Flow vs Yarn
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Flow
Enhance your concentration and productivity with a scientifically proven method. This app divides your workflow into focused work intervals and scheduled breaks, helping you reduce stress and stay motivated. Ideal for work, study, or any task requiring deep focus.
- Pomodoro timer with work intervals and breaks
- App and web blocking
- Statistics tracking
- Commitment mode
- Inspirational quotes
- Home & Lock Screen Widgets
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Join hundreds of thousands of happy users who enjoy this simple way to stay focused and productive. Use Flow to get things done. Flow is a tiny but mighty app that helps you work on a task, study for school or simply stay focused without being distracted for a certain amount of time. Flow divides your workflow into sections with defined breaks, making it easy to stay focused. This method has been scientifically proven to be an effective way to increase your concentration and motivation while reducing your stress levels. The use of a Pomodoro timer can be a huge boost to your productivity. Use Flow to ... ... concentrate ... work on a task ... study for school ... code all night ... work from home Benefits of this technique • Improved focus and motivation • Increased productivity • Less stress and better health • Better management of interruptions Features • Pomodoro timer with work intervals and breaks • Statistics to keep track of your completed sessions • Notifications to remind you of short breaks • App and web blocking to combat distractions • Commitment mode for self-control • Inspirational quotes for motivation • Metronome for deep focus • Multiple duration options • Custom session title • Apple Calendar sync • Apple Health sync • iCloud sync of stats • Home & Lock Screen Widgets • Support for Live Activities & Dynamic Island YOU MATTER TO US We want to make Flow even better! Please give us your honest feedback in order to help us fix bugs and improve the app. We will regularly update Flow based on your feedback. Thank you! ABOUT US Yugen is a small independent developer studio based in Frankfurt, Germany. Our team is devoted to making great apps that we want to use ourselves. We strive to create products that help people in their everyday life with intuitive user experiences and minimalistic design. QUESTIONS? If you have any questions or problems, feel free to email us. We provide awesome support and love to help! www.flow.app support@flow.app Twitter: flow__app Facebook: flowapp.info Instagram: flowapp.info FLOW PRO Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period through your Apple account. For more information, see our Terms of Use at https://www.flow.app/legal and Apple's Terms of Use (EULA) at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/.
Yarn
This app helps you understand and reduce phone addiction by prompting you to journal before accessing distracting apps. It uses AI to provide thoughtful prompts, allows voice or text entries, and offers features to set bedtime boundaries and enter focus sessions.
- Journal to unlock distracting apps
- AI-powered journaling prompts
- Set bedtime app boundaries
- Focus sessions to block apps
- Voice or text journaling
- Understand emotional triggers for phone use
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Meet Yarn, a screen time intervention app that makes you journal to unlock addictive apps. You can’t break a habit you don’t understand. Every time you reach for your phone, there’s an emotion driving it - boredom, anxiety, avoidance. Yarn untangles the emotional threads that cause us to reach for our phone. We made Yarn as an answer to a question: what if language models could end phone addiction? One that would meet us in these moments with nothing but a few tools to help us scroll less, and a wish: that journaling would leave us more present, introspective, and sentimental. JOURNAL TO UNLOCK Pause before scrolling by writing a quick journal entry to unlock your distracting apps. SET BEDTIME BOUNDARIES Schedule your apps to lock at bedtime, helping you wind down without the temptation to scroll late into the night. ENTER FOCUS SESSIONS Completely block distracting apps while you work. Start one yourself, or ask Yarn to. TALK TO YARN Your journal and your conversations with Yarn live in one place. Yarn remembers what you've written and what you're working through, so every conversation picks up where the last one left off. PINNED NOTES Keep what you need to hear at the top of your journal - a dopamine menu, your long-term goals, a note to read before you scroll. Yarn remembers them too. VOICE OR TEXT Journal however feels natural—type out your thoughts or use voice recordings when writing feels like too much. Note that usage of Yarn is subject to the following agreements: Terms of Use: https://www.alcovecomputer.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.alcovecomputer.com/privacy Apple's Standard End-User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Flow at 1.8K against Yarn's 8. Flow also leads on device support (5 vs 2). Yarn's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Flow sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Yarn sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Yarn holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Flow has 1.8K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Flow's written reviews are positive against 100% of Yarn's.
Flow ships an update every 4 weeks, Yarn weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Flow | Yarn |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.8K ratings) | 5.0 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 86.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.8K — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Yugen GmbH | Alcove Computer Company |
Customer experience
Flow
Yarn
Bugs and requests
Flow
Reported bugs
4 issues- Live activity feature not working consistently
- Timer not recording sessions accurately
- App blocking functionality not working as expected
- Crashes and freezes on certain macOS versions
Requested features
6 requests- Allow custom work and break durations
- Add option to pause and resume flow sessions
- Implement real-time sync across devices
- Provide more detailed productivity tracking and reporting
- Include an Apple Watch app with complication support
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- Add ability to block notifications from certain apps during flows
Yarn
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Flow
- Monthly Plan7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Yearly Plan14 Days trial$17.991 Year
- Lifetime Pro Access$39.99
Yarn
- Yarn Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
- Yarn Pro Monthly 20267 Days trial$12.991 Month
- Yarn Pro Annual 20267 Days trial$59.991 Year
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- Yarn Pro Annual$59.991 Year









