Steady: Focus Timer does not collect, store, transmit, or share any personal data. Everything the app keeps stays on your own devices: your iPhone, your iPad, and your Apple Watch. I never receive any of it.
What the app stores, and where
The app keeps the following on your device, and nowhere else:
- The timer's current state (phase, countdown, and where you are in a cycle).
- Your session history (when each Focus session ended, how long it was, and which timer profile it used), which powers Stats.
- Your settings: timer profiles (including the names you give them), your accent color, holiday theme, daily goal, sounds, and similar preferences.
- Only finished Focus sessions are recorded; breaks and skipped sessions aren't. If you delete a timer profile, its sessions keep the profile's name so Stats can still label them.
On iPhone and iPad, this is shared privately between the app and its own widgets and Live Activity through an iOS App Group, which only this app can read.
Apple Watch
If you use the Apple Watch app, your iPhone and your paired Apple Watch keep each other up to date: the timer's state, your active profile, your color, today's progress, and Focus sessions finished on the watch. This sync goes directly between your own two devices using Apple's built-in Watch Connectivity service. Apple may carry it over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or its own network when the devices aren't nearby; either way, it goes only between your iPhone and your watch, and I can't see it.
Nothing syncs through iCloud. Your iPhone and iPad don't sync with each other; each keeps its own history and settings. Only an iPhone and its paired Apple Watch sync.
Notifications, Siri, and Focus
- Notifications. The app schedules local notifications ("Focus session complete") with Apple's on-device notification system. They're created and delivered entirely on your device.
- Siri and Shortcuts. So you can say things like "Start Deep Work with Steady," your timer profile names are made available to Siri and the Shortcuts app on your device. Requests you make to Siri are handled by Apple under Apple's Privacy Policy (opens in a new tab).
- Focus status. If you turn on "Silence Alerts During Focus," the app asks permission to see whether a Focus mode is on. It only learns whether one is on, not which one, and that never leaves your device.
What the app doesn't do
- It makes no network requests of its own. There are no accounts, no sign-in, and no servers.
- It contains no analytics, advertising, tracking, or crash-reporting SDKs, and it doesn't share data with third parties, because it has none to share.
- It never accesses your microphone, camera, location, contacts, photos, or health data. (The floating Picture in Picture timer on iPad uses an audio session only so that it can keep counting while you use other apps; nothing is recorded or played.)
Exporting your history
Stats can export your session history as a CSV file. This only happens when you tap Share, and the file goes only where you choose to send it.
Crash reports and beta feedback
If you've turned on "Share With App Developers" in your device's Analytics settings, Apple may share anonymous crash reports and usage data with me, according to Apple's own policies. If you're testing a beta through TestFlight, feedback and screenshots you choose to send reach me through Apple. You can turn sharing off at any time in Settings.
Deleting your data
Deleting the app from your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch deletes everything it has stored. Like other app data, it's included in your device backups (for example, iCloud Backup), which Apple manages for you.
Changes
If this policy changes, I'll update this page and the date at the top.
Data collection summary
In App Store terms: no data is collected from this app.
Contact
Questions about this policy can be sent to: aaronltilley1+pomodoro@gmail.com