appears below the timer while the session is running.
When the work phase ends naturally, a reflection prompt appears asking whether you completed it. You can also add an optional note on how the session went.
Intentions Journal
All your intentions and reflections are saved in the Intentions Journal. You can filter by status (completed, not completed, skipped), see your completion rate, and track your current focus streak.
Multiplayer Rooms
Rooms let you work alongside others with a shared, synchronised timer. Everyone in the room sees the same countdown and transitions through phases together.
Creating a room
Click the chevron (∨) on the timer, then the + icon to open the Create Room dialog.
Give your room a name and choose whether to bring your current timer state or start fresh.
Copy the invite link and share it with anyone you want to join.
Joining a room
Click the invite link, or use the join icon in the timer options and enter the 6-character room code.
If the host has join requests enabled, your request will be sent to them for approval. You will be notified once accepted.
Roles in a room
| Role | Can do |
|---|---|
| 🎯 Host | Start, pause, reset, skip the timer · Approve/deny join requests · Make co-hosts · Transfer host · End the room |
| ⭐ Co-Host | Start, pause, reset, skip the timer (same timer controls as the host) |
| 👤 Participant | See the shared timer and participants · Set a personal intention · Receive phase notifications |
If you refresh the page while hosting, PomoPals automatically reclaims your host role when you rejoin — your session is not lost.
Rooms support up to 20 participants and expire after 2 hours of inactivity.
Analytics
Every completed (and partial) session is automatically saved. Visit the Analytics page to see:
- —Total and completed pomodoros over any time period
- —Total focus time in minutes
- —Completion rate
- —A session-by-session log with timestamps and duration
Sessions from rooms are labelled with the room name and participant count, so you can see exactly when you worked solo versus with others.
Friends
Add friends to see when they are focused and jump into rooms together.
Adding a friend
Go to Friends and search by name or email.
Send a friend request — they will receive a notification to accept or decline.
Once accepted, you can see each other's activity on the home screen.
Activity & presence
The Friends widget on the homepage shows which of your friends are currently in a work session, their live countdown, and what they are working on. Click Join to send a join request to their room, or Invite to send them a focus invitation if they are working solo.
The Recent Activity section on the Friends page shows a log of what your friends have accomplished since your last visit — session starts and completed pomodoros.
You can hide your activity from friends at any time via the Settings page (toggle Share my activity).
Trophies & Achievements
PomoPals awards trophies as you reach milestones — completing your first pomodoro, building a focus streak, hosting rooms, and more. There are also a handful of secret achievements to discover.
Achievements are organised into three tiers: Bronze → Gold → Platinum. You can see your full trophy case, track progress toward locked achievements, and pin your favourites to your profile on the Trophies page.
A toast notification pops up whenever you unlock something new — keep an eye on the bottom of the screen after completing a session.
Settings
PomoPals has two places to configure things — a timer settings modal (accessed via the gear icon on the timer) and a Settings page for account-level preferences.
Timer settings
Open by clicking the gear icon inside the expanded timer panel (click ∨ first).
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Focus (min) | 25 | Length of each work session |
| Short break (min) | 5 | Length of breaks between work sessions |
| Long break (min) | 15 | Length of the longer break every N sessions |
| Long break after | 4 | How many work sessions before a long break |
| Sound | None | Plays an alert when a phase ends — choose Bell, Digital beep, or None |
| Auto-start next phase | Off | Automatically begins the next phase when the current one ends |
Timer duration changes apply the next time the timer is idle. Changes made while the timer is running or paused take effect after the current session ends.
Account settings
Visit Settings from any page to manage account-level preferences.
- —Share my activity — When on, your friends can see when you're focusing, what you're working on, and how many pomodoros you've completed. Turn off to go invisible.
- —Intentions — When on, a task list appears below the timer so you can set focus intentions. Turn off to hide it entirely.
Tips & Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Space | Play / pause the timer |
N | Open the task input and focus it |
1 – 9 | Select a task by its number |
C | Complete or undo the selected task |
D | Delete the selected task (selection moves to the task above) |
E | Edit the selected task inline |
Esc | Exit the task input, returning keyboard focus to the page |
Shortcuts work in group rooms too — Space only works for hosts and co-hosts.
Other tips
- 🔔 Browser notificationsAllow notifications on first timer start to get desktop alerts when a phase ends — even if the tab is in the background.
- 📑 Tab title countdownThe browser tab title counts down your timer in real time, so you can glance at it without switching tabs.
- 🔀 Auto-start breaksEnable auto-start in Settings so breaks begin automatically the moment a work phase finishes.
- ⭐ Make a co-hostIn a room, the host can make any participant a co-host. Co-hosts share timer controls so the host is not the only one who can pause or skip.
- 📖 Intentions journalEven if you do not finish an intention, mark it "Not completed" and add a note — the reflection is often more valuable than the result.
- 🏆 Secret achievementsA few trophies are hidden. Explore the app and see what you can find.