ScreenZen vs Goldfish Focus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ScreenZen
This app offers multiple strategies to help you reduce screen time and control app usage. Features include delayed app opening, timed scrolling interruptions, and customizable app limits. It also provides options for strict blocking, settings protection, and encourages mindful breaks.
- Delayed app opening
- Scrolling interruption
- Set app goals and limits
- Configurable daily schedules
- Strict app blocking
- Screen time tracking for distracting apps
- Settings protection locks
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Multiple strategies to reduce your screentime 1. Delay before opening your app: A bit of time before choosing if you need to open your distracting app. You can have the wait time increase each time you open your app. 2. Interrupt your scrolling: Check your distracting apps for short periods of time so you don't get sucked in. 3. Set an app goal and optionally block when you reach your limit. 4. Configurable for different days of the week and time by app. 5. Messages like "Is this important" before opening your app. 6. See your screen time for only your distracting apps. Don't worry about Google Maps bloating up your time. 7. Strict block your apps: Either for time ranges, after a certain number of opens or ScreenTime. 8. Locks on Settings to prevent you from changing your settings when you want to open an app. 9. Breathing and other activities to encourage you not to need to open the app while waiting for it to unlock. 10. Streaks to encourage you not to exceed your limits or override your settings.
Goldfish Focus
Record study sessions as satisfying timelapses to visualize your effort. Track study hours, build streaks, and share progress with a community of students for accountability. Visualize your academic journey with clean analytics.
- Study session timelapses
- Track study hours and habits
- Build and maintain streaks
- Community sharing and accountability
- Academic journey profile
- Progress visualization
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Study smarter. Show your work. Goldfish turns study sessions into timelapses. Short, satisfying videos that capture the hours you put in. Record yourself working, build a streak, and share your sessions with a community of students who are putting in the same effort. Think of it like Strava, but for your GPA. Track what actually matters: Watch your study hours, streaks, and habits build over time with clean analytics that tell you exactly where your time goes. Make progress visible: A timelapse of an hours-long study session becomes a 30-second video. Post it. Let people see the work, not just the results. Study with people who get it: Follow friends and classmates who are grinding through the same stuff you are. Goldfish is built for students who want accountability without the noise. Your data, your story: Build a profile that reflects your academic journey: your major, your goals, your habits.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Goldfish Focus at none against ScreenZen's 4. Goldfish Focus also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). ScreenZen's advantage is ratings volume (53K vs 21) and chart position (#173 vs unranked). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. ScreenZen sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Goldfish Focus asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for ScreenZen against 5.0 for Goldfish Focus. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ScreenZen has 53K ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of ScreenZen's written reviews are positive against 100% of Goldfish Focus's.
ScreenZen ships an update every 3 weeks, Goldfish Focus weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ScreenZen | Goldfish Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (53K ratings) | 5.0 (21 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 93.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 53K — better | 21 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #173 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 18.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 159 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | ScreenZen LLC | TRISTAN CROSS CHOI |
Customer experience
ScreenZen
Goldfish Focus
Bugs and requests
ScreenZen
Reported bugs
3 issues- Unlock button not working as expected
- App stops working after some time
- Compatibility issues with iOS 16 update
Requested features
4 requests- Add more customization options
- Integrate with productivity/to-do apps
- Add more pause/break options
- Improve website blocking functionality
Goldfish Focus
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ScreenZen
- Kind Tip$5.00
- Generous Tip$10.00
- Amazing Tip$20.00
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- Fantastic Tip$40.00
Goldfish Focus
No in-app purchases









