Comparison

Bakery vs Striving

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

Head to head
About

Bakery

This app encourages users to stay off their phones and focus on real-life tasks like studying or work. It uses a gamified timer where users select a virtual pastry to bake, with the bake progressing while the screen is off. Successful bakes earn coins to unlock new recipes and baked goods.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer
  • Virtual pastry baking
  • Screen-off timer functionality
  • Earn coins for successful bakes
  • Unlock new recipes and baked goods
  • Progress tracking in display case
Features
Read full description

Bakery is the timer that helps you get off your phone and pay more attention to real life! Whether you're studying for an exam, focusing at work, or want some uninterrupted family time, Bakery can help you: • Reconnect with friends and loved ones • Be more productive at work or at school • Break the cycle of constant phone checking • Feel accomplished after a day of not using your phone • Show your cute baked goods off to your friends Bakery is FREE and easy to use. 1) Select a pastry that you want to bake 2) Set the timer for up to 2 hours 3) Start baking while you GET THE FUDGE OFF YOUR PHONE! You can turn off your screen while your pastry is baking. Just make sure not to exit Bakery for too long or your bake could burn! Reopen Bakery within 10 seconds to save your bake. We're just getting started with Bakery, but right now you can do quite a lot: • Bake from 5 minutes up to 2 hours • Earn coins for successful bakes • Buy new recipes with the coins you've earned • Unlock up to 12 different baked goods (with more to come!) • Your bake continues while your screen is off • Remove burnt pastries from your display case • Earn golden pastries when you go for 2 hours • Each pastry has 5 different levels of difficulty • See your progress in the display case If you have any comments or feedback please leave a review, we read every one!

About

Striving

This app helps users combat phone addiction and distractions with a gamified focus timer. It encourages self-control and better time management through in-game achievements and rewards, making it easier to stay on track with important tasks.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer
  • Combats phone addiction
  • Improves self-control
  • Tracks focus time
  • In-game achievements and rewards
Features
Read full description

Have phone addiction? Want to improve self-control? Want to remove distraction? Let Striving help! Striving is a gamified focus study timer app to help people better manage their time and focus on the important things in their life. Sometimes self-discipline is just not enough to keep us away from our phones. This is when gamification comes in, the in-game achievements encourage users to stick with the app, better manage their time and get things done. FEATURES: Stay focused - Beat phone addictions and stay in control Records - Stay on track of the time you focus so that you can better plan your tasks Rewards - gamified tasks and rewards help you stay on track of your focus goals SUBSCRIPTION PRICING AND TERMS: SuperPass offers USD $2.99 monthly subscription for accessing exclusive resources and premium features. End of trial and subscription renewal: This price is for United States customers. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on the country of residence. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy policy: https://site.shikudo.com/privacy-policy Terms of use: https://site.shikudo.com/terms-of-use

Screenshots

Bakery4 screens
Striving4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Bakery at none against Striving's shown. Bakery also leads on ratings volume (836 vs 127). Striving's advantage is review sentiment (81% vs 65%) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 12.4). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. Bakery sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Striving sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Striving holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bakery has 836 ratings behind it against 127, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Bakery's written reviews are positive against 81% of Striving's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bakery ships an update every 6 weeks, Striving every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Bakery versus Striving: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBakeryStriving
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (836 ratings)4.8 (127 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.9% of reviews80.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings836 — better127
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.410.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB107 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperMighty Fine Apps LLCShikudo

Customer experience

Bakery

All ratings832 ratings
Positive91.9%
Neutral2.9%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews185 reviews
Positive64.9%
Neutral11.9%
Negative23.2%

Striving

All ratings127 ratings
Positive96.1%
Neutral3.1%
Negative0.8%
Written reviews67 reviews
Positive80.6%
Neutral6.0%
Negative13.4%

Bugs and requests

Bakery

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App resets and loses progress
  • Baked goods burn even without using phone
  • Unable to exit tutorial or shop screens

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more dessert options
  • Implement a total study time tracker
  • Allow music playback during sessions
  • Include a to-do list or calendar integration

Striving

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Bakery

One-time2
  • Clean Slate$0.99
  • Classics Recipe Book$0.99
3 purchases

Striving

Subscriptions3
  • Pro version weekly$1.997 Days
  • Pro version monthly$3.991 Month
  • Pro version yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Bakery free?
Bakery is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Striving free?
Striving is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bakery or Striving?
Striving is rated higher. Bakery averages 4.6 out of 5 from 836 ratings, while Striving averages 4.8 from 127 ratings.
Do Bakery or Striving have ads?
Striving shows ads; Bakery does not.
Which is updated more often, Bakery or Striving?
Bakery ships an update every 6 weeks, and Striving every 5 weeks. Most recently, Bakery was updated on November 6, 2026 and Striving on November 3, 2026.

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