Phone Focus Mode is Sidecar's way of keeping you honest — it tracks whether your phone is near and active, near but idle, or physically away. A paired big screen gets real-time feedback on your phone's state, and turns red if you drift away during a focus.
Sidecar → Focus tab → the 📵 Phone Focus Mode switch. Off, it just nudges you if you navigate away; on, it warns: "put your phone down — wander off and your big screen goes red."
The system continuously monitors whether your phone is: near & active (Sidecar tab is visible), near & idle (phone is nearby but the tab lost focus), or away (phone unreachable for >10 seconds). A paired Context View reflects these states in real time — green for active, yellow/amber for idle, and red for away.
If the Sidecar tab loses visibility while Phone Focus Mode is on and a focus is active, you get a local notification: "👀 Back to it" — "You stepped away from Tabatha while in Focus Mode. Eyes back on the task 👇"
If a paired Context View is showing and your phone goes away (unreachable, not just idle), it turns into a red "📵 Phone away" screen to halt the focus. When you return, it switches back to showing your timer and current task.
No Context View paired yet? Start here: Set up Context View.Extension Settings → 📺 Context View → "Phone-away fade" → Slow fade (7 seconds) or Immediate. Sidecar's own Settings screen has an equivalent "Immediate phone-away alert" switch for the on-phone alert timing.