Coffitivity is an app that simply plays the sounds of a coffee shop as you work. I immediately dismissed it as a silly waste of code when I first heard about it. Why would anyone want to simulate the sounds of a coffee shop when they can go to the real thing?
Pardon me while I wipe the egg off my face.
I’m home today with a lot of work to do for my night course assignments. A recent new favourite pastime of mine is sitting in a Starbucks and working on my comics (or any other cafe but for some reason I can work better in a Starbucks; not sure why). Only, this time I wasn’t up for sitting on the hard Starbucks chairs for hours.
Then I remembered the glowing review of Coffitivity my friend and serial podcaster, Fr. Roderick, gave on his podcast, Geek Priest. Or was it The Break? Anyway, he gave it a great review so I thought I’d give it a try. I downloaded the iPhone app.
How it works
You choose a theme; “Morning Murmur”, “University Undertones” or “Lunchtime Lounge”. It was morning for me so I chose the first one. I also had the option of playing music from my iTunes library.
Did I like it?
Yes! I found myself being more productive. I was able to concentrate, focus and not be distracted by thinking about checking my social networks. Some new ideas suddenly popped into my head for my other projects.
I also found that I didn’t song surf. It’s a term I just made up. I’m very bad at being really picky choosy with having to listen to the right songs. Even when I commute to work, I’m constantly going to the next song on my iPhone. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Ok. Nope. Nope. Ok. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Uh… maybe. Nope. Nope. Ok. That kind of thing. I thought there was no cure for that. I even tried listening to online radio and I’d end up channel surfing.
In other words, Coffitivity had somehow made listening to my iTunes library a new experience. I wasn’t in the mood of song surfing.
Soon lunch time came so I shut off Coffitivity and went to go grab a bite to eat. After lunch, I returned to resume my work but suddenly felt that Morning Murmur no longer fit my “mood”. So I tried “Lunchtime Lounge” and it fit perfectly. Not sure if it’s the power of suggestion but who cares. The important thing is I was able to continue being productive.
So I’m sold.
Features I’d love to see
Despite what I said in my first paragraph, I found myself wondering if there was a feature that makes the iTunes music you’re playing sound like it’s coming from the cafe’s speakers. That would be awesome!
That’s pretty much it. Coffitivity seems perfect the way it is. Kudos to the developers!
Coffitivity is available for iOS, Android and even streaming from the Coffitivity website.
Are you using Coffitivity? Have you noticed any changes in your behaviour with it?