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How to keep Focus on while a specific app is running? (but not active)

Hello! So I've been using Focus and it's quite useful until I use more than one app at the same time.


I know there's a way I can set a focus to turn on automatically once certain apps are open. So I've set Zoom to be the one. Every time I launch Zoom, the Focus turns on, but as soon as I switch to another app, either simply switching to the second app or sharing its screen using Zoom, the Focus thinks I'm not using Zoom anymore, and it turns off, which is very distracting considering I rapidly switch between Zoom and other apps, making the focus notifications keep appearing saying on and off and on and off ...


I could add those secondary apps to the list so Focus stays on when I switch to those apps. But that comes with some disadvantages. Firstly, it's not fixed what my secondary apps are, Zoom is the only app I'm certain to be using, different circumstances require different secondary apps, So I don't know which app to add the Focus list, might as well add the whole launch pad :)) Secondly, even if I knew exactly what secondary apps to add, when I'm done using Zoom and I just want to use those apps the ordinary way having nothing to do with Zoom, the Focus still turns on and that's not what I want.


So my question is, is there a way to have a Focus turn on automatically and STAY ON as long as one app is running, but not necessarily active, and only turns off when I quit the app and it is no longer running?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 12, 2021 5:48 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 12, 2021 6:34 PM

Focus sounds like a great idea, but poorly implemented. At first, I thought the problem was with Zoom. It does some funky things between itself and web browsers. Maybe there was a problem with the parent app and helper apps. But then I tried focus with Xcode and behaves exactly as you describe. Even worse, in Xcode, as soon as I run the app I'm working on, Focus turns off.


If there is anyone that you would have expected to have tested Focus, it would be Apple software developers running Xcode. And yet, it completely fails in that case.


I suggest you avoid Focus or look for 3rd party apps or Automator actions to accomplish the same thing.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 12, 2021 6:34 PM in response to longnhatking.

Focus sounds like a great idea, but poorly implemented. At first, I thought the problem was with Zoom. It does some funky things between itself and web browsers. Maybe there was a problem with the parent app and helper apps. But then I tried focus with Xcode and behaves exactly as you describe. Even worse, in Xcode, as soon as I run the app I'm working on, Focus turns off.


If there is anyone that you would have expected to have tested Focus, it would be Apple software developers running Xcode. And yet, it completely fails in that case.


I suggest you avoid Focus or look for 3rd party apps or Automator actions to accomplish the same thing.

How to keep Focus on while a specific app is running? (but not active)

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