Comparison

J vs FOCUS//DECK

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

Head to head
About

J

This app helps you organize thoughts, sketch ideas, and manage tasks with a beautiful, intuitive interface. It offers rich text editing, smart organization, and flexible views for a personalized experience. Keep your data private with local storage and no cloud sync.

Highlights
  • Text and drawing notes
  • Rich text editing
  • Smart organization (pinning, color-coding)
  • Trash and recovery system
  • Flexible display views
  • Calendar and map integration
  • Reminders and instant search
Features
Read full description

Notes that stay on your iPhone. Write them, sketch them, lock them behind Face ID, and put them on your Home Screen. No account, no cloud, no ads, no in-app purchases and nothing to subscribe to. WRITE IT, OR DRAW IT Type a note, or sketch one with pen, marker and pencil — Apple Pencil or your finger, with adjustable width and color. Start a drawing over a photo from your library or straight from the camera. Undo and redo sit under the keyboard while you write. Check items off inside the text: a checklist line is part of the note rather than a separate list, and the box responds wherever you tap it. EVERYTHING WHERE YOU LEFT IT • Pin the notes that matter to the top • Color-code them, tag them, and filter by a tag in one tap • Search titles, bodies and tags at once • Compact, standard or detailed rows, remembered between launches • Deleted notes wait 30 days in the trash, and can be opened before you decide • On iPad the list and the note sit side by side, through rotation and Split View alike REMINDERS THAT ARRIVE Set a date and time on any note and it comes back as a notification — as a banner even when the app is already open, and tapping it opens that note rather than the list. If iOS will not schedule it, the app says so instead of losing it quietly. Notes with reminders also line up in a calendar view, by the day they are due. NOTES THAT REMEMBER WHERE THEY WERE A note keeps the place it was written, and the map shows them all — notes made in the same spot share a pin. Useful for a trip, a viewing, a walk around a site, or anywhere the location is half of what you wrote down. LOCKED IS LOCKED • Lock any note behind Face ID or Touch ID • The notes file is unreadable while the device is locked • An unlocked note is covered before iOS takes its app-switcher snapshot • A locked note's reminder reaches the Lock Screen without its title or its text • Search does not look inside a locked note ON YOUR HOME SCREEN AND LOCK SCREEN Small, medium and large Home Screen widgets show your most recent notes, pinned first — and tapping one opens that note, not the list. All three Lock Screen shapes are there too: the newest note as a line, as a title with a line of text, or just how many notes there are. A locked note shows its padlock and nothing else, in every size. Ask Siri to create a note, or put it in a Shortcut. BUILT FOR EVERYONE Every icon-only control is labeled for VoiceOver, and a note's row is announced as one thing rather than as the seven pieces it is drawn from. A checklist line says whether it is checked. Text follows your Dynamic Type size, including the checkbox and the area you tap to check it. The unlock button shows the method your device actually offers. YOURS, AND ONLY YOURS • No ads • No in-app purchases, no subscription • No account, no sign-in, no cloud, no data collected • Works completely offline • Back up and restore everything as a single file • English and Czech • iPhone and iPad Just your notes. Nothing else.

About

FOCUS//DECK

Features
Read full description

FOCUS//DECK is a focus timer with a drill sergeant baked in. Meet BIT — your accountability mascot, who watches every session and won't let you bail halfway. For people who've tried every Pomodoro app and abandoned all of them. This is the one that yells at you when you try to leave. —————————————————— THREE MODES • POMODORO — Classic 25/5. Steady cadence. Tick-tick metronome. • ADHD SPRINT — 10/3. Tiny sprints. Frequent wins. • DEEP WORK — 90/15. Single-task lock. Nav disabled. No mercy. —————————————————— MEET BIT BIT is the deck's resident drill sergeant. They live in your HUD. When you focus, they go quiet. When you pause, they get judgy. When you try to bail mid-session, they intercept you with a red modal and a face that says "absolutely not." Three intrusion levels: • GENTLE — soft nudges. for the easily startled. • NORMAL — sass and accountability. recommended. • ANGRY — drill sergeant. all caps. zero mercy. —————————————————— WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT • Tab-away detection — leave the app mid-session and BIT logs an "offense" and barks. • Brain dump — park stray thoughts in a side parking lot without breaking your stride. ADHD survival kit. • Single-task lock (Deep Work) — nav stays disabled for the whole 90-minute block. No wandering. • Hybrid input — every tap-target is also a command. Drop into the command line and type "start," "mode deep," "task." • 30-day heatmap, streak tracking, daily vitals. Earned, not given. —————————————————— APPLE-NATIVE • Live Activity — your session on the Lock Screen + Dynamic Island. • Widgets — streak + today on the home screen; quick-start on the lock screen. • Siri & Shortcuts — "start a Deep Work session," powered by App Intents. • Screen Time — shield distracting apps during Deep Work. • Game Center — achievements + a focus-minutes leaderboard (optional). • Four phosphor themes: amber, green, cyan, mono. —————————————————— NO BS • No cloud. No accounts. No tracking. • Your sessions live on your device. Period. • Free. No ads, no subscriptions — unlock Pro once. • Built for iOS 17+. iPhone only (v1.0). —————————————————— NOT FOR • People who want pretty gradients • People who want their timer app to be nice to them • People who don't actually want to focus FOR • Anyone who's tried five focus apps and bailed on all of them • ADHD brains who need consequences, not pep talks • Devs, writers, students who like terminals and Pomodoro • People who like being yelled at by a small monospace face —————————————————— INITIALIZE FOCUS//DECK. BIT is waiting. FOCUS//DECK v1.0 — Initial deployment. • Three modes: Pomodoro, ADHD Sprint, Deep Work • BIT mascot with three intrusion levels • Brain dump quick-capture • Tab-away offense detection • Heatmap, streaks, achievements • Live Activity + Widgets + Shortcuts • Four phosphor themes BIT says: "took you long enough."

Screenshots

J4 screens
FOCUS//DECK4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: J at none against FOCUS//DECK's 1. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. FOCUS//DECK sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. J asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
J versus FOCUS//DECK: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJFOCUS//DECK
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRobert LibsanskyBleek Vision LLC

In-app purchases

None

J

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

FOCUS//DECK

One-time1
  • FOCUS//DECK Pro$9.99

Questions

Is J free?
J is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FOCUS//DECK free?
FOCUS//DECK is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do J or FOCUS//DECK have ads?
Neither J nor FOCUS//DECK shows ads.

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