Hey — listen, I spent most of last night poking at Back in Focus (app) from NimbusApps on my Mac, and I figured I’d dump my notes for you while it’s still fresh. This is one of those “everything looks fine, but nothing actually works” situations, which is always my favorite category of problems.
What I wanted was simple. I installed the tool because I needed something lightweight to keep me honest during long writing sessions — track active windows, detect distractions, that sort of thing. Installation went smoothly, no installer drama, no scary warnings. I launched it, saw the onboarding screen, clicked through the intro… and then it just sat there. Running, technically. Doing absolutely nothing useful.
At first glance, it didn’t crash. No beachball. No error dialog. The menu bar icon showed up, which is usually a good sign. But the app wasn’t detecting window changes, didn’t react when I switched apps, and its “focus session” stats stayed stubbornly blank. It was like it was politely watching from across the room and refusing to get involved.
My first instinct was that Gatekeeper had blocked something silently. macOS has been doing that more often lately — especially on Sonoma. So I went straight to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scrolled down, and looked for the usual “app was blocked” message. Nothing. No “Open Anyway” button. Dead end.
Next attempt: relaunch with different permissions. I quit the tool, reopened it via right-click → Open (old habit), same result. I even rebooted, which I consider a personal admission of defeat. Still nothing. The app launched faster, sure, but it was still blind to what was happening on screen.
At this point I stopped assuming it was “broken” and started assuming macOS was being macOS.
Here’s the thing I’d missed: this kind of productivity utility lives or dies by system permissions, especially Screen Recording and Accessibility. And macOS will happily let an app run without those permissions — it just won’t tell you that it’s effectively operating with a blindfold on.
So I went back into System Settings, this time manually checking:
- Privacy & Security → Screen Recording
- Privacy & Security → Accessibility
Sure enough, the app wasn’t listed in either place. Which means it never actually asked for access. And if it doesn’t ask, macOS doesn’t prompt you. No prompt, no warning, no hint. Just silence.
The fix was slightly unintuitive but simple once you know it. I fully quit the app, reopened it, then immediately triggered a feature that requires screen access. That finally forced macOS to throw the permission dialog. The moment I clicked “Allow,” everything snapped into place. Window tracking started working instantly. Stats populated. Focus sessions suddenly made sense.
That was the “oh, of course” moment.
For reference, Apple documents this behavior pretty clearly — but only if you already know what you’re looking for. This page helped confirm I wasn’t imagining things: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/control-access-to-your-screen-mchld6aa7d23/mac And the developer-side explanation lines up with it too: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/protecting_user_privacy
I also checked the App Store listing just to sanity-check that I hadn’t downloaded some weird fork or outdated build. The official search page was enough: https://apps.apple.com — nothing suspicious there.
While digging, I saved this page because it helped me sanity-check macOS permission behavior in context of focus and productivity tools: https://treadmillreviews.online/office-and-productivity/80126-back-in-focus.html Not groundbreaking, but useful as a reference point when everything feels gaslight-y.
Anyway, once permissions were sorted, the tool behaved exactly as advertised. Low overhead, no noticeable CPU spikes on my M2 Air, and it stopped missing context changes. Which tells me the app itself was fine the whole time — it was macOS politely refusing to cooperate without explicit consent.
What I’d do differently next time, knowing all this:
I’d skip blaming Gatekeeper right away. If an app launches but acts “dumb,” I now assume permissions before anything else. I’d also deliberately trigger features that require access, instead of waiting for the app to ask nicely. macOS doesn’t reward patience here.
Quick mental checklist for the future:
- App runs but doesn’t “see” anything → check Screen Recording
- No automation or window tracking → check Accessibility
- No prompts appeared → force the feature manually
- Don’t expect macOS to explain itself
That’s it. Not a dramatic bug, just one of those quiet friction points that wastes an hour if you’re not looking in the right place. Hopefully this saves you that hour if you ever run into the same thing.