Changelog

What's new in Catena

Every update, big and small — from the student team building this with you.

Beta June 2026 In Progress

Refining Catena for iOS launch

After the April closed beta, we are using student feedback to deepen the café loop, improve focus flow, and shape social study features before App Store launch.

  • 🍳 Focus timer with recipe cooking — study to cook, earn coins
  • 🏠 Café builder — unlock furniture, décor, themes with coins
  • 🐱 Cat customers — feed them dishes from your study sessions
  • ⏱️ Pomodoro & stopwatch modes with app blocking
  • Study journal with tags and session history
  • Social study concepts shaped by requests for coworking, shared goals, and encouragement
Beta April 2026 🧪 Beta

Closed beta begins

Catena's closed beta launched April 11, 2026, with early users reaching four countries organically and 49 student survey responses collected during the beta window.

  • ✅ Student survey identified consistency, starting, and longer focus blocks as key goals
  • ✅ Cat feedback highlighted favorites like Dulce, Maple, and Tux
  • ✅ Social requests centered on coworking, encouragement, shared goals, and school based discovery
  • ✅ Early analytics showed strong engagement from organic users
Alpha Late 2025 ⚡ Alpha

First working prototype

The original version — shared in a dorm group chat. Just a timer and a tiny café. It was enough to know we were onto something.

  • ⏱️ Basic Pomodoro timer
  • 🏠 Proof-of-concept café with 3 items
  • 🍳 First recipe: Miso Ramen 🍜