Local-first focus tracking
macOS 15+

First session

Start one honest focus session on your Mac.

macOS 15+

No all-day tracking • Camera under your control • Apple-notarized • macOS 15+

ActualFocus tracks the app or site in front of you during active sessions, with local-first controls and an Apple-notarized download.

Download for macOS

What to know

The important stuff before you click download

  • This is a direct Mac download, not an App Store install
  • Each public release is Apple-notarized before publication
  • Tracking runs only during sessions, not all day in the background
  • Camera tracking is on by default for a better first session, and you can turn it off before any session starts
  • Browser setup is optional and only helps label websites during sessions
  • Phone detection starts off and stays on your Mac

Anonymous diagnostics and usage telemetry are on by default in the current public release build. You can turn them off, reset the anonymous ID, or delete local app data in Settings.

Inspect the published release record if you want the direct-download version, build, checksum, and release notes in one place before you install.

If browser setup is the part you want to verify, read exactly what the Safari and Chrome paths do before you install anything.

If you want the code itself, the browser integration is public at the open-source extension repository on GitHub.

First launch

What to expect on first launch

  • Open the download, then drag ActualFocus into Applications
  • Open ActualFocus once so Gatekeeper can verify the Apple-notarized build and let you continue
  • First open shows a walkthrough of what ActualFocus tracks, what stays on your Mac, and what the session states mean
  • Before each session, you can choose Screen Focus, Mixed Study, Strict Accountability, or Camera-less. Camera starts on by default for camera-backed modes, and the exact phone and attention rules depend on the session type.

By default, nothing starts measuring just because you installed the app. Tracking begins when you start a session, unless you later enable automatic sessions at login.

Safari and Chrome are both supported browser setup paths on Mac.

After ActualFocus is in Applications, open it once. If you want the smoothest handoff back into the app, click Finish setup in ActualFocus so the same setup checklist can continue there instead of feeling like a separate path. It also lets the app keep the coarse download source and campaign fields with the anonymous install, without creating a named account.

Who built this

Built by Andrew Nelson through ArdSaor.

ActualFocus is built by Andrew Nelson through ArdSaor. The official support inbox is support@ardsaor.com, and support is handled Monday to Friday on Ireland business hours.

  • This is the current official direct-download path for the app.
  • Each public build is Apple-notarized before publication.
  • As of June 5, 2026, the Mac App Store path is not live yet.

If the thing you need is a more explicit identity check, use About and Support before you install.

Trust surfaces

Inspect the parts that matter before you install.

See the exact version and checksum for this download

Release details

Current published release record

Version 1.0 build 43 published June 15, 2026. Same published record as the download button.

This card uses the same published release record as the download button. Before you open anything, you can inspect the version, build, minimum macOS requirement, publish time, checksum, and release notes.

Version
1.0
Build
43
Minimum macOS
macOS 15.0
Published
June 15, 2026
SHA-256 checksum
535716c92150...244f405c6ee8
Release notes
Latest ActualFocus website build with recent fixes and improvements.

Each published build is Apple-notarized before release, so macOS can verify it the first time you open the installer.

Published release files

If this card does not load, open the release snapshot or manifest JSON. Both are published alongside the current installer.