Comparison

Mlem for Lemmy vs Focus for Reddit

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

Head to head
About

Mlem for Lemmy

Experience the Fediverse through a native iOS app designed for seamless interaction with all major Lemmy instances. Enjoy powerful features like swipe actions, quick account switching, and extensive customization for an optimized mobile experience.

Highlights
  • Native iOS Swift development
  • Lemmy instance compatibility
  • Swipe actions
  • Account quick-switching
  • Customization options
  • Optimized backend
Features
Read full description

Mlem for Lemmy is beautiful, smooth, and compatible with all major Lemmy instances. Written fully in iOS' native Swift, Mlem lets you experience Lemmy while taking advantage of the best your device has to offer. With powerful, easy-to-use features such as swipe actions and account quick-switching, a robust set of customizations, and a highly optimized backend, Mlem offers the mobile Lemmy experience you deserve!

About

Focus for Reddit

An unofficial, open-source Reddit browser offering a unique, customizable interface. It supports offline browsing, multi-account access, and advanced content filtering. Enjoy a rich viewing experience with various layout options and powerful moderation tools.

Highlights
  • Multi-account and guest mode support
  • Highly customizable themes and design
  • Full offline capability with automatic syncing
  • Advanced content filtering system
  • Rich viewing modes (compact, card, gallery)
  • Powerful moderation suite
  • Ad-blocking for websites (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Focus for Reddit is a feature-packed, open-source(Based on open source software Slide which is unavaliable and no longer maintained now), unofficial browser for Reddit. Focus has a unique and beautiful design that is easy to use and contains tons of customization options. Highlights: • Support multi-accounts and guest mode • Gorgeous and unique design that is both pleasing to the eye, extremely easy to use, and fully configurable with thousands of theme combinations • Fully offline-capable! Sync your subreddits and comments automatically, and enjoy Reddit where you don't have internet • Powerful gestures settings for submissions and comments • Support for many content sites, including Imgur albums, v.redd.it, Streamable.com • Most feature-rich and easy to use moderation suite on iOS • Many view types including compact mode for dense information display and beautiful card layout for enjoying photos • Gallery and shadowbox modes (pro) give you a new way to view your favorite subreddits • Sync your Focus settings between all your iCloud devices • Theme choices include a beautiful true black AMOLED theme, sepia theme, blue theme, and white theme • Powerful filter system to block out what you don’t want to see • View and delete your browsing history, or turn off history completely to go incognito • Ad-Block in websites (Pro) • Optimized for iPad viewing with configurable columns and popup comment views (Pro) -- Subscription Details -- • Monthly and annual subscriptions are available • Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase • Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is disabled at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period • Automatic renewals will be charged at the same price you were originally charged for the subscription • Subscriptions can be managed or cancelled by going to Account Settings on the App Store after purchase Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/privacy-policy-focus-reddit/

Screenshots

Mlem for Lemmy3 screens
Focus for Reddit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Mlem for Lemmy at 80% against Focus for Reddit's 31%. Mlem for Lemmy also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Focus for Reddit's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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

Both are free to download. Focus for Reddit sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Mlem for Lemmy asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mlem for Lemmy holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 84 and 43 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Mlem for Lemmy's written reviews are positive against 31% of Focus for Reddit's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mlem for Lemmy ships an update every 3 weeks, Focus for Reddit fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Mlem for Lemmy versus Focus for Reddit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMlem for LemmyFocus for Reddit
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (84 ratings) — better3.3 (43 ratings)
Positive reviews80.4% of reviews — better31.0% of reviews
Number of ratings84 — better43
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size71 MB51 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperEric Andrews婉 万

Customer experience

Mlem for Lemmy

All ratings84 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral3.6%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive80.4%
Neutral5.4%
Negative14.3%

Focus for Reddit

All ratings43 ratings
Positive53.5%
Neutral11.6%
Negative34.9%
Written reviews29 reviews
Positive31.0%
Neutral10.3%
Negative58.6%

Bugs and requests

Mlem for Lemmy

Reported bugs

19 issues
  • Cannot validate username for account creation
  • Loses progress when switching to another app while composing a post/reply
  • App bounces back to the subscribed feeds list in various situations
  • New bugs introduced with each update
  • Embedded content (videos) only show as links
Show 14 more
  • Changing font size via iOS Accessibility settings breaks drag and drop functionality
  • Media type label in the lower left corner covers parts of the image
  • App crashes frequently
  • Jittery scrolling on ProMotion enabled iPhones
  • Cannot log out of an account without deleting it
  • Requires signing back into the instance every time an external link is followed
  • No way to change font size
  • Timeline is a mess
  • Unable to save images
  • Unable to zoom in on images
  • Unable to load images on their own without comments
  • Bad app icon (furry)
  • No full screen for pictures, always goes to post
  • Login required from the start for some users

Requested features

19 requests
  • Customizability for each feed type (e.g., bold headlines)
  • Larger card view option
  • Compact view option
  • Option to customize gestures
  • Fix embedded content to be playable
Show 14 more
  • Fix font size breaking drag and drop
  • Option to not display media type label or hide it
  • Mark inbox as read automatically
  • Hide post option
  • Customizable swipe options on posts
  • Cross-post functionality
  • Set Reader mode as default for links
  • Ability to zoom out on pictures
  • Ability to save images
  • Search for posts within a community
  • Block communities from post options menu
  • Filter instances option
  • Collapse all comments by default
  • Up/Down votes on the right side

Focus for Reddit

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Mlem for Lemmy

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Focus for Reddit

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly7 Days trial$6.991 Year

Questions

Is Mlem for Lemmy free?
Mlem for Lemmy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Focus for Reddit free?
Focus for Reddit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mlem for Lemmy or Focus for Reddit?
Mlem for Lemmy is rated higher. Mlem for Lemmy averages 4.6 out of 5 from 84 ratings, while Focus for Reddit averages 3.3 from 43 ratings.
Do Mlem for Lemmy or Focus for Reddit have ads?
Focus for Reddit shows ads; Mlem for Lemmy does not.
Which is updated more often, Mlem for Lemmy or Focus for Reddit?
Mlem for Lemmy ships an update every 3 weeks, and Focus for Reddit fortnightly. Most recently, Mlem for Lemmy was updated on October 30, 2026 and Focus for Reddit on October 23, 2026.

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