How It Works

See exactly when you lost focus.

ActualFocus turns a work session into a visible record of what was on screen, when you were away, and when camera-backed states like Attention Required or Phone Visible showed up.

What you get

Know where your focus held and where it broke.

One short session should show what helped, what pulled you off course, and whether the summary feels honest enough to trust.

Timeline

Your real session See where focus held, where it broke, and what happened in between.

Distractions

Caught quickly App switches, away time, and visible state changes make interruptions obvious.

Summary

Evidence-backed The recap points back to the timeline instead of inventing a single hidden score.

45-minute session recap See where focus held, where it slipped, and what the session actually felt like.

Session length 45 min

Focus rate 69%

Final state Away

Focused 09:00 to 09:31

31 min

Neutral 09:31 to 09:37

6 min

Digital 09:37 to 09:41

4 min

Away 09:41 to 09:45

4 min

Focused

00:31:00 69% of session

Neutral

00:06:00 13% of session

Phone

00:00:00 0% of session

Digital

00:04:00 9% of session

Away

00:04:00 9% of session

Unknown

00:00:00 0% of session

The recap groups time into Focused, Neutral, Phone, Digital, Away, and Unknown instead of inventing a single hidden score.

Start when you want a real record

Sessions are manual by default, so tracking begins when the work actually matters. The first session flow also helps you choose Screen Focus, Mixed Study, Strict Accountability, or Camera-less.

Only what is in front counts

The app tracks the app or site in front of you and ignores background noise, so distraction shows up faster and fake productivity shows up less.

Camera tracking catches the quiet slips

On-device camera tracking can confirm presence, catch look-aways, and optionally flag phone use. The session type decides whether attention is required and how quickly a negative camera check interrupts focus.

Review a summary you can trust

Focused, distracted, away, and unknown blocks all come from the timeline, so the recap points back to real moments instead of guessing.

Best Fit

Works best for deliberate desk sessions on your Mac.

ActualFocus is strongest when the work stays at your desk and you choose the session type that matches how strict you want the session to be.

Reading, writing, coding, coursework, research, and desk-based study
Screen Focus, Mixed Study, Strict Accountability, and Camera-less sessions on your Mac
Sessions where camera tracking can help explain what happened around the desk

If a session is mostly physical setup, moving around the room, or long stretches away from the desk, the recap can still be less useful.

State Guide

What the common states mean.

Focused: The current activity counted toward focus time.
Neutral: The activity was allowed, but it did not count as focus.
Phone: A phone was detected while phone checks were turned on.
Digital: A distracting app or site took over the frontmost spot.
Away: You were away from the desk long enough for the session to mark it.
Unknown: The app did not have enough signal to classify that stretch with confidence.

Privacy in one sentence

Your session stays on your Mac.

The website does not receive your camera frames, focus timeline, or app history. The installed app keeps the session record local unless you choose to export it, and the public build is Apple-notarized before release.

Read the privacy boundary

Permissions

See the first-session controls up front.

First open starts with an in-app walkthrough. When you begin a session, the start-session screen lets you choose Screen Focus, Mixed Study, Strict Accountability, or Camera-less, while browser setup stays optional and only helps label websites.

See the install flow