Support - Drift Catcher | Whatever Works Studio

Requirements: a Mac with Apple silicon, running macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later.
Contact: shk.sangho.kim@gmail.com

Quick start

Click the Drift Catcher icon in the menu bar.
Type what you're working on, pick a length (25 / 45 / 90 min), and press Start session.
Work as usual. If you drift to a distracting app or site for about two minutes, the screen edges gently darken as a soft reminder, and a small amber dot appears in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
Seeing a false alarm? Hover over the amber dot. When it asks "Still focusing?", click Yes, or press ⌃⌥⌘D (Control-Option-Command-D) from any app. Need a breather? Click Take a break to pause for 5 minutes, or click Resume in the menu-bar popover to come back sooner. After a break, the two-minute clock starts over.
When the session ends, a short reflection is waiting in the menu-bar popover: what pulled you away, and a gentle suggestion. Give it a 👍/👎. If you allowed notifications, a "Session complete" notification also lets you know when the timer runs out. Click it to open the reflection.

Permissions

Screen Recording (required for drift detection). Drift Catcher uses it only to read the title of your active window (e.g. a browser tab name); together with the app's name, that's how it judges whether you're on task. It never captures, stores, or sends any screen images. It never reads message or document contents, and it never reads your keystrokes. Grant it during the Welcome screen, or in System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Screen & System Audio Recording. (You may need to quit and reopen the app once after granting.)
Notifications (optional). Only used for the "Session complete" notification when a session finishes on its own.

The on-device AI

If Apple Intelligence is available and turned on, Drift Catcher uses it and there's nothing to download.
Otherwise, on any supported macOS version, you can choose Gemma 3, an open model from Google that runs entirely on your Mac. It's a one-time download of about 3 GB from Hugging Face. It starts only when you click Download (about 3 GB), during the Welcome screen or later in Settings ▸ On-device AI. If you quit before it finishes, click Download again to continue. Once downloaded, it works offline.
While the model is still downloading, Drift Catcher keeps working: it uses its built-in list of distractions, and the end-of-session recap tells you AI reflections are on the way.
Gemma is provided under and subject to the Gemma Terms of Use (also linked in the app).
No model? Drift Catcher still recognizes well-known distractions like YouTube, and it gives you a simple on-device recap at the end of each session.

Insights & export

Right-click the menu-bar icon → Insights, or click Insights at the bottom of the popover when no session is running, to see your focus patterns: sessions, total focus time, what tends to distract you, and your best hours. Everything is computed and stored only on your Mac. After your first finished session, you can export a JSON or Markdown snapshot to any location you choose. Nothing is ever sent automatically.

Managing your data

Open Settings (right-click the menu-bar icon → Settings…, or click Settings at the bottom of the popover when no session is running). Keep data for lets you keep history for 7 days, 30 days, or forever. Delete all data removes all sessions, drift history and reflections immediately, after you confirm. It doesn't remove a downloaded AI model; if macOS ever removes the model to free up space, the Download button simply appears again.

FAQ

Does Drift Catcher send my data anywhere?

No. There's no tracking and no analytics. The app goes online only to fetch the Gemma 3 model from Hugging Face, and only if you chose to download it. Those requests send no information about you.

Do I have to download the 3 GB model?

No. If Apple Intelligence is available and turned on, nothing is downloaded. Even without any model, drift dimming still works for well-known distractions, and you still get a simple recap after each session.

Why does it need Screen Recording?

It's the only sandbox-safe way on macOS to read the active window's title, which is how it tells on-task from off-task. No screen images are captured, stored, or sent; window titles stay in your local history on your Mac.

It dimmed when I was actually working.

Hover over the amber dot and click Yes, or press ⌃⌥⌘D. Drift Catcher will treat that window as on-topic for the rest of the session, and other windows of the same app get the full two minutes again. (If VoiceOver is on, it uses ⌃⌥⌘D itself; click Yes instead.)

The dimming is too strong / too sensitive.

Dimming starts after about two minutes off-task and is gentle by default. Finer controls may arrive in a later update. Email us your preferences — it helps.

Where's the privacy policy?

Right-click the menu-bar icon → Privacy Policy, or read the Privacy Policy here.

Which languages are supported?

The interface and AI reflections support English, 한국어, 日本語, and Español.

Still need help?

Email shk.sangho.kim@gmail.com with your macOS version and a short description.