Comparison

Session Pomodoro Focus Timer vs Readwise Reader

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

Head to head
About

Session Pomodoro Focus Timer

This app helps users improve focus and productivity by guiding them through timed work sessions and breaks. It blocks distracting websites and apps, mutes notifications, and automates workflow elements like Do Not Disturb and music playback. Users can also track their time and review their progress.

Highlights
  • Timed work and break sessions
  • Website and app blocking (Mac only)
  • Mute Slack notifications
  • Automated Do Not Disturb
  • Music playback automation
  • Apple Calendar sync
  • Session progress tracking
Features
Read full description

- Do you procrastinate and spend your time mindlessly? - have problem with focusing? - often get distracted while trying to focus? - maybe you are burned out because you worked too much and forget to take necessary break? - or, maybe have an ADHD? Session can help you with your focus problem. Trusted daily by tens of thousands of engineer in Silicon Valley, independent studios in Madrid, writers in Netherlands, and creative worker + freelancer all over the world. It helps you be more productive by guiding you to work in sessions, block distractions, track your time, and remind you to rest. GET INTO HABIT OF WORKING IN TIME BLOCK Inspired by Pomodoro technique, Session helps you block your time for focus. 25 minutes or 45 minutes is all you need to get closer to your goal KEEP YOUR FOCUS BY BLOCKING WEBSITES AND APPS THAT DISTRACT YOU (MAC ONLY) Session block distracting website and apps when you started a Session. It'll automatically restore your website when you are on rest / session has ended. BLOCK SLACK TEAM Session will automatically mute Slack team you choose when Session has started and open them up again when Session has stopped working. DON'T FORGET TO TAKE A REST Forcing yourself to work on long period of time is ineffective. Rest is as important as work / study. Why? Because rest is a crucial time where you: - store what you have learned in your head, and where - your brain solve difficult problem on the background. Notice that you usually get a new idea and solves problem when you're on walk and shower. Or anywhere where you're away from "work". AUTOMATE YOUR WORKFLOW (AUTOMATIC DO NOT DISTURB, PLAY MUSIC) Imagine having no distracting notifications while working on. It's possible by turning on Do Not Disturb. What if you can turn it on when you started your Session, and disable it after Session ends—all automatically? Or maybe change bulb color, play Apple music when Session has started? Different playlist on break? It's possible with Session. Automate it with AppleScript on MacOS and Apple Shortcut on iOS SEE YOUR SESSIONS ON APPLE CALENDAR WITH ONE WAY SYNC. See automatically create Sessions on Apple Calendar to review how your day has progressed. REVIEW YOUR SESSIONS Are you spending more time on a task than it's worth? Session keep you mindful by tracking your work and ask what you have learned after Session has ended. Session tracks what you have worked on, what have you learned, and for how long. Review your progress and journey that you have made. — Need support? Contact philip@stayinsession.com for assistance! — Learn about what Session can do here: https://www.stayinsession.com/learn — Join our Discord community channel here: https://discord.com/invite/5KASx2T4RU

— Terms: https://www.stayinsession.com/terms Privacy policy: https://www.stayinsession.com/privacy-policy

About

Readwise Reader

This app consolidates all your reading content, including web articles, newsletters, and PDFs, into a single, organized platform. It offers advanced highlighting, text-to-speech, and AI-powered assistance to enhance your reading workflow and knowledge retention.

Highlights
  • Consolidate web articles, newsletters, RSS, Twitter threads, PDFs, EPUBs
  • Import from Pocket, Instapaper, and Feedly
  • Advanced highlighting and annotation tools
  • Text-to-speech narration
  • AI-powered reading assistant (Ghostreader)
  • Full-text search
  • Syncs across all devices, offline access
Features
Read full description

Readwise Reader is the first read-it-later app built specifically for power readers. If you’ve ever used Instapaper or Pocket, Reader is like those except it’s built for 2024 and brings all your reading into one place including: web articles, email newsletters, RSS feeds, Twitter threads, PDFs, EPUBs and more. ______________________ “Reader has completely redesigned the read-it-later app. It’s gorgeous and blazingly fast. In many ways, it’s the Superhuman of reading — you won’t want to read anywhere else.” Rahul Vohra (Founder of Superhuman) “I spend my entire day reading, researching, & writing and Readwise is the reading tool I’ve been waiting for. The perfect complement to my writing workflow. Absolute game changer.” Packy Mccormick (Author of Not Boring) “The Readwise reading app is the first read-it-later app that enables a true workflow for serious readers. As an ex-Pocket /Instapaper power user, it's hard to imagine ever going back.” Fitz Maro (Creative Technology Lead at Pinterest) ______________________ ALL YOUR READING IN ONE PLACE Stop juggling half a dozen reading apps. Reader brings all your content into one place including: • Web articles • Email newsletters • RSS feeds • Twitter threads • PDFs • EPUBs You can even import your existing library from Pocket and Instapaper and RSS feeds from Feedly, Inoreader, Feedbin, etc. POWERFUL HIGHLIGHTING FOR POWER READERS We believe that annotations are the key to getting more out of what you read. So we’ve developed highlighting as a first-class feature inside Reader. Highlight images, links, rich text, and more. On any device. READER WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU READ We’ve reinvented the digital reading experience to apply the power of software to the printed word. This includes TEXT-TO-SPEECH (listen to any document narrated with the lifelike voice of a real human), GHOSTREADER (your integrated copilot of reading enabling you to ask questions, define terms, simplify complex language, and more), and FULL-TEXT SEARCH (find whatever you’re looking for, even if you only remember a single word). FLEXIBLE SOFTWARE TO FIT YOUR UNIQUE NEEDS Your personal interests, your professional projects, your way of doing things — they’re unique. Reader is your home base for the varied documents in your life, customizable to match the way your brain works. PDFs for work, articles for your newsletter, and ebooks for pleasure all live comfortably side-by-side. No more juggling dozens of apps. INTEGRATED WITH YOUR FAVORITE TOOLS Your annotations should flow effortlessly from your reading app into your writing tool of choice. Instead you waste hours reformatting, reorganizing, and repeating. Reader eliminates this hassle. Reader seamlessly connects to Readwise which exports to Obsidian, Notion, Roam Research, Evernote, Logseq, and more READ ANYWHERE, ANYTIME Access all of your content from any of your devices with everything in sync. Even offline. Reader syncs across all platforms, including a powerful, local-first web app and iOS. You can even highlight the open web with the Reader browser extensions. ______________________ If you’re not already a Readwise subscriber, you can get a free 30-day trial with no credit card upfront. At the end of the trial, you will not be charged unless you choose to subscribe. Support: Check out readwise.io/faq or email us at hello@readwise.io Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://readwise.io/privacy

Screenshots

Session Pomodoro Focus Timer4 screens
Readwise Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Session Pomodoro Focus Timer at 94% against Readwise Reader's 72%. Session Pomodoro Focus Timer also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Session Pomodoro Focus Timer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Readwise Reader sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Session Pomodoro Focus Timer holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 364 and 584 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Session Pomodoro Focus Timer's written reviews are positive against 72% of Readwise Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Session Pomodoro Focus Timer ships an update every 5 days, Readwise Reader weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Session Pomodoro Focus Timer versus Readwise Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSession Pomodoro Focus TimerReadwise Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (364 ratings) — better4.6 (584 ratings)
Positive reviews93.8% of reviews — better72.2% of reviews
Number of ratings364584 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.4 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size107 MB194 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperTranslucent LLCReadwise, Inc

Customer experience

Session Pomodoro Focus Timer

All ratings364 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral0.8%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews450 reviews
Positive93.8%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.1%

Readwise Reader

All ratings584 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral4.3%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews277 reviews
Positive72.2%
Neutral11.2%
Negative16.6%

User reviews

Session Pomodoro Focus Timer

From 364 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Most complete Pomodoro timer
  • 👍 Excellent focus app with great features
  • 🔒 Helps with ADHD and focus
  • 👍 Beautiful, intuitive, and user-friendly design
  • 👍 Seamless sync across devices

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional syncing issues between devices
  • 🔒 Expensive subscription model, no one-time purchase option
  • 👎 Some features like app blocking not working as expected
  • 👎 Tedious to adjust session times

Readwise Reader

From 584 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fantastic reading experience
  • 👍 Seamless integration with Readwise
  • 🎨 Beautiful and intuitive UI
  • 📚 All-in-one reading solution
  • 🔍 Powerful search and organization

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and performance issues
  • 🔍 Cluttered interface for some users
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🖥️ Lack of iPad-specific features
  • 📚 Missing basic reader features (e.g., bookmarks)

Bugs and requests

Session Pomodoro Focus Timer

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Issues with editing past sessions
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Integrate with more productivity apps and to-do lists
  • Add Apple Watch app support
  • Expand customization options for themes and sounds
  • Improve documentation and onboarding for advanced features

Readwise Reader

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inconsistent sync between devices
  • Unreliable RSS feed updates
  • Frequent crashes on iPad
  • Issues with resuming reading position

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved PDF and ebook support
  • Customizable reading themes and layouts
  • Better integration with note-taking apps
  • Reading progress and statistics tracking
  • Bulk management of saved items

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Session Pomodoro Focus Timer

Subscriptions2
  • Session monthly subscription$4.991 Month
  • Session yearly subscription$39.991 Year
4 purchases

Readwise Reader

Subscriptions4
  • Reader Monthly Plan$8.991 Month
  • Reader Monthly$12.991 Month
  • Reader Annual Plan$95.901 Year
Show 1 more
  • Reader Yearly$119.991 Year

Questions

Is Session Pomodoro Focus Timer free?
Session Pomodoro Focus Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Readwise Reader free?
Readwise Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Session Pomodoro Focus Timer or Readwise Reader?
Session Pomodoro Focus Timer is rated higher. Session Pomodoro Focus Timer averages 4.8 out of 5 from 364 ratings, while Readwise Reader averages 4.6 from 584 ratings.
Do Session Pomodoro Focus Timer or Readwise Reader have ads?
Neither Session Pomodoro Focus Timer nor Readwise Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Session Pomodoro Focus Timer or Readwise Reader?
Session Pomodoro Focus Timer ships an update every 5 days, and Readwise Reader weekly. Most recently, Session Pomodoro Focus Timer was updated on October 2, 2026 and Readwise Reader on October 3, 2026.

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