Quick answer
Most focus timers are a promise you make to yourself. You press start, the countdown runs, and nothing stops you picking up the phone “for a second” while the clock keeps counting. At the end you have a finished session and no idea how much of it was real.
Flip Focus removes the honour system. The timer is tied to the position of your phone: face down on the desk, the session counts. Lifted, it pauses.
How auto-pause works
- Pick a session. Use a ready-made block (deep work, quick focus, study or creative work) or one you built yourself.
- Put the phone face down. The timer starts on its own. There is no start button to remember.
- Pick it up and the timer pauses. Flip Focus tells you to put the phone back down. The paused time is not added to your session.
- Put it back and the session resumes from where it stopped.
Detection uses the phone’s accelerometer, not the proximity sensor. The proximity sensor only works reliably against skin, so it is easily fooled on a table. Flip Focus checks that the phone is face down and has settled for half a second before it counts, so the moment you put it down is not mistaken for anything else.
Why a timer you can’t cheat matters
A focus timer is only useful if its numbers are true. If a 50-minute session can hide 15 minutes of scrolling, your history tells you that you did more deep work than you did, and you plan the next day on that false number.
Because the clock only moves while the phone is face down, every minute in your Flip Focus dashboard is a minute the phone was out of your hands. Total focused time, your success rate and your streak all come from that same honest clock.
It also changes the decision in the moment. “Just checking one thing” is easy when nothing happens. When you can see the timer stop, the cost of the check is right in front of you, and most of the time you put the phone back down.
Auto-pause and app blocking work together
Auto-pause covers the moment you pick the phone up. App blocking covers what happens next. During a session, everything is blocked except the apps you allow, so if you do lift the phone, the distracting apps are not there waiting. On iPhone this uses Apple’s Screen Time API. On Android it uses the Accessibility Service and Usage Access permissions.
Ending a session early
You can always leave a session. It just takes a moment on purpose: you copy out a short passage that makes the case for staying, then hold a button for a few seconds. Neither step is hard, but it turns quitting from a reflex into a choice.
What auto-pause does not do
- It needs the phone lying still on a surface. It is not designed for sessions with the phone in your pocket or bag.
- It works on your phone only. Flip Focus does not block websites or apps on your computer.
- It doesn’t lock you in. You can always end a session early, as described above.
Something not working as described? See Help & support.
Frequently asked questions
Does Flip Focus use the proximity sensor?
No. Flip Focus uses the accelerometer to tell when the phone is face down. The proximity sensor only works reliably against skin, so it is unreliable on a desk.
What happens if I pick up my phone during a session?
The timer pauses and Flip Focus asks you to put the phone back down. The paused time is not counted, and the session resumes when the phone is face down again.
Can I use Flip Focus with my phone in my pocket?
No. The timer only runs while the phone is face down and still on a surface such as a desk or table. That is what makes the session impossible to fake.
Is auto-pause available on the free plan?
Yes. Auto-pause is part of every session on iPhone and Android, free or Pro.
Augustine Ezeh
Put the phone face down.