Focus mode

Focus mode blocks every app except the ones you allow for as long as a session is live: a workout, a cardio recording, a free session or an interval timer. It uses Apple's Screen Time on your iPhone, works entirely on the device, and is free. It is not Apple's Focus or Do Not Disturb, and Progress never changes those.

What it does

  • Blocks every app except your allowlist while a session runs. Phone and Messages always stay reachable, and so does Progress itself.
  • Silences notifications from blocked apps until you finish.
  • Lifts by itself when you finish the session, or when you tap Unlock apps on the live screen.
  • Never lasts longer than three hours, even if a session runs longer.

Setting it up

  1. Open Settings → Focus mode. The page starts with "What is Focus mode?" so you can read before you commit.
  2. Tap Allow Screen Time access and grant it.
  3. Pick the apps that stay available. Choose the same apps for every workout, or a different list for workouts, cardio and free sessions. Interval timers use the workouts list. Maps and music are the usual picks for cardio.
  4. Optionally turn on Start Focus mode with every workout. With it off, you start Focus mode by hand from the live screen.

Using it

On any live screen, tap Start Focus mode. While it is on, the same button reads Unlock apps and ends the block early. Ending the session lifts it too. A workout and a timer can overlap, and the block only lifts once nothing is live.

If you have not finished setup, the live-screen button opens the setup page as a sheet, and Focus mode starts as soon as access is granted.

Can I get stuck?

No. Unlock apps ends it at any time, it lifts when the session ends, and it clears after three hours at the latest. Turning off Screen Time access for Progress in iOS Settings also clears it. If you force-quit Progress with the block on, the next launch lifts it.

Privacy

Progress uses Screen Time only to put the block up. It never sees which apps you use or for how long. Your allowlists stay on the phone and are not synced or uploaded.

What it does not do

There is no strict mode yet: you can always unlock. Sessions started on the Apple Watch do not use Focus mode. The block screen is the standard iOS one. Screen Time access that was declined is final on iOS; the Settings page then sends you to the iOS Settings app to turn it back on.