Hold Focus

Hold Focus is a reminder, not a blocker.

You name the one thing you are working on and how long it should take. Then you put the phone down. When you pick it up again, the task is already on the Lock Screen with the time left on it. At intervals it asks you one question.

Nothing is ever blocked. Every question has a way through, and taking it costs you four seconds and nothing else. There is no streak to lose, no score, and no red.

WHAT IT DOES

One task, one sentence. Not a list, not a project, not a backlog.

The task and the time left on the Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island, and on the Home Screen — wherever you happen to look first.

Reminders that arrive with the app closed, and that still reach you when a Focus mode is on, because that is exactly when you are trying to concentrate.

Optionally, choose which apps count as a distraction. Hold Focus then notices when you have been in one and counts what actually broke the work, so the session ends with an honest picture rather than a guess.

A Shortcuts action, so an automation can put your task in front of you the moment a chosen app opens.

PRIVACY

Nothing leaves your phone. There is no account, no server, no sync, no analytics, no ads and no third-party code.

If you choose apps to watch, Apple hands the app anonymous tokens. Hold Focus never learns which apps you picked — when it shows you what interrupted you, iOS is drawing those names itself.

Your history stays on the device and you can erase all of it with one tap.

WHAT IT WILL NEVER DO

Hold Focus never blocks, restricts, hides or delays access to anything. It has no parental mode and no employer mode. It cannot be pointed at another person.