Plan&Control vs Spicy Focus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Plan&Control
This app gamifies your to-do lists and projects by linking them to a growing space base. Overdue tasks can negatively impact your base, while completing them helps it flourish. It offers various project types and visually engaging scenarios to boost motivation.
- Gamified task management
- Space base visualization
- Simple, advanced, and routine projects
- Multiple space base scenarios
- Task prioritization and color coding
- iCloud sync and data export
Read full descriptionHide full description
Plan&Control combines a modern planner/task management app with a bit of gaming fun. Whenever you create a simple to-do list, more advanced project or a routine you may link it to a space base - it will grow along your project. But beware! Tasks that are overdue degrade your base. Simple reminder or a complex project? Lacking motivation? Plan&Control has got you covered. MAIN FEATURES The app provides three different types of projects that you can use to organise and plan everything from simple chores to complex enterprises: • simple projects - for quick, uncomplicated task lists like grocery shopping • advanced - if you need a multilevel project structure with additional stages and subtasks • routines to track repeated activities - daily workouts for example. Each project type may be linked to a space base development to visualise your performance. There are 3 scenarios*: • distant outpost - build an outpost in a distant galaxy • orbital base - space base somewhere in the depths of the universe (available in paid version only) • mining colony - plants and industrial facilities extracting resources from one of the planets (available in paid version only) All scenarios use unique animated graphics accompanied by sound effects. The style resembles isometric view strategy games. --- Beside the fancy gaming experience Plan&Control offers the best features of task managers and to do lists. Each task may be assigned a priority level or a colour badge to help you organise things visually and mentally. Projects have deadlines and alerts. Routine activities additionally require frequency like daily, weekly, monthly etc. or even "every working day". You can store your data locally on a single device or sync it with others through iCloud. Additionally you can now exchange tasks with the Reminders app or export them to Calendar. Even the most tedious task may be fun. Go ahead - turn your gardening project into a space base! Questions? Feedback? Visit plancontrol.app * The free version is limited to single space base scenario.
Spicy Focus
Read full descriptionHide full description
Spicy Focus - Science-Based Timer for ADHD Brains Every feature in Spicy Focus is grounded in peer-reviewed ADHD neuroscience. Not productivity advice repackaged with a "for ADHD" label — actual research. Here's what's inside and why. FREE FEATURES Smart Duration Recommendations ("Focus Calibration") ADHD brains literally cannot predict their own focus capacity — that's time blindness (Barkley, 2015). And choosing from 7 duration options triggers decision paralysis (Baumeister's decision fatigue research). Spicy Focus learns from your history — energy levels, completion rates, time of day, activity labels — and auto-selects the duration you're most likely to complete. It nudges you up when you're on a streak (adaptive difficulty from game design) and pulls back when you're struggling. You can always override it. But you'll rarely need to. "Just 5 Minutes" Micro-Commitment ADHD brains need 2-3x more dopamine stimulation to initiate tasks (Volkow et al., NIDA PET imaging study). The 5-minute rule is the #1 clinician-recommended technique for overcoming initiation paralysis. Commit to 5 minutes. When it's up, you choose: extend or stop. Research shows 80%+ continue past the initial commitment. Session Intentions Vague goals are executive dysfunction's worst enemy. Research on implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, 1999) shows that specifying exactly what you'll do — "I will write the intro paragraph" — dramatically increases follow-through. Set one concrete task before each session. Check it off when you're done. Hyperfocus Nudge 68% of adults with ADHD report frequent hyperfocus episodes (Ashinoff & Abu-Akel, 2021). The optional Focus Nudge gently reminds you to stretch, drink water, or rest your eyes without interrupting your flow. Ambient Soundscapes A 2024 meta-analysis found that ambient noise has a statistically significant benefit for ADHD focus (effect size g=0.249, p=0.0001) — but a negative effect on neurotypical brains. The benefit is ADHD-specific (Soderlund, Sikstrom & Smart, 2007). Also free: countdown timer, stopwatch mode, energy tracking, session history, and dark mode. SPICY FOCUS PRO - $4.99 (with 7-day free trial) Unlock the full toolkit: - Insights dashboard with focus trends, heatmaps, and energy correlation charts - Focus streaks with Grace Days — your streak won't break if you miss a day, because shame-based systems backfire for ADHD brains (backed by RSD research) - Daily goals with flexible tracking - Pomodoro mode with customizable intervals - XP and leveling system for long-term motivation - Premium soundscapes - Personal records and streak calendar Every feature cites its research in the in-app Science section. 366 million adults worldwide have ADHD. This app was built for you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Plan&Control at 12.0 against Spicy Focus's 17.0. On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Plan&Control sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Spicy Focus sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Plan&Control | Spicy Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (4 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 772 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DOMEDIA ADAM FALKOWSKI JAN DOMANSKI S C | Sina Sima |
In-app purchases
Plan&Control
- Full unlimited version$7.99
Spicy Focus
- Spicy Focus Pro$4.99









