Privacy Policy

Effective October 1, 2026 · updated October 10, 2026

1. Who we are

This Privacy Policy describes how the Focus iPhone app (“Focus”, “we”, “us”) handles information. Focus is developed by An Le as an independent project.

2. Information we collect

Information you create in the app

• Tasks: task titles, whether they are done or active, and when they were created or changed.
• Focus sessions: the type (focus or break), start time, end time and length of each finished session, and which task it was linked to. Your focus history (the week chart and list of blocks) is calculated from this session history.
• Settings: timer lengths, appearance, sound and haptic preferences, your language (English or Vietnamese), and whether you have completed the first-run setup and tour. These stay on your device.
• Custom sounds: audio files you choose to import as timer sounds are copied into the app’s storage on your device and are never uploaded.

Subject labels you add to tasks sync with your tasks. Exams, study goals, focus-sound settings and your agreement record (the date and version of these documents you agreed to) stay on your device.

Guest account and optional email account

Everyone starts as a guest: to back up your tasks and sessions, Focus automatically creates an anonymous account with our database provider. It is identified by a random ID, and a guest backup can be reached only from that installation of the app.

If you choose to create an account or log in so you can back up and sync across devices, Focus asks for your email address and emails you a 6-digit sign-in code (there are no passwords or sign-in links). Your email address is stored with your account by our database and sign-in provider. We ask for an email address only in that case, and we never ask for your name or phone number. Signing out returns the app to a new guest account and keeps the data on your device.

Spotify (optional)

If you connect Spotify, Focus reads the track currently playing on your account (title, artist, artwork) and sends play, pause and skip commands when you tap them.

Google Calendar (optional)

If you connect Google Calendar, see section 4.

Focus guard (optional)

Block apps: if you create a personal automation in Apple’s Shortcuts app that runs Focus’s “Guard focus” action when apps you choose are opened, Focus shows a “back to work” screen during a focus block. Focus does not receive a list of your apps and does not see which app was opened. Silence notifications: when you start a focus block in the app, Focus asks the Shortcuts app to run your own shortcuts named “Focus Silence” and “Focus Unsilence” (for example, to turn Do Not Disturb on until the block ends, then off), passing only the time the block ends. Focus does not read your notifications. Nothing about focus guard leaves your device.

Update checks

When you open the app, and periodically in the background, Focus downloads a public file from GitHub (the releases of github.com/notanlee/focus-timer) to check whether a newer version is available, and may show a notification on your device if one is. This is an ordinary web request, so GitHub receives standard technical information such as your IP address; no account information is sent.

What we do not collect

Focus does not collect your location, contacts, photos, advertising identifiers, browsing activity or analytics, and contains no third-party advertising or tracking SDKs.

3. How we use information

• To run the timer, show your tasks and display the countdown in the Dynamic Island and on the lock screen.
• To back up and sync your tasks and session history.
• To show and control your Spotify playback, if you connected Spotify.
• To add finished sessions to your Google Calendar, if you connected it.
• To email you a sign-in code, if you choose to create an account or log in with your email address.
• To show the focus guard screen and run your silence shortcuts, if you set them up, and to let you know when a new version of Focus is available.

We do not use your information for advertising, profiling or any purpose unrelated to these features.

4. Google user data

Connecting Google Calendar is optional. Focus requests a single permission (OAuth scope): https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.app.created. With it, Focus:

• creates one secondary calendar named “Focus” in your Google account, and
• adds an event to that calendar for each finished focus block (and each break, if you enable it). Each event contains the start time, end time, your time zone and the title of the task you were working on.

Focus cannot read, change or delete any other calendar or event in your account. Your Google sign-in tokens are stored only in your device’s secure Keychain and are sent only to Google. Events waiting to be sent (for example, while you are offline) are kept on your device until they are delivered. Calendar data is sent directly from your device to Google; we do not copy it to our servers, use it for advertising, sell it or share it with anyone, and no person reads it.

Focus’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

5. Sharing and service providers

We do not sell, rent or trade your information. Information is processed only by the services needed to provide Focus:

• Supabase — hosts the database that syncs your tasks and session history, handles sign-in, and sends sign-in code emails if you use an email account.
• Spotify — only if you connect it, under Spotify’s Privacy Policy.
• Google — only if you connect Google Calendar, under Google’s Privacy Policy.
• Google (Gmail) — sign-in code emails are sent from the developer’s Gmail account and delivered by Google, only if you use an email account, under Google’s Privacy Policy.
• GitHub — hosts the public file Focus checks for updates and the app downloads, under the GitHub Privacy Statement.
• Apple — iOS features such as notifications, Live Activities, widgets and Shortcuts run on your device under Apple’s terms.

We may disclose information if required by law.

6. Storage, retention and security

Data on your device stays there until you delete it or remove the app. Synced tasks and sessions are kept until you ask us to delete them. If you added an email address, it is kept with your account until you ask us to delete it. Spotify and Google tokens are kept in the iOS Keychain until you unlink the service. Connections to our database, Spotify, Google and GitHub use encrypted HTTPS, and database access is restricted so that each account can read only its own records. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, but we work to protect your information.

7. Your choices and deletion

• Unlink services: in Settings, tap “unlink spotify” or “unlink google”. This deletes the tokens from your device.
• Revoke Google access: at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions. You can also delete the “Focus” calendar in Google Calendar.
• Sign out: in Settings, sign out of your email account to return to a new guest account. The data on your device is kept.
• Focus guard: turn off or delete your automations and shortcuts in the Shortcuts app at any time.
• Delete synced data and your account: contact us (see section 10) and we will delete your synced tasks and sessions, and your account and email address if you have one.
• Delete everything on your device: remove the app.

8. Children

Focus is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top shows the latest version. Significant changes will be noted on this page.

10. Contact

Questions or requests about privacy:

• GitHub: github.com/notanlee/focus-timer/issues
• Discord: notanlee
• TikTok: @notanlee1