For the Mac · launching October 2026
The Mac focus app that notices when you drift
Set a task. When you drift, FocusNod asks once. Its AI sees window titles, never your screen.
How it works
A dot, then one quiet question
Type what you’re working on. That’s the whole setup. Everything after happens in the menu bar, and nothing is blocked.
1Tell it the task
Click the ring and type what you’re working on. That’s the whole setup.
2Drift, and a dot appears
A minute on something else and the ring gets a dot. Nothing pops up.
3One quiet question
At three minutes it asks once, under the ring. One click and you’re back.
What changes when FocusNod is running?
Nobody decides to lose the afternoon. The task gets hard, a tab opens, and nothing says a word until forty minutes are gone.
Without FocusNod
1h 45m lost
With FocusNod
11 min lost
Same three detours. 1h 34m of the afternoon back.
FocusNod asks · an illustration, not a measured result
Not a blocker
The moment you notice, without the wall
A blocker’s one good moment was hitting it: that’s when you noticed. Everything else it stopped is why you switched it off. FocusNod keeps the moment and drops the wall.
Made for people who work alone on a Mac
If you’ve tried a blocker and turned it off because it kept getting in the way of real work, this is for you.
Made for
- Indie developersbetween Xcode and X
- Writersbetween the draft and the news
- Studentsbetween the lecture and YouTube
- Designersbetween Figma and Dribbble
Not for you if…
You want a wall you can’t climb
A blocker like Cold Turkey is the right tool. FocusNod only asks.
You want to watch someone else
No accounts, no dashboards, nothing to monitor.
Your workday is all interruptions
In a support queue the interruptions are the work, so there’s little to catch.
Comparing apps? Every AI focus app for Mac, side by side, or honest alternatives to Freedom, Cold Turkey, RescueTime and SelfControl. Stuck on YouTube? Block the distractions and keep the tutorials.
Judgment, not rules
How does it know I’ve drifted?
You type the task. FocusNod judges each window by its app name and title against it, and asks only when it’s sure.
- 1:58 PMXcodeMenuBarController.swiftOn task
- 2:04 PMSafariSwiftUI MenuBarExtra not updating – Stack OverflowOn task
- 2:11 PMSafariBuilding menu bar apps in SwiftUI – YouTubeOn task
- 2:17 PMSafariCompose post / XDrifting
- 2:22 PMSlack#beta-testersChat · 10 min
- 2:28 PMMailRe: beta feedback from Unsure
- 2:35 PM1PasswordNever sentSkipped
- 2:40 PMSafariI built a mechanical keyboard from scratch – YouTubeDrifting
- Judgment, not a blocklist
- A SwiftUI tutorial is work while you fix a bug. A keyboard-build video isn’t.
- Unsure means silent
- If it isn’t sure you’ve drifted, it doesn’t ask.
- Never in a call
- Calls, screen shares and presentations are never interrupted. Chat gets ten minutes.
- You have the last word
- Answer “It’s for the task” and that window counts from then on.
Privacy
What does it read, and what never leaves my Mac?
Two things: the app in front and its window title. Here’s the entire request, character for character.
One permission: Accessibility
It’s how FocusNod reads the window title. No Screen Recording, no Input Monitoring.
Never read, never sent
- Your screen
- Page and file contents
- Keystrokes
- Full web addresses
- Apps on your never-send list
{
"task": "Reply to beta testers",
"app": "Mail",
"title": "Re: Invoice [number] for [email] – Mail"
}That’s the entire request. Nothing else leaves your Mac, and our server doesn’t keep it.
A note from the maker
I’m DrisH. I make small Mac and iPhone apps on my own, and I sell them the way I like to buy software: pay once, keep it.
Blockers never stuck for me. The same YouTube tab is a SwiftUI tutorial at 2 PM and a music video at 2:20, and a blocklist can’t tell which. So I’d turn the blocker off, and the afternoon went with it.
FocusNod is what I wanted instead. It knows what I said I’m working on, stays quiet while I’m on it, and asks once when I’m not. I read every email to hello@focusnod.com, and if it doesn’t earn its place in your menu bar in the first seven days, you get your money back.
DrisHMaker of FocusNod, DRISH LABS · @hi_drishPricing
How much does it cost?
$29 once, for up to two of your Macs. No subscription: each check costs us a fraction of a cent, so there’s nothing to rent you.
Founder price for the first 100 customers · code FIRST100, applied at checkout
$23then $29. Up to two of your Macs.
- Full refund until 7 days after launch
- Refunded automatically if it doesn’t ship
- No subscription, no account
Free
Or get one email at launch
Checks need an internet connection; offline, FocusNod pauses rather than guesses. Checkout by Polar, our merchant of record, which handles tax and receipts. Prices in USD. Compare with AI focus subscriptions.
How long does setup take?
About a minute. Open the app, allow one macOS permission (Accessibility, so it can read the focused window's title), and type what you're working on. No account, no API key, no configuration.
Do I need an API key or an account?
No. The AI is built in and included in the price. There's no account, no API key and no setup beyond one macOS permission (Accessibility, so it can read the window title).
Does it work offline?
Partly. Windows it has already judged keep working offline from a local cache. New windows can't be judged offline, so FocusNod quietly pauses nudges instead of guessing.
Which Macs does it support?
FocusNod runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later. It lives in the menu bar and uses very little CPU.
Does it work with multiple monitors?
It judges the window you're using, the one with keyboard focus. A video playing on a second screen isn't judged. Background music and podcasts are fine.
What’s the refund policy?
Founder pre-orders can be refunded in full any time before launch and for 7 days after. Regular purchases can be refunded within 7 days, no questions asked. Email hello@focusnod.com. Details are in the terms.
$23 for the first 100, then $29
Reserve