Backroom Journal vs FocusMon
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Backroom Journal
Collaborate with others in shared spaces to discuss and propose solutions to societal problems. This app uses AI to analyze conversations and suggest unbiased solutions, making them accessible to everyone.
- Collaborative Rooms for discussion
- AI-powered solution suggestions
- Publicly accessible solutions and conversations
- Social media integration for problem-solving
- Community-driven problem resolution
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Backroom allows people to work together in a Room to discuss and propose a solution to a specific problem they are interested in solving. The goal is to leverage the power of the internet and build on the concept of social media to bring people together from any walk of life and give them the tools to not only communicate with each other, but also work together to create solutions to the problems facing society. To do this, Backroom uses ChatGPT to analyze the conversation between Room participants to suggest a solution to the problem being discussed, helping break the ice and propose an unbiased solution driven by real conversations. Others will then be able to read the solution created by the participants along with the conversation that took place to add context and see the reasoning behind the solution.
FocusMon
This app gamifies phone-free time by opening a rift where monsters appear as long as you stay focused. Collect, evolve, and battle monsters using shards earned from focused sessions. Engage in turn-based battles with friends and players worldwide, and grow stronger together with your monster companions.
- Gamified focus sessions
- Monster collection and evolution
- Turn-based monster battles
- Live Activity timer
- Friend trading and pacts
- Daily and weekly goals
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When you want to put your phone aside and focus on what matters in real life, you start a focus session in FocusMon. The moment you start, a rift opens. As long as you stay focused, monsters emerge from the rift for you to catch. If you can't resist the urge to use your phone and leave the app, the session breaks and the rift closes empty — you get no monsters. So during a session you can't do anything else on your phone without losing your progress. The more often you set the phone down, the more monsters you collect — and the better you use your time. STAY FOCUSED • A focus session only runs while you stay in the app. Leave early and you walk away with nothing. • A Live Activity shows the running timer on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, so you don't need to open the app to check on it. • Turn your focused time into a growing collection instead of screen time. COLLECT, EVOLVE, TRADE • Over 100 unique monsters, each with three evolution stages, plus rare Mythic monsters. • Monsters level up and evolve using the shards you earn while focusing. • Trade monsters with your friends and complete your Archive. BATTLE FRIENDS AND PLAYERS WORLDWIDE • Train your monsters through your focus time and fight in turn-based battles. • Play casually against friends or climb the ranked ladder from Bronze to Champion. • Make a focus pact with a friend: one shared goal, and if you both finish, you both get rewards. GROW STRONGER TOGETHER WITH YOUR MONSTERS • Your buddy monsters level up during your focus sessions. • Unlock exclusive looks, items, and rewards for them, and make them stronger. • Daily goals, a weekly board, and a Rifter Pass reward regular focus. It's never too late to spend less time on your phone.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Backroom Journal at 5.0 against FocusMon's 3.0. Backroom Journal also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 12) and iOS requirement (13.4 vs 26.0). FocusMon's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads 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
Both are free to download. FocusMon sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Backroom Journal asks for nothing beyond the download.
Backroom Journal holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.
Backroom Journal ships an update every 3 weeks, FocusMon every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Backroom Journal | FocusMon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 665 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Ethan Downs | Fynn Loosen |
Customer experience
Backroom Journal
FocusMon
In-app purchases
Backroom Journal
No in-app purchases
FocusMon
- FocusMon+7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- FocusMon+ (Yearly)$22.991 Year
- Raid Key$0.99
- Emote Pack — Savage$0.99
- Emote Pack — Party$0.99
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- Emote Pack — Meme$0.99
- 250 Sprite Shards$0.99
- Key Bundle$1.99
- Rift Pass – Ember Season$2.99
- Rift Pass — Season 0$2.99
- 1,250 Sprite Shards$3.99
- 2,500 Sprite Shards$8.99









