Session Pomodoro Focus Timer vs Decision Journal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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- 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
Decision Journal
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Most people never find out if their judgment is any good. They make the call, the outcome happens, and the two never get compared. Calibrate closes that loop. HOW IT WORKS Log a call — "I'll get a good night's sleep tonight," "this deal closes by Friday" — and attach a real number: how confident are you, honestly? Not a wild guess. A percentage you'd bet on. When the outcome is known, come back and grade it: right or wrong. That's it. Over weeks, Calibrate shows you the one thing that actually measures judgment — not whether you were right this time, but whether your 70% calls come true 70% of the time. Most people are overconfident on the calls that feel obvious and underconfident on the ones that don't. You won't know which until you track it. THE TOOLKIT Five decision frameworks for when a call is hard to think through clearly: Pros & Cons — lay both sides out side by side 10-10-10 — how this feels in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years Premortem — imagine it already failed, write why One-Way / Two-Way Door — is this actually reversible Decision Matrix — score options against weighted criteria THE LEARN LIBRARY Short lessons on the cognitive biases that quietly wreck good judgment — overconfidence, anchoring, hindsight bias, and the handful of others that show up in almost every bad call. BUILT LIKE A JOURNAL, NOT A DASHBOARD No streaks to guilt you, no notifications demanding a mood check-in. Log a call in seconds, get reminded when it's time to grade it, and let the pattern build itself in the background. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Your calls stay on your device. Sign in only if you want them backed up and synced across devices — nothing is required to start. Calibrate is free to use. A Pro subscription (in-app purchase) unlocks the full toolkit and the complete Learn library for people who want to go further https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Session Pomodoro Focus Timer at every 5 days against Decision Journal's every 3 weeks. Session Pomodoro Focus Timer also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.4 vs 16.4). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Session Pomodoro Focus Timer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Decision Journal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Session Pomodoro Focus Timer ships an update every 5 days, Decision Journal every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Session Pomodoro Focus Timer | Decision Journal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (364 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 93.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 364 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 107 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Translucent LLC | cecil ghimire |
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
Decision Journal
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Session Pomodoro Focus Timer
- Session monthly subscription$4.991 Month
- Session yearly subscription$39.991 Year
Decision Journal
- Calibrate Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- Calibrate Lifetime Subscription$59.99
Questions
Is Session Pomodoro Focus Timer free?
Is Decision Journal free?
Do Session Pomodoro Focus Timer or Decision Journal have ads?
Which is updated more often, Session Pomodoro Focus Timer or Decision Journal?
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