The short version
- We collect nothing. Focus Mate has no user accounts, no sign-in, and no analytics or tracking of any kind.
- There is no Focus Mate server. The app never sends your data to us, because there is nowhere for it to go.
- Your voice stays on your iPhone. Speech recognition runs on-device. Audio is not uploaded to us or to Apple.
- Your console settings stay on your device. Names, IP addresses and ports are stored locally and synced only to your paired Apple Watch.
- Nothing is sold or shared. There are no advertisers, data brokers, or third-party SDKs in the app.
1. Who we are
Focus Mate is developed and published by Alex Forey, an independent developer based in the United Kingdom. For the purposes of the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR, Alex Forey is the data controller for any personal data described in this policy. Contact details are at the end of this policy.
2. Information we do not collect
Focus Mate does not collect, transmit, or store any personal information on our systems. Specifically, the app does not:
- require or offer an account, login, email address, or password;
- include any analytics, telemetry, crash-reporting, advertising, or attribution SDK;
- use cookies, advertising identifiers (IDFA), or any other tracking technology;
- collect your name, contacts, photos, calendar, health data, or precise location;
- send any data to servers operated by us — we do not operate any servers for this app.
Because no personal data is collected, Focus Mate does not track you across apps or websites owned by other companies, and no App Tracking Transparency permission is requested.
3. Information stored on your device
To do its job, Focus Mate saves the console setups you create. This includes the name you give each console, its console type (for example Eos, Hog 4, or grandMA3), its IP address or hostname, its port number, and your connection preferences.
This information is stored in the app's own storage on your device. It is used only to send commands to the lighting consoles you have configured. It is never transmitted to us or to any third party. Deleting the app removes it.
Apple Watch
If you use the Apple Watch app, your console list is copied from your iPhone to your paired Apple Watch so the watch can send commands on its own. This transfer happens directly between your two devices using Apple's WatchConnectivity framework. It does not pass through us.
4. Microphone and speech recognition
Focus Mate lets you call cues by speaking. To do this, the iPhone app needs your permission to use the microphone and speech recognition. iOS will ask for both the first time you use the voice feature, and you can withdraw either permission at any time in Settings › Privacy & Security.
Speech recognition in the iPhone app is configured to run on-device only. Your audio is processed locally by iOS and is not sent to Apple's speech servers, and it is never sent to us. If your device cannot perform on-device recognition for your language, the app reports that voice control is unavailable rather than falling back to server-based recognition.
Audio is processed live while you hold the microphone button and is not recorded, saved, or written to disk. The resulting text is turned into console commands and discarded.
Dictation on Apple Watch
The Apple Watch app uses watchOS's built-in dictation to enter commands, rather than Focus Mate's own speech recognition. That dictation is an Apple system feature operating outside our app, and depending on your device and settings Apple may process that audio on its servers. This is governed by Apple's Privacy Policy and by your dictation settings on the watch, not by us. We never receive that audio or the resulting text beyond the command you submit within the app.
5. Local network access
Focus Mate controls lighting consoles by sending OSC messages over your local network, so iOS will ask for permission to find and connect to devices on that network. The app uses this access solely to reach the console address you have entered.
These messages travel directly from your device to your console on your own network. They contain the console commands you trigger — nothing more — and they do not pass through us or any other third party. Note that, like the consoles themselves, OSC is an unencrypted protocol intended for use on a trusted production network.
6. Third parties
Focus Mate contains no third-party analytics, advertising, or data-collection code. We do not sell, rent, or share personal information, because we do not hold any.
Focus Mate is distributed through the Apple App Store. Apple independently collects certain information as part of distributing apps and processing purchases — for example download and, if you choose to share them, crash and usage statistics. That collection is Apple's, is subject to Apple's Privacy Policy, and any data we might see through App Store Connect is aggregated and does not identify you.
7. Legal basis and your rights
We do not process personal data about you, so in practice there is nothing for us to look up, export, correct, or erase. Where processing does occur it happens entirely on your own device, under your control.
You retain your rights under the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR — including the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, and data portability — and, if you are a California resident, your rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know, the right to delete, and the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell or share personal information, and we never have.
To remove the data Focus Mate holds on your device, delete the app from your iPhone and Apple Watch.
8. Data retention
We retain no data, so we have no retention period. Your console setups remain on your device for as long as you keep the app installed, and are removed when you delete a console within the app or delete the app itself.
9. Children
Focus Mate is a professional tool for lighting technicians and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children under 13 (or under 16 in the UK and EEA).
10. Security
Because Focus Mate keeps your information on your own device and transmits nothing to us, the main protection for your data is your device's own security — your passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, and iOS's app sandbox, which prevents other apps from reading Focus Mate's stored settings.
11. International users
Focus Mate is available worldwide. Since the app does not transmit your information to us, there is no international transfer of your personal data arising from your use of the app.
12. Changes to this policy
If the app's privacy practices change — for example if a future version adds a feature that needs new permissions — we will update this page and revise the date below. Material changes will also be noted in the App Store release notes for the version that introduces them.
13. Contact
Questions about this policy or about Focus Mate's privacy practices are welcome at hello@alexforey.com.