Comparison

Brainwave vs Focus Tower

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

Head to head
About

Brainwave

Capture and organize your thoughts with this note-taking application. Create calendar events, reminders, and export notes in various formats. Protect sensitive information with password protection and manage your data with backup and restore options.

Highlights
  • Organize notes with tags
  • Password protect sensitive notes
  • Create calendar events and reminders
  • Export notes to PDF or text
  • Supports various links (web, phone, maps)
  • Backup and restore notes
Read full description

Transfer your ideas from brain wave to Brainwave. • Organize on the fly by tagging notes with any number of tags • Flag important notes; password protect sensitive notes • Create calendar events and reminders based on your notes • Change the size and font of the text • Export notes directly from Brainwave to a variety of destinations, in formats including: ◦ Email as PDF ◦ Send to Dropbox or almost any app as PDF ◦ Email as text • Create restore points, backing up all notes to a single file • Supports links (web, phone numbers, map addresses - that can even be opened in Google Maps, calendar dates) • Numerous configuration options • Length of a note is limited only by device memory • Supports all device orientations Sometimes an idea can circle around and around in your mind - like a whirlpool swirling, or a tidal wave growing, it confuses, it overwhelms, and it isn't until you write it down that it becomes clear. Write it down. Get it out. Record it before it’s washed away. Free your mind to work on other thoughts. Store your brain waves in Brainwave.

About

Focus Tower

This app helps you build productive habits and overcome distractions using the Pomodoro technique. Plan tasks, set focus timers, and build virtual towers to visualize your progress. Earn rewards and unlock new themes to stay motivated and get more done.

Highlights
  • Pomodoro technique timer
  • Task planning
  • Gamified tower building
  • Unlockable themes and rewards
  • Distraction blocking
  • Progress statistics
Features
Read full description

Most focus timers hand you a number at the end of the week. This one hands you a city. Set the timer and put the phone down. Every finished session lays another floor on your tower. Put a roof on it and the whole tower moves into a city you build — where it stands for good and pays you rent every day. BUILT ON THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE Work in one focused block, rest, repeat. Twenty-five minutes on, a short break, a longer one after four — the rhythm people have used since the 1980s, except here each block leaves a floor behind. BUILT FOR ATTENTION THAT WANDERS Starting is the hard part, so the app makes starting small: one block, 25 minutes, a reward you can see at the end of it. The shield takes the temptation off the table instead of asking you to out-argue it, and a session survives a locked screen — so a wobble costs you nothing. If you have ADHD, that is usually the combination that finally sticks. Focus comes from the rhythm, not from willpower. BLOCK WHAT PULLS YOU AWAY — FREE, ALWAYS • Shut selected apps for the length of a session, using Apple's own Screen Time • Keeps working with the screen locked and outside the app • No limit on how many, no paywall on blocking — ever THE TIMER • Pomodoro presets (10 / 25 / 45 min) or any length you like • Automatic cycles: focus → break → focus, a long break after four • Name the session — every floor remembers what you built it for • Lock your screen and the session keeps running. Nothing is lost. • Your floor rises on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island WHAT YOU KEEP • 6 towers to unlock, each with its own world and music • 6 lands to settle, 12 plots to a city • Finished towers pay daily rent in coins • 32 achievements, from your first floor to a city on every land • Daily streaks with streak protection • Towers, cities and history sync through your own iCloud PROOF YOU DID THE WORK • Export every session as a CSV spreadsheet — date, task, minutes, coins • Or as a printable PDF table, with your totals across the top • Export your city as a picture and show someone what a month of focus looks like • Your tower and streak on a home screen widget, your session on the Lock Screen Useful for a thesis log, for billable hours, or simply for proving to yourself that the week happened. FAIR AND PRIVATE • Free. One-time purchases only — no subscription • No ads. No accounts. No trackers. • We collect nothing. Your sessions stay on your device and in your iCloud. Put the phone down. Build something.

Screenshots

Brainwave4 screens
Focus Tower4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Focus Tower at Free against Brainwave's $0.99. Focus Tower also leads on rating (3.7 vs 2.0) and review sentiment (50% vs 20%). Brainwave's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.1). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Focus Tower is free to download; Brainwave costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Focus Tower holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of Brainwave's written reviews are positive against 50% of Focus Tower's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brainwave ships an update every 3 months, Focus Tower every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Brainwave versus Focus Tower: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainwaveFocus Tower
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating2.0 (1 ratings)3.7 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews20.0% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better16.1
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB156 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZymbiotic TechnologiesMichal Cilindz

Customer experience

Brainwave

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive20.0%
Neutral30.0%
Negative50.0%

Focus Tower

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

Brainwave

No in-app purchases

None

Focus Tower

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Brainwave free?
Brainwave costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Focus Tower free?
Focus Tower is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Brainwave or Focus Tower?
Focus Tower is rated higher. Brainwave averages 2.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Focus Tower averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Brainwave or Focus Tower have ads?
Neither Brainwave nor Focus Tower shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brainwave or Focus Tower?
Brainwave ships an update every 3 months, and Focus Tower every 9 days. Most recently, Brainwave was updated on October 1, 2026 and Focus Tower on September 25, 2026.

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