Developer Builds Minimalist Notepad That Tracks and Mocks Your Distractions

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A developer frustrated with feature-heavy note-taking apps has created Phokus, a bare-bones web-based notepad designed to keep users focused. The tool deliberately strips away accounts, menus, and cloud-sync prompts in favor of a plain typing canvas. A built-in 'Distractions Counter' gamifies focus by tracking how often a user clicks away and delivers humorous roasts for frequent lapses. Currently, the app blurs the screen for a few seconds when a user switches tabs, with more focus-enforcement features planned. The project is open-source and available on GitHub, built with vanilla JavaScript for near-instant load times.

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