Comparison

Exocus vs PuppyFocus

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

Head to head
About

Exocus

This app transforms focus sessions into a gamified experience, visualizing your concentration as a planet's evolution. Earn rewards, unlock new designs, and overcome procrastination with engaging, pixel-art visuals and a unique reward system.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer
  • Planet evolution visualization
  • Pixel art design
  • Stage-based incentives
  • Unlockable planet designs
  • Hardcore Mode for increased stakes
Features
Read full description

Exocus is a pixel-art, gamified focus timer app. Here, your focus is no longer boring, repetitive, or meaningless because every moment of your focus will transform your very own planet. Do you struggle with staying motivated when you commit to doing something valuable in the long run, like learning new words, practicing an instrument, working out, or mastering a new language? Initially, you're full of enthusiasm, but soon, your passion wanes. Memorizing words becomes a chore, the instrument is neglected, workouts turn into a burden, and progress in the new language stalls... You start doubting yourself: “Maybe I just don’t have what it takes to stick with long-term commitments.” That’s not true! Let us explain the real reasons. ● Lack of Immediate Rewards: You understand the long-term value of these tasks, but how much does this half-hour of focus matter right now? ● Repetition Leads to Boredom: When the initial novelty wears off, the repetitive nature of the task can make you feel bored and tired. ● Overly Negative Focus: Focusing on what you haven't accomplished rather than acknowledging what you have done can lead to negative self-evaluation and loss of motivation. Let Exocus Help You! ====== Exocus Solutions ====== Exocus is a gamified focus timer that visualizes your concentration as a planet's evolution, helping you achieve long-term, pain-free focus. ● Emotional Design and Sense of Meaning After each focus session, you’ll see the story of what happened to your planet during that time. Even five minutes of focus equals 38.53 million years of evolution for your planet, so your focus is crucial. Want to raise the stakes? You can enable “Hardcore Mode,” where failing to focus might cause your planet to be destroyed! ● Stage-Based Incentives Short-term Incentives: After each focus session, the planet’s landscape changes and tells you its story. Medium-term Incentives: After several hours of focus, the planet undergoes more significant transformations, like forming magma, oceans, and land. Long-term Incentives: After around ten hours of focus, the planet completes its evolution. You can then add it to your star system, with each project corresponding to a star system, showcasing your long-term accumulation in that project. ● Continuous Freshness We offer hundreds of unique planet designs, satisfying your curiosity and desire to collect with constant surprises. See a planet's full appearance only after evolving it through focused efforts. Earn Stardust coins by focusing to unlock new planet seeds, motivating continuous concentration. ====== What Makes Exocus Special? ====== ● Meticulously Crafted Design Exocus uses a unique pixel art style, maintaining simplicity while incorporating delightful little Easter eggs for you to discover. We believe the beauty of Exocus can bring joy, which will ultimately translate into more focused time. ● Fun Game Elements Exocus embraces gamified design in a bold yet restrained and professional manner. We hope the game elements help you enjoy focusing, and we also care deeply about your ability to truly focus. We’ve eliminated anything that could distract you because we genuinely want to focus on achieving long-term goals with you. ● Flexible Focus Modes Exocus supports countdown timers, stopwatch mode, and the Pomodoro technique. In the Pomodoro technique, you can flexibly set focus and break durations and specify longer breaks after several focus cycles. ● Convenient Project Management Each project corresponds to a planet. You can track different categories of focus time with projects and quickly switch between projects on the home screen by swiping left or right. ● Personalized Statistics Based on your focus data, we provide personalized charts to help you understand your focus patterns and stay motivated to maintain consistent focus. Terms of Use: https://byland.work/exocus/terms-en.html Support: exocus@byland.work

About

PuppyFocus

This app offers a unique Pomodoro timer experience with a virtual puppy companion that grows and interacts with you. Earn rewards to decorate its home and utilize focus modes to minimize distractions and track your progress.

Highlights
  • Virtual puppy companion with animated interactions
  • Reward system for decorating puppy's home
  • Strict and Whitelist modes to block distracting apps
  • Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly focus statistics
  • Customizable puppy name and home decorations
Read full description

Trying to study or work, but keep reaching for your phone? Still scrolling when it is time to sleep? Let PuppyFocus help you protect your attention during the day and gently put your phone down at night. PuppyFocus brings focus timers, app blocking, scheduled sleep blocking, and cozy puppy companionship into one iOS app. Complete a valid focus session to earn rewards, collect toys, rugs, beds, and more, and turn your pup's room into a warmer home with every focused minute. Now available in five languages, including English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. 【New in 1.3.2: Focus Timeline】 Focus Timeline: Review your focus history by day, two days, or week. Sessions are color-coded by task tags so you can see exactly where your time went. Manually log sessions you completed without the timer. Overnight and overlapping records are displayed clearly. Free for all users — no Pro required. 【Why PuppyFocus?】 Two ways to focus: Use the countdown timer for Pomodoro sessions, exam prep, and fixed-length tasks, or the stopwatch for reading, writing, and creative work. Break settings, focus rounds, interval reminders, and automatic cycles are also available. Block distracting apps: Strict Mode blocks other apps and websites during a session, while Whitelist Mode keeps only what you need, helping you stop mindless scrolling. A puppy that stays with you: Give your pup a name and enjoy different animations and messages while resting, focusing, succeeding, failing, or taking a break. Every session feels a little less difficult to start. Earn rewards for focusing: Complete valid sessions to earn Kibble, while Pro members can also collect Bones. Discover more than 90 toys, rugs, bowls, toy boxes, beds, and other room items. Sleep Blocking for better nights (Pro): Set the days and hours you want to wind down, and PuppyFocus will automatically limit distracting apps and websites. Choose Strict Mode or Whitelist Mode, with multiple whitelist presets for different routines. If you need your phone unexpectedly, your pup will ask you to pause and reflect first. Unlock 15 achievement trophies: Celebrate focus streaks, total focus time, completed sessions, room collections, and feature exploration. Your pup can even wear an unlocked trophy. See your progress over time: Review focus time, completed sessions, rewards, and tag distribution by day, week, month, or year with clear trends and calendar heatmaps. Keep progress close: Check the timer from the Lock Screen or Dynamic Island, use the landscape desk clock, receive background notifications, and sync focus records, rewards, and room setup across your Apple devices with iCloud. Focus → earn rewards → decorate your pup's home → unlock trophies → wind down on time. PuppyFocus makes focusing and resting feel lighter, warmer, and worth repeating.

Screenshots

Exocus4 screens
PuppyFocus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Exocus at 151 against PuppyFocus's 3. Exocus also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Exocus sells 7 one-off in-app purchases and PuppyFocus sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Exocus against 5.0 for PuppyFocus. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Exocus has 151 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 96% of Exocus's written reviews are positive against 100% of PuppyFocus's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Exocus ships an update every 3 weeks, PuppyFocus fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Exocus versus PuppyFocus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExocusPuppyFocus
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (151 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews96.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings151 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB447 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperByland Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.晟润 管

Customer experience

Exocus

All ratings131 ratings
Positive99.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.8%
Written reviews215 reviews
Positive96.3%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.9%

PuppyFocus

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Exocus

One-time7
  • Newcomer Pack$0.29
  • Cosmoney x 5$0.99
  • Cosmoney x 30$4.99
Show 4 more
  • Cosmoney x 100$13.99
  • Exopass$15.99
  • Exopass + Cosmoney x 200$34.99
  • Exopass$34.99
4 purchases

PuppyFocus

Subscriptions2
  • PuppyFocus Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • PuppyFocus Pro Annual7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time2
  • PuppyFocus Pro$1.99
  • Lifetime Pro$39.99

Questions

Is Exocus free?
Exocus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PuppyFocus free?
PuppyFocus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Exocus or PuppyFocus?
PuppyFocus is rated higher. Exocus averages 4.9 out of 5 from 151 ratings, while PuppyFocus averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Exocus or PuppyFocus have ads?
Neither Exocus nor PuppyFocus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Exocus or PuppyFocus?
Exocus ships an update every 3 weeks, and PuppyFocus fortnightly. Most recently, Exocus was updated on October 30, 2026 and PuppyFocus on October 28, 2026.

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