Focused — Privacy Policy
Last updated: 30 October 2026
Focused automatically switches your phone to vibrate when you walk through a door fitted with Focused door devices, when you arrive at a shul near you, or when you arrive at a place or reach a time you have saved, and restores your ringer when you leave. This policy explains exactly what the app does with your information.
Focused has no user accounts, no advertising, and no analytics or tracking of any kind. There is no server that belongs to us, and we do not receive, store, or have access to your location or your rules. We do not sell your information or use it for advertising.
Information the app uses
| Information | Why |
|---|---|
| Approximate and precise location | To find the shuls near you, to detect when you arrive at and leave a shul or a place you have saved, and to set a backup "you have left" point when you walk through a Focused door. This includes use in the background while the app is closed. |
| Nearby Bluetooth devices | To hear Focused door devices. The app only reacts to devices carrying Focused's own identifier and ignores every other Bluetooth device. Android treats Bluetooth scanning as a form of location. |
| Addresses you type into search | To look up a place when you create a rule. |
Location in the background
Focused uses location data to enable automatic vibrate at Focused doors, automatic vibrate at nearby shuls, and automatic vibrate at your saved places, even when the app is closed or not in use. The app shows you this explanation and asks you to agree before it requests any location permission. If you decline, no location is used or sent, door detection, nearby shuls and saved places stay off, and timed rules still work.
Watching for arrivals and departures is done on your phone by Android itself. Your location is never sent to us. It leaves your phone in two cases only, both described below: to find the shuls near you, and to show a map or look up an address when you add a place.
Nearby shuls
To find shuls near you, Focused sends your phone's location (latitude and longitude), the current time and day of the week, and the search distance to GoDaven, an independent online directory of shuls and minyanim. GoDaven sends back a list of nearby shuls, which is saved on your phone.
This happens when you open the app, and when you travel outside the area of the last search, which can be while the app is closed. No name, account, email address or other identifier of yours is sent. As with any internet request, GoDaven can see your phone's IP address. GoDaven's handling of the requests it receives is covered by its own privacy policy, not this one.
Focused door devices
The devices mounted at a door only broadcast a short identifier a few times a second. They do not connect to your phone, receive anything from it, or record who walks past. The organisation that installed them learns nothing about you from them.
Where information is sent
| Sent to | What is sent | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GoDaven | Your location, the current time and day, and the search distance | To find the shuls near you (see "Nearby shuls" above). |
| Google Maps Platform | Text you type into address search, and your location while a map is displayed. Google's map component also receives device information (such as phone model and Android version), your IP address, and crash reports from the map. | To suggest addresses and to draw the map. Google's use of this information is covered by the Google Privacy Policy. |
| Google (Android system) | Coordinates of a point you tap on the map | To convert that point into a street address, using Android's built-in service. |
| Our website (hosted by GitHub Pages) | Nothing about you. The app downloads small lists it needs, such as which shuls have Focused door devices. Like any website, the host can see your phone's IP address. | To keep the app's shul information up to date. |
If you send us feedback
The Send feedback button opens your own email app with a message to us. It fills in the Focused version and your phone's make, model and Android version, so we can follow bug reports. Nothing is sent unless you send the email yourself. We receive your email address and whatever you write, and use them only to reply and to fix problems.
Information kept on your device only
- The rules you create, including their names, addresses and coordinates
- The list of shuls near you, and any shuls you have switched off
- Whether you are currently inside a Focused place, a shul or a saved place, and when a door device was last heard
- Your settings, such as the rule radius, and whether you agreed to the location explanation
- A local diagnostic log (
focused.log) recording app errors
None of this is transmitted to us. If Android Backup is switched on for your device, Android may include these files in your own Google account backup; that backup is controlled by you and by Google, not by us.
Permissions and why they are needed
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
| Location, including in the background | The core function: finding nearby shuls, detecting door devices, and arrival at and departure from shuls and saved places, while your phone is in your pocket. |
| Nearby devices (Bluetooth) | To hear Focused door devices. |
| Notifications | To show a notice while Focused is holding your ringer, so you always know the app is active and can undo it with one tap. |
| Do Not Disturb access | Only required for rules set to full silent. Vibrate works without it. |
| Alarms and reminders | Only required for rules that switch at a set time, and to keep the app's backup checks on time. |
| Ignore battery optimisation | Android otherwise stops the app after a few days, and it would silently stop working. |
Retention and deletion
All app data is stored on your device. Uninstalling Focused removes it. You can also clear it at any time from Android Settings, under Apps → Focused → Storage. We hold no app data about you, so there is nothing for us to delete on your behalf. If you have emailed us, you can ask us to delete those emails at the address below.
Children
Focused is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.
Changes
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this address with a new date at the top.
Contact
Questions about this policy: support@focusedplace.com