Comparison

Focus timer vs Gather

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Focus timer

Enhance concentration with a Pomodoro-style timer. Choose from various ambient sounds to create a focused work or study environment. Customize focus and break durations, and receive end-of-timer reminders with a selection of sounds.

Highlights
  • Pomodoro timer with customizable intervals
  • Ambient soundscapes for focus
  • Customizable focus and break times
  • End-of-timer reminders with sound options
  • Minimalist interface with flip animation
  • Background running support
Features
Read full description

Focus timer is a tomato timer based app that helps you concentrate on your work and study. When you want to start concentrating on, you can choose an environment, accompanied by beaches, trains, rainy days, bonfire, country cricket sounds, and you will be comfortable concentrating on. Features: - Tomato timer, break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. - Support custom time, easy to set the focus time, rest time. - Set the reminder after the end of the timer, a variety of sounds to choose from. - Minimal interface design, timer display clear with flip animation - Supports background running

About

Gather

Features
Read full description

Scan it, save it, find it again. Gather turns everything you own into one private, searchable catalog: books, movies, games, electronics, kitchen gear and even handwritten recipes and notes. Built for iPhone and iPad, Gather makes cataloguing as fast as pointing your camera at a barcode, and keeps your whole collection in sync with your Mac through iCloud. WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH GATHER → Scan and save anything Point your camera at a barcode or QR code and Gather fills in the details. Add the item to a collection with a single tap. → Everything you own, finally in one place Group items into collections, add tags and search your whole library instantly, with cover art and details for every item. → Know what you're reading, lending or still waiting on Smart lists track your wishlist, what you're currently reading and who borrowed what, so nothing you lend goes missing. → Make handwritten recipes and notes searchable Scan recipes, journal pages or notes with your camera or import them from Photos, and Gather reads and organizes them for you. → See your whole collection at a glance Statistics show your total items, wishlist, what's in progress and what's on loan, with a breakdown by category. → Private on-device AI, or your own model Apple Intelligence powers summaries, tag suggestions and natural-language search right on your device. Prefer another model? Connect your own custom endpoint. Everything still works with no AI engine at all. → iCloud sync across your devices Your catalog stays up to date on iPhone, iPad and Mac through your own iCloud account. → Private by design Your catalog lives on your devices and in your own iCloud, not on our servers. Start for free, then unlock Gather Lifetime with a single one-time purchase: unlimited items, advanced AI features and full iCloud sync. No subscription, no renewal. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Focus timer4 screens
Gather4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Gather at none against Focus timer's shown. Gather also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 5 weeks). Focus timer's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Focus timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Gather sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Focus timer ships an update every 5 weeks, Gather every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Focus timer versus Gather: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFocus timerGather
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.9K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.9K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer书敏 贾Jamieson Rothwell

Bugs and requests

Focus timer

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Timer stops when device is locked or app is minimized
  • Inconsistent timer behavior when switching between apps

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to set custom alarm/notification sounds
  • Option to disable background sounds
  • Automatic start/stop of focus and break timers
  • Customizable timer duration
  • Dark mode or theme options

Gather

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Focus timer

One-time1
  • Professional Version$2.99
1 purchases

Gather

One-time1
  • Gather Lifetime$4.99

Questions

Is Focus timer free?
Focus timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Gather free?
Gather is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Focus timer or Gather have ads?
Focus timer shows ads; Gather does not.
Which is updated more often, Focus timer or Gather?
Focus timer ships an update every 5 weeks, and Gather every 6 days. Most recently, Focus timer was updated on November 6, 2026 and Gather on October 31, 2026.

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