Questions before you install? Start here.

ActualFocus turns a session into a visible timeline. It uses the app or site in front of you, away or idle time, and, if camera tracking is on, on-device camera checks.

The recap is grouped into visible states like Focused, Attention Required, Phone Visible, Distracting App or Site, Away, and Unknown instead of a single hidden score.

• Tracking only runs while a session is active, usually one you start yourself.
• The app or site in front shapes the digital part of the record.
• Camera checks like presence, look-aways, and optional phone detection stay on your Mac.
• The recap traces back to the timeline.

ActualFocus is built to be accurate enough that a real session should feel recognizable when you review it.

It is strongest for work that stays at your desk. Screen Focus is for normal screen-based work, Mixed Study is for staying present without requiring constant on-screen attention, Strict Accountability is for the fastest camera-based enforcement, and Camera-less keeps the session entirely off the camera.

It works best when most of the session happens at your desk on your Mac, or in a stable desk setup where Mixed Study still makes sense, like coursework, reading, writing, coding, planning, and research.

It is still a weaker fit for sessions built around physical setup, moving around the room, or long stretches away from the desk.

The states are plain markers for what the session looked like moment to moment, not a hidden score.

Each state points back to the timeline so you can decide whether the recap felt fair.

• Focused: the session looked on-task.
• Distracting App or Site: something else took the frontmost spot.
• Away: you were no longer at the desk long enough to count as away.
• Attention Required: camera tracking saw that you were no longer clearly engaged with the screen.
• Phone Visible: a phone was seen while phone detection was turned on.

Yes, by default. ActualFocus sessions are manual and opt-in.

Settings can also launch ActualFocus at login and start a quiet background session automatically if you choose that workflow.

No. It does not record your screen, keys, audio, or webcam video.

While a session is active, it keeps the local signals needed to explain the timeline, such as app or site changes, away or idle time, and optionally window or page titles.

Because digital distraction is supposed to reflect what was actually in front of you, not what happened to be running in the background.

Browser domains only count when the browser is the app in front, and background tabs or background apps do not earn focus credit by themselves.

No. The summary is built from visible timeline states, and you can adjust the summary settings instead of accepting one opaque result.

The recap is meant to be something you can audit instead of something you have to accept on faith.

No. Camera checks like presence, Phone Visible, and Attention Required are derived on your Mac when camera tracking is on, and camera frames do not leave the device.

The website is not set up to receive those frames, and the app does not store webcam photos or video by default.

Basic anonymous website activity, like page views, selected trust-surface views, download clicks, browser-code link clicks, FAQ opens, and where visitors came from.

That website data is kept separate from the app and is not used to connect your browsing to your sessions.

• Tracked website analytics are limited to anonymous page views, anonymous page leaves, trust-surface page views, hero CTA clicks, download page views, download clicks, browser-code link clicks, FAQ opens, and non-Mac link copy actions.
• Autocapture, session replay, heatmaps, identify, alias, group calls, and person profiles are disabled.
• Anonymous browser state is stored in local storage so acquisition context survives internal navigation across the trust and download flow.

The website and the app are treated as separate surfaces.

The privacy and how-it-works copy say the website does not build a cross-surface identity graph between browsing behavior and app usage.

Installing from the website does not send your camera frames, app or site history, or session timeline back through the marketing site.

The current public direct-download release builds start anonymous diagnostics off by default. If you turn telemetry on later in Settings, you can also turn it back off or reset the anonymous ID.

Raw camera data, detailed app and site history, full URLs, page titles, and focused window titles stay local.

During active sessions, the Safari or Chrome companion can send the active page URL and title locally so ActualFocus can label the site you are using. The app persists the browser name, domain, URL scheme, and page title while the session is running.

Full URLs are used briefly inside that local handoff and are not stored or sent off-device. If you grant Accessibility, focused window titles can also appear in the local event stream.

The public website is for the macOS build, and the current stated requirement is macOS 15 or later.

The exact minimum version for the current release is also published on the download page and in the release manifest.

Non-Mac visitors are pushed toward the copy-link path instead of being given a misleading install flow.

No. The app still works without it.

Safari and Google Chrome are supported. The add-on only helps ActualFocus tell which website was in front during a session.

If you skip it, website-aware classification is less specific and the rest of the session still works.

First open starts with an in-app walkthrough of what ActualFocus tracks, what stays local, and what each session state means.

Accessibility helps the app tell what was in front of you and can expose local window titles, which helps explain the timeline.

Camera tracking is on by default for a better first session, but you can turn it off before you start. The first session flow also helps you choose between Screen Focus, Mixed Study, Strict Accountability, and Camera-less.

Notifications power local alerts. Safari or Chrome setup is optional and only matters if you want website-aware session context.

You can start and stop sessions, choose camera tracking and phone detection before a session, connect Safari or Chrome, and optionally enable automatic login sessions later.

During a session, the app explains why the current state is active, what evidence triggered it, and what to do next.

You can choose whether to enable anonymous diagnostics, reset the anonymous ID, and export or delete local data from Settings.

This is a direct Mac download, not an App Store install.

The page shows the version, minimum macOS version, checksum, and Apple verification details before you open the app. Each public build is Apple-notarized, and Gatekeeper checks that notarization the first time you open it.

• Current version and build are shown on the page.
• Minimum macOS version is published.
• Each release is Apple-notarized before publication.
• A SHA-256 checksum is published with the release.
• A short release-notes excerpt is shown alongside the manifest data.

Because the current public install path is the Apple-notarized direct-download build.

As of April 5, 2026, the Mac App Store review path is pending rather than live, so the site should describe the real install path instead of implying a store listing that is not available yet.

Because trust is part of the product. The site wants you to know the macOS requirement, permissions flow, and release-integrity details before download.

The intended bargain is clarity up front: if the method feels credible, then install; if it does not, the hard parts were not hidden from you.

Because the product is still in the stage where getting qualified installs, real sessions, and honest feedback matters more than charging up front.

The trust path should say that literally: free during the current phase, no account required, and pricing not finalized yet.

ActualFocus is operated by ArdSaor.

The official support path is support@ardsaor.com, and the site should make that easy to find through About and Support instead of hiding it behind faceless product copy.

Use the release page for the current version, build, checksum, and release notes.

Use Browser Transparency for the literal Safari and Chrome behavior, Privacy for the local-first data boundary, and About or Support if you want identity and contact proof before you download.

As of April 5, 2026, ActualFocus has been submitted for Apple App Review but is not approved yet.

That means App Store approval can become a legitimacy amplifier later, but the site should stay honest about the current direct-download path today.

The site sets a high bar for the first run: one completed session should already tell you something useful.

A good first session should show when focus held, when it broke, and whether the resulting summary feels grounded in the visible timeline.

Release targeting is manifest-based. The current download target lives at /releases/latest.json, and the published release snapshot is refreshed alongside it while previous versioned artifacts remain available.

That makes rollback a manifest restore plus targeted cache invalidation rather than a destructive redeploy that erases prior artifacts.