Comparison

uFocus vs BYOK Studio

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

Head to head
About

uFocus

A distraction-free writing app designed for creative expression. It supports plain text files, offers advanced Markdown and Fountain syntax for various writing needs, and provides tools to enhance focus and productivity.

Highlights
  • Unobtrusive interface
  • Text statistics
  • MultiMarkdown support
  • Fountain screenplay support
  • Highlighting options
  • Typewriter scrolling
  • Customizable themes
Read full description

uFocus is a distraction-free writing environment that supports plain text files and allows you to keep them organized inside libraries. It allows everyone to express their creativity in the most simple way. • Unobtrusive interface: the navigation bar disappears while writing. • Swipe to show the sidebar. Here you can link your favorite libraries and quickly access your documents. • Show text statistics including character and word count and reading time. • MultiMarkdown: easily add headings, quotes, ordered and unordered lists, links, images, italics, bold, footnotes, citations, glossaries and acronyms. You can then export your documents to HTML or PDF. With CriticMarkup and Live Edit Mode you can easily mark removals, additions and substitutions, add highlghts and comments, and accept or reject them. • Fountain: create screenplays with the Markdown-inspired markup syntax and print or export them as PDF with industry-standard formatting. • Highlighting: you can stay even more focused by fading out all the text but the current sentence or paragraph. • Typewriter scrolling: automatically scrolls the text when you get on a new line. • Sound mode: experience the ultimate feeling of a typewriter. • No deletions mode: disable deletions and replacements if your greatest temptation is always to edit your text instead of writing. • Fullscreen: focus on your words and hide everything else. • Choose between three different editor widths, four font sizes and a light, dark, sepia or amber theme, or create your own theme. • Print single files or entire directory hierarchies. If you have any requests, suggestions or bug reports, you're welcome to visit the website through the Support link.

About

BYOK Studio

This app provides a dedicated writing environment for organizing and developing creative projects. It offers tools for drafting, planning, mapping ideas visually, and managing project-specific reference material.

Highlights
  • Focused writing editor
  • Manuscript building from scenes
  • Card and outline planning
  • Visual idea mapping
  • Project wiki for reference
  • Scratchpad for quick ideas
  • Project organization drawer
Features
Read full description

Studio is a writing space built for writers and writing projects. Draft scenes, organize notes, plan chapters, build manuscripts, map ideas, and keep your work together in one purpose-built environment. Whether you are writing a novel, memoir, essay, screenplay, journal, research project, or long-form draft, Studio gives you a flexible place to move from first idea to structured work. Write in a focused editor Draft chapters, scenes, notes, essays, and long-form projects in a clean editor designed to keep the work in front of you. Build manuscripts from scenes Bring separate files, chapters, and sections together into a larger manuscript so your project can take shape piece by piece. Plan with cards and outlines Capture scene ideas, research, structure, notes, and beats using flexible cards and hierarchical outlines. Map your ideas visually Use the Grid Map to create mind maps, flow charts, relationship maps, timelines, and visual plans with shapes and connection lines. Create a project wiki Keep track of characters, places, concepts, research, worldbuilding, and other reference material in a living wiki for your project. Use the Scratchpad for quick ideas Capture loose thoughts, reminders, and checkable tasks before they disappear. Scratchpad entries can also be created from your BYOK device. Keep every project organized Use the Project Drawer to store and organize files, folders, drafts, notes, cards, outlines, grids, wiki entries, and other project materials. Connect with BYOK Studio is designed to work alongside the BYOK writing device, giving you a place to continue organizing, editing, and shaping the drafts you start elsewhere. Studio is more than a blank page. It is a writing environment for the whole project behind the words. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

uFocus4 screens
BYOK Studio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: uFocus at none against BYOK Studio's 3. uFocus also leads on ratings volume (35 vs 2) and device support (5 vs 3). BYOK Studio's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and review sentiment (100% vs 91%). On price, update cadence, ads 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. BYOK Studio sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. uFocus asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BYOK Studio holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: uFocus has 35 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of uFocus's written reviews are positive against 100% of BYOK Studio's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

uFocus ships an update monthly, BYOK Studio every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
uFocus versus BYOK Studio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteruFocusBYOK Studio
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (35 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings35 — better2
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNicolas KickBYOK LLC

Customer experience

uFocus

All ratings35 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews144 reviews
Positive91.0%
Neutral2.1%
Negative6.9%

BYOK Studio

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

uFocus

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

BYOK Studio

Subscriptions2
  • Standard$9.991 Month
  • Standard1 Year trial$82.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Plan$299.99

Questions

Is uFocus free?
uFocus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BYOK Studio free?
BYOK Studio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, uFocus or BYOK Studio?
BYOK Studio is rated higher. uFocus averages 4.7 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while BYOK Studio averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do uFocus or BYOK Studio have ads?
Neither uFocus nor BYOK Studio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, uFocus or BYOK Studio?
uFocus ships an update monthly, and BYOK Studio every 5 weeks. Most recently, uFocus was updated on October 8, 2026 and BYOK Studio on October 2, 2026.

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