Questions, answered

An app for your eyes, free to start: two-minute eye games, guided eye exercises and a daily eye journal you can share with your eye doctor.

Ocufuse has a free plan and an optional paid plan, Ocufuse Plus. The free plan keeps the daily log, eye photos, your doctors and the first three games, with no card needed.

No. The three browser games here need only your email.

No. Ocufuse runs in your browser on a laptop, tablet or phone. You can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app.

Yes. Ocufuse runs in any modern browser on your phone or computer. Log in with the same account anywhere and your data is there.

No. Most games need only your screen. A few routines suggest something simple, like warm water and a clean cloth, and each one tells you before you start.

Yes, that's where most people start. Take a two-minute game or a 20-20-20 break between work sessions and note how your eyes felt. If something changes later, you already have a record to show.

Visits are short and symptoms come and go. Ocufuse keeps a dated log, photos and practice history between visits, then turns it into one page you can show. Your doctor sees the days they couldn't see in the room.

About 20 seconds to log, a minute for a photo, and two minutes for a game. Use as much or as little as fits your day.

They're short, playful screen breaks and practice for things like following a moving dot or spotting small details. They're not a vision test and don't measure your eyesight. Many people use them as a two-minute pause between work sessions.

There's nothing to set up and nothing to keep up with. A check-in takes about 20 seconds, the games are short enough for a coffee break, and a reminder only nudges you if you haven't opened it that day.

Nothing breaks. Your history waits for you, and you pick up where you left off.

No. They're screen breaks and practice, not treatment.

No, and we won't pretend it will. Ocufuse helps you take screen breaks, follow the exercises your eye doctor gave you, and keep a clear record of how your eyes feel. Treatment decisions stay with your eye care professional.

No. Ocufuse helps with habits, screen breaks and keeping a record to show your eye doctor. It does not diagnose or treat anything. For any eye concerns, see an eye care professional.

If your eye care professional has given you exercises, Ocufuse gives you guided steps, timers and a practice log to show them. It doesn't diagnose or treat amblyopia or strabismus, and games don't replace glasses, patching or therapy your clinician prescribes.

Yes. The Doctor Brief turns your log into one page to share.

It's tied to your account, and only you can see it when you're signed in.

No. Photos are optional. You can use the games, the exercises and the daily log without ever taking one. If you do, they stay private to your account.

Yes. Export your data or delete your account and everything in it from Settings, anytime, free.

Every game, your full history with photo comparisons, all 24 guide modules and the Doctor Brief.

Only if you keep Plus. You see the price and the date the trial ends before you start, and you can cancel before then in Manage subscription. If you cancel, you won't be charged.

In the web app: Profile and settings, then Ocufuse Plus, then Manage subscription. Plus stays on until the end of the period you paid for. Lifetime has nothing to cancel.

Nothing is deleted. You keep the free plan with your recent history, and everything comes back if you return to Plus.

Payments for a period that has started are not refunded, except where the law requires it. Try Plus with the free trial first, and cancel any time: it stays on until the end of the period you paid for. If something went wrong, such as a double charge, contact us and we will fix it. In the EU and UK you may also have a 14-day right to withdraw. See the terms.

Create a free account in under a minute. No card needed.

An eye photo journal is a dated series of eye photos taken the same way each day, paired with short notes about what happened. Consistent lighting, distance and views make photos comparable over time. Notes about sleep, screens or eye drops give your eye doctor context for symptoms that come and go.

Ocufuse does not use your photos or journal entries to train AI or machine learning models. Your data is used only to run the features you use, such as your timeline, comparisons and Doctor Brief. Ocufuse also does not sell data, share it with data brokers, or use it for advertising.

Privacy policy

The Ocufuse website is in English, Albanian, Turkish, Spanish, Italian and Serbian/Bosnian, and so are the web app's menus and sign-in screens, with more of the app on the way. Switching language changes the interface only, so your eye photos, notes and journal entries stay exactly as you recorded them.

Ocufuse is for people aged 18 and over, and it does not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. Parents managing a child's eye condition should follow their eye care team's advice on records and photos. If a child under 18 has created an account, contact Ocufuse and it will be deleted.

Terms of use

Ocufuse is not an eye tracker. Eye trackers are devices or software that follow where a person is looking, often for research or accessibility. Ocufuse does not track gaze or monitor health. It is a photo journal that stores the eye photos and notes you choose to record.

Ocufuse stores account data, eye photos and journal entries with its hosting provider, Supabase; the privacy policy lists where each provider is based. Photos sit in private storage that only your signed-in account can read. Ocufuse does not sell your data, use it for advertising, or use your photos or entries to train AI models.

Take eye photos in soft, even light with the flash off, at a steady distance of about 30 to 40 cm, with your head level. Use the same views each time, such as straight ahead, left, right and up. Ask your clinician whether they want extra views, such as looking down.

Full photo guide

Eye photos change mainly because of lighting, camera distance, head angle and automatic phone processing. Tiredness, time of day, screen use, alcohol and allergies can also change how eyes look. A series of photos taken the same way is more meaningful than comparing any two single photos.

Why photos look different

Bring your glasses or contact lenses, a list of medications and eye drops, and notes on when symptoms happen and how long they last. For symptoms that come and go, dated photos taken the same way each time help your eye doctor see days you cannot show in person.

Preparing for your appointment

Ocufuse shares your journal through a Doctor Brief that you export yourself. Open Brief, choose the date range and what to include, then print it, send it as text, or export entries as CSV. Clinicians have no access to your account, and nothing leaves Ocufuse unless you export it.

Send eye photos for a telehealth appointment the way your clinic asks, usually through its patient portal or a secure message. Take each photo in even light, flash off, at a steady distance, with the views your clinician requests. Ocufuse can export a Doctor Brief with dated photos and notes.

How to take consistent eye photos

Ocufuse lets you photograph your eyes the same way each day and note symptoms such as redness, dryness or irritation, along with screen time, sleep and eye drops. It does not measure redness or judge severity. Your eye doctor uses the record as context alongside their own examination.

Why photos look different day to day

Consumer phone apps cannot replace an eye examination. Apps that claim to diagnose or monitor a condition may be regulated as medical devices, and phone cameras are not calibrated instruments. Use apps to record and share information, and let an optometrist or ophthalmologist examine your eyes and make a diagnosis.

Sudden double vision, sudden loss or dimming of vision, a suddenly drooping eyelid, new flashes or a curtain across vision, a painful red eye, and any eye injury need urgent medical care. Call your local emergency number or go to an emergency department rather than taking or comparing photos first.

Eye exercises do not improve nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism or age-related reading problems, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The main exception is convergence insufficiency, where clinician-supervised exercises have good evidence. Glasses, contact lenses or surgery remain the standard ways to correct refractive error.

Eye exercises: what the research says

Eye exercises cannot reverse nearsightedness (myopia). Myopia comes from the shape and length of the eye, which exercises do not change. The American Academy of Ophthalmology and major eye health organizations agree that glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery correct it, and an eye doctor should manage any myopia control treatment.

Eye exercise myths

Eye care professionals prescribe eye exercises mainly for convergence insufficiency and some focusing or eye teaming problems, and sometimes for recovery after surgery or certain injuries. Exercises are not a treatment for glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration or refractive error. Do exercises only as your eye care professional prescribes them.

Guide to eye exercises

Pencil push-ups are a home eye exercise for convergence insufficiency. You hold a pencil at arm's length, focus on a letter, and slowly bring it toward your nose while keeping it single. Clinicians prescribe the number of repetitions. In the CITT trial, office-based therapy outperformed pencil push-ups alone.

Pencil push-ups and the Brock string

A Brock string is a cord with colored beads that eye care professionals use to train and check eye teaming. Holding one end at your nose, you focus on each bead and notice whether the strings appear to cross there. It is commonly prescribed in orthoptic and vision therapy programs.

Pencil push-ups and the Brock string

Palming means covering closed eyes with warm palms to rest them. It can feel relaxing, but there is no evidence that palming or the related Bates method improves eyesight, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Palming is not a substitute for glasses, contact lenses or eye treatment.

Eye exercise myths

Eye exercises do not reverse presbyopia, the age-related loss of close focusing that leads to reading glasses, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Presbyopia comes from the eye's lens becoming less flexible with age. Reading glasses, multifocal lenses, contact lenses or surgery are the standard ways to manage it.

Eye exercise myths

The Bates method is an eye relaxation program developed by ophthalmologist William Bates in the early 1900s that claims to cure refractive errors without glasses. Techniques include palming and sunning. The American Academy of Ophthalmology states there is no evidence that the Bates method improves eyesight.

The Bates method and palming

An orthoptist is an eye care professional who specialises in disorders of eye movement and alignment, such as strabismus, amblyopia and convergence insufficiency. Orthoptists assess how the eyes work together, prescribe and supervise eye exercises, and often work alongside ophthalmologists in hospital eye departments, including in the NHS.

How orthoptists treat convergence insufficiency

Ocufuse provides a Practice log for exercises your eye care professional prescribes. You record which exercise you did and when, and the log appears in your Doctor Brief for your next review. Ocufuse does not prescribe, adjust or teach exercises, so follow your clinician's instructions.

Eye exercise log

The 20-20-20 rule means every 20 minutes of screen use, you look at something 20 feet (about 6 metres) away for 20 seconds. The American Optometric Association recommends it to reduce digital eye strain by relaxing the focusing muscles and encouraging normal blinking during long periods of close work.

The 20-20-20 rule and digital eye strain

The 20-20-20 rule reduced digital eye strain and dry eye symptoms in a 2022 study of computer users who received regular break reminders. The benefit faded about one week after participants stopped taking breaks. Regular breaks help comfort but do not change eyesight or correct vision problems.

What the research found

Digital eye strain, also called computer vision syndrome, is a group of eye and vision symptoms from prolonged screen use. Common symptoms include eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision, dry eyes, and neck and shoulder pain. The American Optometric Association links risk to two or more hours of continuous screen use.

Digital eye strain explained

Vision therapy is a structured program of eye exercises and activities supervised by an optometrist or orthoptist to treat certain eye teaming and focusing problems. Sessions usually last 30 to 60 minutes once or twice a week, with exercises to practise at home between visits.

Vision therapy has strong evidence for convergence insufficiency. In the CITT trial of children aged 9 to 17, office-based therapy succeeded in 73 percent of cases versus 35 percent with placebo. Evidence for most other uses is limited, and ophthalmology groups advise against vision therapy for learning disabilities.

The CITT trial explained

Vision therapy does not treat dyslexia or learning disabilities, according to a joint statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and pediatric ophthalmology groups. Children with reading difficulties should still have an eye exam, alongside educational assessment, to rule out treatable vision problems.

Convergence insufficiency is a condition where the eyes do not turn inward together easily for close work. It can cause eyestrain, headaches, double or blurred vision and losing your place when reading. Clinician-supervised vision therapy, often with home exercises, is the treatment with the strongest evidence.

Convergence insufficiency explained

Optometrists and orthoptists provide vision therapy, often in specialist clinics, and ophthalmologists diagnose and manage the underlying eye conditions. For example, NHS orthoptists at Cambridge University Hospitals supervise home exercises for convergence insufficiency with reviews every one to two weeks. Ask your eye doctor about a referral.

Good candidates for vision therapy are people diagnosed with convergence insufficiency or certain focusing and eye teaming problems after a full eye examination. Cleveland Clinic notes the evidence mainly supports convergence insufficiency and accommodative dysfunction. Vision therapy is not recommended for learning disabilities or for correcting refractive error.

Convergence insufficiency explained

Vision therapy coverage varies by country, insurer and plan, and often depends on the diagnosis. Some plans cover treatment for a diagnosed condition such as convergence insufficiency but not other uses. Ask the clinic for the diagnosis and treatment codes, then confirm coverage with your insurer before starting.

Orthoptics is the assessment and non-surgical treatment of eye movement and alignment problems, usually by orthoptists, with evidence for convergence insufficiency. Behavioral vision therapy, offered by some optometrists, covers a broader range of goals. Ophthalmology and pediatric groups consider the evidence for many of those broader uses limited.

Vision therapy programs commonly last several weeks to a few months, depending on the condition and progress. The CITT trial for convergence insufficiency used a 12-week program of weekly office sessions with home practice. Your eye care professional sets the schedule and reviews progress at regular visits.

Amblyopia, often called lazy eye, is reduced vision in one eye caused by abnormal visual development in childhood. The brain favours the other eye. Treatment is most effective in young children and can include glasses, patching the stronger eye, or atropine eye drops, prescribed and monitored by an eye care professional.

Strabismus is a misalignment of the eyes, where one eye turns in, out, up or down while the other looks straight ahead. It can be constant or come and go. Treatment depends on the cause and may include glasses, prism lenses, eye muscle surgery, or exercises for some types.

Accommodative dysfunction is difficulty adjusting the eyes' focus between distances or sustaining focus up close. It can cause blurred near vision, eyestrain and headaches during reading. It is diagnosed during an eye examination, and treatment may include glasses for close work or exercises prescribed by an optometrist or orthoptist.