Here, we try to answer some frequently asked questions. If you cannot find the answer to your question, please feel free to contact us via the in-app feedback option or via email at support@flora.appfinca.com.
Tap on the Seed icon on the main screen before pressing the Start button. Then, you can take the Grand Tour and choose different types of trees to unlock at different stops. Have a nice trip!
Yes. Flora supports the Offline Planting mode. To plant a tree offline, please disconnect from the Internet before pressing the Start button. Note that if you go offline after you start planting, your room will remain online. This means that other people can still join the room. It is important that you remember to connect to the Internet right before the end of your session to help the app determine the result correctly.
Just lock your phone and you will receive a notification when your tree is grown. Please make sure you have enabled Notifications in Settings to receive the updates. Note that you won't receive notifications while your phone is on. This is to prevent the app from being interruptive.
Yes. You can always take a break during your session. To use other tooling apps, press the Break button. You can then press the Resume button when done. The break time will be subtracted from your final focus time. Note that the “break” feature is available only when there is no price associated with the tree. To see how the Price feature works, please click on the ? (question mark) icon next to the Price dropdown on the main screen.
Yes. To turn off your breaks, open the side menu by pressing the Hamburger button at the upper-left corner of the main screen. Next, go to Settings, and then switch off the Allow breaks while planting toggle. You can also set a non-zero Price when planting a tree, and the break feature will be automatically disabled during your sessions. To see how the Price feature works, please tap on the ? icon around the Price dropdown in the main screen.
You can always invite your family, friends, and colleagues to plant a tree together while you work, enjoy meals together or try to go to sleep on time. Researchers, such as Festinger (1957), Heider (1946), and Newcomb (1953), have shown that this method will not only help you focus on the task at hand but also boost your productivity in the long term. Once you make a commitment to people close to you, your subconscious will help you in sync in the future. Group tree planting sessions can also strengthens your relationships as the sense of accomplishing something together brings you closer. Just take a deep breath, go introduce the app to your friends and family, and plant a tree with them. This way, all of you will become 10 times more productive in the long run.
There are two ways to plant together: you can either host or join a room. To host a room, tap on the + button below the seed icon on the main screen. You will then see a passcode for your next planting. Share the passcode with your friends, they will be able to join your room after you press the Start button on the main screen. To join someone else's room, first you have to get a passcode from them. Then, open the side menu by pressing the Hamburger button at the upper-left corner of the main screen. Next, choose the Join via Passcode option in the side menu and enter the passcode. Note that the app allows the host and their guests to plant different trees in the same room. To do that, tap on the Seed icon before pressing the Start and Join buttons, respectively.
If you get your tree killed, and think it was not your fault, please report a False Detection by pressing the ! button at the upper-right corner of the red screen (showing your dead tree). We will review your use case and revive your tree after verification. If we find any bug that leads to a false kill, we will fix it ASAP. Meanwhile, you can take the following steps to minimize the chance of false detection.
During a planting session, you can tap on the Tag icon at the upper-left corner of the green screen to label your specific focus session. If you haven’t created any tags before, choose the Manage Tags... option, then you will be able to create new tags. This way, after you have finished planting, your goals and statistics data (to the left and right of the Garden view) will be updated automatically under your specific tag. You can also assign a new tag to your focus time after the tree has grown (or died) by tapping on the Tag icon at the lower-left corner of the corresponding story shown in your Stories list.
Yes. You can tap on the Tag icon at the upper-left corner of the green screen during your session. Next, choose Manage Tags... to create a reminder for any tag. You can choose specific time and date for your reminder. Alternatively, you can set up reminders after planting a tree. To do so, swipe your Garden view to the right and identify the Goals view. Tap on the + icon or any bar you have created. Then, you will see the Tags & Goals view where reminders can be set. Happy planning your focus schedule!
Each tree in your Garden lasts for 7 days. So, you have to plant trees regularly to maintain a beautiful garden, just like how you would maintain a garden in the real world :) What is more, Flora takes a snapshot of your Garden at the end of every week and you can see all the trees that you have grown by scrolling down your story list.
No. We do not automatically post the stories created in the Flora app on your Facebook wall. If you want to post or share a story on Facebook or other platforms, press the Share button at the bottom-left corner of the story.
Tap on the Down arrow at the upper-right corner of the story, then you will be able to decide who can view your story. Select the Only Me option, then you will be the only person who can see the story.
Currently, the real trees are planted in Africa and Southeast Asia. We support planting fast-growing, soil rebuilding trees; fruit trees that diversify incomes and nutrition; and tress that can provide forage as well as fuel material. More importantly, they all promote the long-term health of land and families in our partnering rural communities.
Please email the error code to support@flora.appfinca.com and describe the situation briefly. We will help you from there.
Of course. Please send an email to support@flora.appfinca.com with your account name and transaction ID, which can be found on the payment service platform (e.g. PayPal). We will email you back your receipt.
Flora uses a sophisticated algorithm to correctly detect whether you have left the app open during a planting session. It does consume more energy than a simple timer app. Please note that we kept the energy consumption in mind when designing the detection mechanism. Based on our experimental results, the app does not consume more energy than an average music-streaming app.
Flora helps you and your friends stay focused by growing a tree together. We use Facebook to simplify the invitation process so that your friends can easily join your current planting session. We collect only the necessary information about you in order to provide the best service. These data, including your name, avatar, and other basic info like friend list, allow your friends to find you on Flora and send invitations. We respect the privacy of our users and have a strict privacy policy. The information is processed in the U.S. and protected by laws. Currently, we are actively working on other login methods via Google, Twitter, email, and phone number etc. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Not anymore. As you might know, we and the Forest developers are coming from the same lab at a university. The two apps were designed to complement each other—Forest on single-user scenarios and Flora on multi-user tree planting, respectively. However, after Flora launched in August 2017, and gained some popularity, the Forest developers cloned the multi-user planting function in February 2018 and started charging money for this feature. Since then, the partnership between the two apps has terminated. The two apps remain to evolve independently. If you enjoy planting trees with friends and appreciate our unique features like the Grand Tour, Garden, goal/habit tracker, and “breaks” during planting sessions, please choose Flora!
If you have any other questions, please contact us via in-app feedback or email us at support@flora.appfinca.com.