Frequently Asked Questions

Why call it Bluebird?

Bluebird is a symbol of happiness and hope. This aligns with our mission: to bring progress to people’s lives by helping them manage their time more effectively.

In addition, blue is a color associated with focus and calm. We hope you feel a sense of clarity and peace when using our app.

Who is the mascot of Bluebird?

Blurr is a free-spirited bluebird with ADHD and a poor sense of direction, but never gives up on the dream of exploring the world.

To learn more, see Blurr’s profile.

Why can’t I pause the focus timer?

We intentionally made the focus timer impossible to pause.

We found that if it could be paused, our users would pause frequently and get distracted much more easily.

Why is there no sound at the end of a focus session?

All Bluebird notifications include sound, but you won’t be able to hear it when Silent mode is on.

If you want to stay in Silent mode and not miss notifications, please consider turning on “Sounds & Haptics > Haptics > Play in Silent Mode” in the iOS settings (https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/iph07c867f28/ios).

My Apple Watch vibrates for a long time at the end of a focus session, which really annoys me. Can I turn it off?

Sorry for the confusion. The vibration will stop immediately upon raising your wrist to look at your Apple Watch.

Bluebird Pro is too expensive for me. Can you make it cheaper?

The price of Bluebird Pro is based on the value we believe it provides (how much we would be willing to pay for something that boosts productivity by at least 30%). We may raise prices from time to time to adjust for inflation.

If you enjoy using Bluebird, please consider paying for it. It’s our dream to make a living by building the apps we love, but we’re still a long way from that. Your support means a lot to us.

However, it might still be too expensive for you at the moment. Feel free to contact us at [email protected] and tell us about your situation in detail. We’ll be happy to help.

I am interested in purchasing lifetime Bluebird Pro. How long will you maintain it?

Bluebird is the first and currently the only app made by our two-person indie team.

We love it, use it every day, and intend to update it for at least 10 years.

That is why the lifetime version may seem expensive—after all, a lifetime is a long time.

How to upgrade from a subscription plan to lifetime?

Make sure you’ve canceled your subscription.
Update Bluebird to the latest version.
Open https://bluebird.app/pro in Safari on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap “Upgrade to lifetime Bluebird Pro” and complete the purchase.

Note: No refunds will be issued for the time remaining on the current subscription.

Do you offer any student discounts for Bluebird Pro?

Yes, we have an education program for students.

Yes, you can share your Bluebird Pro purchase/subscription with all family members (https://support.apple.com/108774).

Can you add this feature (X/Y/Z) to Bluebird?

Bluebird is still very young and under active development.

If any features you need are missing, please let us know.

But since we are a two-person indie team, it may take some time to fulfill your request.

I found a bug. When will you fix it?

Many issues can be resolved with the following steps:

Update Bluebird to the latest version.
Update iOS/iPadOS/watchOS/macOS/visionOS to the latest version.
Restart your device.

If the problem persists, please let us know, and we will fix it as soon as possible.

Why is iCloud Sync not working?

It works fine most of the time, but if it doesn’t, please try the following steps:

Quit (Command-Q on macOS) and reopen Bluebird.
Make sure you are using the latest version of Bluebird and iOS/iPadOS/watchOS/macOS/visionOS.
Make sure all devices are logged into the same iCloud account.
Make sure your iCloud storage is not full.
Turn iCloud Sync off and then on again in Bluebird’s settings on all devices.
Restart your iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Why does the app picker for the distraction blocker feel so buggy?

Sorry for the inconvenience. This is probably the buggiest part of Bluebird.

Technical details (feel free to skip): To implement the app blocker, we need to use an API called FamilyActivityPicker, which is known to be buggy and we can’t fix it ourselves.

Until Apple fixes it completely, you can try the following to get it working:

Try several times.
Tap 🔄 if it crashes.
Avoid expanding categories with too many apps.
Select apps one by one by searching their names.
Paste the app names if it crashes while typing.
Update your device to the latest iOS.

I like Bluebird. Is there anything I can do to help?

Just take a moment to rate us 5 stars on the App Store and it will make us happy all day long 😃

Thanks for your support!

Any other questions

Please contact us at [email protected].