Calm Focus

Support

Answers to the questions we're asked most. If yours isn't here, we're happy to help directly.

Get in touch

Email support@kryphion.com. We usually reply within 1–2 business days.

To help us help you faster, include your device model, your iOS version, and what you were doing when the problem happened.

Getting started

How does Calm Focus work?

Calm Focus follows the Pomodoro method: a stretch of focused work, then a short break, with a longer break after several rounds. Tap the mode you want — Focus, Short Break, or Long Break — and press start. The ring around the hourglass shows how much of the session is left.

Do I need an account?

No. There's no sign-in, and nothing to set up. Open the app and start a session.

What if I need to stop partway through?

Pause or reset from the controls under the timer. A session only counts toward your garden and stats once it finishes.

Can I switch modes mid-session?

Yes. If a session is already underway, Calm Focus asks you to confirm first so you don't lose your progress by mistapping.

Durations and automation

How do I change session lengths?

Go to Settings → Durations. You can set each timer independently, within these ranges:

SettingRangeDefault
Focus5–60 minutes25 min
Short break1–30 minutes5 min
Long break5–45 minutes15 min
Sessions before a long break2–84

Changing a duration updates any timer that hasn't started yet. A session already running keeps its original length.

Can breaks start on their own?

Yes, if you want them to. Settings → Automation has separate toggles for auto-starting breaks and auto-starting the next focus session. Both are off by default, so nothing begins without you.

Sound

How do I turn on sounds?

Sound is off by default. Tap the speaker icon in the top-right of the timer card to turn on the ambient soundscape — a gentle ticking clock to start with. Choose a different sound or adjust the volume in Settings → Ambient sound. Ambient sound plays during focus sessions and breaks alike.

What soundscapes are there?

Ticking clock, stream, rain, wind, and forest. Each one is generated on your device in real time rather than played from a recording, so it never loops in a way you can hear.

Does the ambient sound keep playing when I lock my phone?

No. Ambient sound plays while Calm Focus is open and on screen. If you lock your phone or switch to another app, the soundscape stops, and it resumes when you come back. The timer itself is unaffected — it keeps counting accurately in the background either way.

I turned on sound but can't hear anything.

Check three things: that the speaker icon in the timer card isn't crossed out, that the volume slider in Settings isn't at zero, and that your device volume is up. Ambient sound plays whether or not your ring/silent switch is on. It also only plays while a timer is actually running — if the timer is paused or hasn't started, there's nothing to hear.

Can I keep my own music playing?

Yes. Calm Focus mixes politely with other audio, so music or a podcast keeps playing underneath.

What's the "Completion sound" setting?

That's the separate chime when a session ends, in Settings → Feedback. It's independent of the ambient soundscape, and it's on by default.

Background and notifications

Does the timer keep running while my phone is locked?

Yes. Calm Focus measures each session against the real clock, so the countdown stays accurate while the app is in the background or your phone is locked, and the session completes at the right time. If you've enabled notifications, you'll be told when it ends.

Why isn't there a Lock Screen or Dynamic Island timer?

That's deliberate, not missing. A countdown that follows you onto every screen is a countdown you keep checking, which is the opposite of what a focus timer is for. Open the app to see the time remaining.

I'm not getting notifications.

Make sure Notifications is on in Calm Focus Settings, then check iOS Settings → Notifications → Calm Focus and confirm notifications are allowed. If you declined the permission prompt the first time, iOS only lets you re-enable it there. A Focus mode or Do Not Disturb schedule on your device can also hold notifications back.

What happens if I force-quit the app mid-session?

Calm Focus saves where you were, so reopening it puts you back into the session with the correct time remaining. Notifications scheduled before you quit still arrive.

Tasks

How do tasks work?

Tap through to the task list to add what you plan to work on. Pick one as your current task and it shows alongside the timer. Each task counts the focus sessions you've spent on it, so you can see where the time actually went.

Can I reorder or delete tasks?

Yes — drag to reorder your active tasks, and swipe to delete. Long-press a task for more options.

Completed tasks are cluttering my list.

Turn off Settings → Tasks → Show completed tasks and they'll be tucked out of the way while staying in your history.

Today, intentions and reflections

What is the Today screen?

A single calm page for the day: a greeting matched to the season and hour, your progress toward the day's growth, your tasks, an intention you can set for the day, and — in the evening — a short prompt asking what went well.

Where do my intentions and reflections go?

They're saved on your device only, and never leave it. You can remove them at any time with Settings → Delete journal entries. That option only appears when you have entries to delete, and it can't be undone.

Why does the app sometimes show a short message?

That's the Focus Companion — an occasional line tied to the scene and how your day is going. It speaks at a few meaningful moments and stays quiet the rest of the time.

Focus Garden

How does my garden grow?

Every completed focus session counts. Breaks don't add growth. There are ten levels, and the thresholds spread out as you climb: level 1 at your first session, then 5, 15, 30, 60, 100, 175, 300, and 500 sessions for the final living sanctuary.

What happens if I miss a day?

Nothing at all. The garden is based on your total completed sessions and never shrinks. Calm Focus doesn't punish gaps or take anything away.

Why is my garden still on Level 0?

Level 0 is the bare-ground starting point before your first completed focus session. Finish one session and the first sprout appears.

Why does the scene look different than it did last month?

The landscape picks up the current season's colours and grades itself to the time of day, so the same garden looks different in the morning than in the evening, and different in autumn than in spring.

Stats and history

What do the stats tiles mean?

What is the weekly rhythm chart?

Your focus minutes grouped by day of the week, so you can see which days genuinely work for you and which ones quietly fall apart.

How far back does History go?

All the way. Calm Focus keeps every completed session, listed day by day with its length, and doesn't trim older entries.

Your data

Where is my data stored?

Entirely on your device. Calm Focus has no account and collects no data — there are no analytics, no ads, no tracking SDKs, and no network connections at all. See the Privacy Policy for the full details.

Does my data sync between my iPhone and iPad?

No. Each device keeps its own sessions, tasks, and garden, because nothing is uploaded anywhere.

Will I lose everything if I get a new phone?

Your Calm Focus data is included in your normal device or iCloud backup, so restoring a backup to a new device brings it along. Installing the app fresh on a new device starts you from bare ground.

How do I reset the app?

Settings → Reset to defaults puts your durations, automation, and sound preferences back to how they shipped. It deliberately leaves your journal entries alone — those are something you wrote, not a preference. To remove everything, delete the app from your device.

Accessibility

Does Calm Focus work with VoiceOver?

The timer and task flows are labelled for VoiceOver — the timer reads out as a single element with the time remaining spoken as a sentence. We're continuing to extend coverage across the rest of the app, and we'd like to hear from you if a screen reads poorly.

Does it respect Dynamic Type and Reduce Motion?

Text scales with Dynamic Type, and turning on Reduce Motion eases the scene's animation down to a calmer level. If you use large accessibility text sizes and something doesn't fit properly, please tell us — that feedback is genuinely useful.

Devices and requirements

What do I need to run Calm Focus?

An iPhone or iPad running iOS 17 or later.

Is there a Mac, Apple Watch, or Android version?

Not today. Calm Focus is iPhone and iPad only for now.

Does it work offline?

Completely. Calm Focus never connects to the internet, so airplane mode changes nothing.


Still stuck?

Email support@kryphion.com with your device model, iOS version, and what happened. Bug reports and feature ideas are both welcome.