Last updated: 30 August 2026

The short version

Back to Focus does not collect your data. It has no servers, no accounts, and no analytics. Everything the app records stays in a database file on your own Mac. The app contains no networking code at all. It cannot send your information anywhere, because it never connects to the internet.

What the app looks at

To tell you when you've drifted off your task, Back to Focus needs to know what you're currently working in. While it is running, it observes:

• The application you are currently using: its name and bundle identifier (for example, Google Chrome).
• The website you are currently viewing, when that application is a supported web browser. The app reads only the domain of the page, for example github.com, not the full address, not the page contents, and not anything you type.
• The title of the active window, where macOS makes it available to the app.
• How long you stay in each of these, so it can measure focus and drift.

It also stores the things you type into the app itself: your task list, the times you set for each task, and whether you marked an app or site as Signal or Noise.

Where that information is stored

All of it is written to a single SQLite database file on your Mac. In the Mac App Store version this lives inside the app's own sandbox container:

~/Library/Containers/com.edth.backtofocus/Data/Library/Application Support/BackToFocus/

In the version downloaded directly from our website it lives here:

~/Library/Application Support/BackToFocus/

This file never leaves your computer. It is not uploaded, synced, backed up to us, or shared with anyone. We have no way to read it, because there is nowhere for it to go.

What the app does not do

• It does not transmit any data off your Mac.
• It does not use analytics, telemetry, crash reporting, or advertising.
• It does not include third-party SDKs or tracking libraries.