Help & FAQ

Contact

Support: support@focalapp.org
Privacy & data requests: privacy@focalapp.org
Reporting abuse in a study room: use Reporton the member’s row inside the app, or email support. Reports are reviewed within 24 hours.

Focal Pro & billing

What does Focal Pro include?

Unlimited goals, unlimited study rooms, app blocking during focus sessions, the full analytics history, every focus environment, and custom session lengths. The free tier keeps the timer, three active goals, and three study rooms.

How do I cancel?

Subscriptions are billed by Apple, not by us, so they are cancelled in iPhone Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Focal. Cancelling stops the next renewal; you keep Pro until the end of the period you already paid for. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.

I paid but Focal still shows me as free.

Open Settings → Restore Purchases (also on the Pro screen). That re-reads your App Store receipt and restores the entitlement. Make sure you are signed into the same Apple Account that made the purchase. If it still does not appear, email support with the date of purchase and we will sort it out.

Do I get a refund if I cancel early?

Refunds are handled by Apple, not by us. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com.

App blocking

Focal asked for Screen Time permission. Why?

App blocking is built on Apple’s Family Controls framework, which is the only supported way for an app to shield other apps. Your selection is stored in opaque tokens that never leave your device — we cannot see which apps you picked, and no usage data is sent anywhere.

Blocking is not working.

Check iPhone Settings → Screen Timeis enabled and that Focal still has permission. App blocking requires a physical device — it is inert on the Simulator — and only applies while a focus session is running.

A shield is stuck after a session ended.

Open Focal once; it clears any stale shield on launch. If it persists, toggle app blocking off and on in Settings → App Blocking.

Study rooms

How do I invite someone?

Create a room and share the invite link or the six-character code. Rooms hold up to five people and are invite-only — there is no public directory and nobody can find your room without the code.

Someone in a room is being abusive.

Tap the member’s row and choose Block to hide them and stop sharing rooms with them, or Report to send it to us. We review every report within 24 hours and remove accounts that break the Terms of Service.

The room says “waiting for host” and nothing happens.

Only the host can start a session. If the host has left, close the room and create a new one — a room without its host cannot be started.

Notifications & timers

My goal reminders never arrive.

Confirm notifications are allowed in iPhone Settings → Focal → Notifications. If you declined the first prompt, iOS will not ask again — it has to be turned on there. Reminders are scheduled in your device’s local time zone and re-scheduled automatically if you travel.

Does the timer keep running if I leave the app?

Yes. The session end time is recorded, so backgrounding, locking, or even force-quitting the app does not lose your progress, and the completion alarm still fires.

Account

How do I delete my account?

Settings → Account → Delete Account. It is immediate and permanent — see Data & Privacy for exactly what is removed. Cancel any active subscription first; deleting the account does not stop Apple billing you.

Can I change the email on my account?

Not in the app — sign-in is delegated to Google and Apple, so the email comes from whichever account you used. Email support if you need to move your data to a different sign-in.

Which devices does Focal support?

iPhone running iOS 15 or later.