Comparison

Focus Lock vs Ritual

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

Head to head
About

Focus Lock

This app helps you stay focused by automatically blocking distracting applications during designated work or study sessions. It's designed to eliminate willpower reliance, ensuring your chosen apps remain inaccessible until your session concludes. Track your progress and celebrate your focus achievements.

Highlights
  • Automatic app blocking during sessions
  • Customizable focus session durations
  • Streak system for consistency
  • Badge progression for motivation
  • Session celebrations and rewards
  • Daily and weekly focus statistics
  • iCloud sync across devices
Features
Read full description

FOCUS FIRST. EARN YOUR SCROLL. Focus Lock combines a Pomodoro timer with Screen Time app blocking. Choose your distracting apps, complete a focus session, and earn time to use them. Built by someone with ADHD who was tired of losing hours to doomscrolling. TWO WAYS TO FOCUS Lock In mode keeps your selected apps locked until you earn an unlock window by completing a focus session. Earned time is measured by actual app usage. Three five-minute emergency unlocks are available each day. Prefer session-based blocking? Turn off Lock In and block distractions only during focus sessions, with optional blocking during breaks. BUILT FOR IPHONE DUO On the inner display, the countdown and session controls sit on opposite sides of the fold. Half-folded on your desk, the timer stays visible above the controls. Open it like a book, fold it closed, or use Split View: your session keeps going. BUILD A FOCUS HABIT - Start with 25- or 45-minute focus sessions. - Tag your work and see where your focus time goes. - Track daily and weekly progress, streaks, and badges. - Share your focus cards and milestones. - Follow the timer with Live Activities and completion alerts. AlarmKit alarms are available on supported iOS versions with your permission. FREE AND PREMIUM Start free with up to three app or category selections for blocking. Premium adds unlimited selections, custom focus durations from 15 to 120 minutes, and custom tags. Optional subscriptions are available in the app; prices and trial availability are shown before purchase. Screen Time permission is required for app blocking. Privacy Policy: https://sleepybytes.com/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Ritual

This app helps you regain control over your phone usage by blocking distracting apps during scheduled focus periods. It offers a deliberate window where chosen applications simply won't open, eliminating the need for willpower and preventing post-session regret.

Highlights
  • Block any app
  • Schedule focus windows
  • Manual focus sessions
  • Sealed ritual option
  • Track usage patterns
  • Private streaks
  • Home Screen widget
  • Live Activity integration
Features
Read full description

You opened Instagram for "just a second." Twenty minutes later, you don't even remember what you came for. Screen Time tells you about the scroll the next morning. Ritual stops it before it starts. Ritual is a focus app for people tired of fighting their phone. Set a ritual — a deliberate window where the apps that pull you away simply don't open. No willpower required. No shame after the fact. Just a clean intention, and the time to live it. — WHY RITUAL — The system Screen Time gives you the stats. Ritual gives you the actual block. • "Ignore Limit for 15 Minutes" is a one-tap escape on the system blocker. There is no such button in Ritual. • System limits drop after a phone restart. Ritual holds. • Sealed sessions add a 60-second breath exit. Ritual is designed so the moment of impulse can pass before the lock can. — WHAT YOU CAN DO — • Block any app. TikTok, Instagram, X, Reddit, mail, games, news. Pick freely from the system app list. • Schedule windows. "9–5 weekdays, no social. After 9 pm, no work." Set it once, the schedule runs forever. • Manual ritual. One tap, lock for 30 / 60 / 90 minutes — or any duration you set. • Seal the ritual. Opt into a 60-second breath exit. The ritual doesn't fail when you flinch. • See your patterns. Which apps cost the most hours, which days you held the line, which hour your willpower breaks. • Streaks that aren't a game. Your longest lock, your weekly trend, the month that turned the corner. Private. For you. • Home Screen widget. Today's lock at a glance — countdown when locked, your next ritual when idle. • Live Activity. The lock lives on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island while it's running. • Apple Watch. The countdown on your wrist, in case the phone is the thing you're trying not to look at. • iCloud sync. Schedules, history, and progress follow you to every device on your Apple ID. — THE 14-DAY FREE TRIAL — A focus app should never ambush you with a charge. You get 14 days, fully free. Your card is charged on day 14, never before. Cancel any time from Settings, one tap. We even put the cancellation link inside the app. — RITUAL PRO — Annual with a 14-day free trial, or one-time Lifetime. Both unlock everything: unlimited rituals, sealed sessions, full history, week and month insights, and every future Pro feature. Lifetime is for people who already know — yours across every iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch on your iCloud. — WHAT RITUAL IS NOT — • Not a guilt trip. The shame mirror trick stops working in three days. • Not a streak game. Your streak is private; you're not playing it for an audience. • Not a productivity hack. Productivity is a side effect of presence, not the point. — PRIVACY & PERMISSIONS — Ritual uses Apple's Family Controls framework to enforce your blocks. Everything runs on-device. We do not see which apps you block, when you lock, or how long you stay. There are no ads, no data sold, no profiles built. Read the privacy policy — it's two pages, written in plain English. — A RITUAL YOU CAN KEEP — Most blockers feel like a fight. Ritual feels like a decision you already made — to stop arguing with your phone twenty times a day, and get back the part of your life that used to belong to you. Block apps. Reclaim hours. Begin the ritual.

Screenshots

Focus Lock4 screens
Ritual4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Focus Lock at 5.0 against Ritual's 1.0. Focus Lock also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). Ritual's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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 Lock sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and Ritual sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $29.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Focus Lock holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Focus Lock ships an update every 2 weeks, Ritual every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Focus Lock versus Ritual: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFocus LockRitual
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSleepyBytes SIASoyeon Noh

Customer experience

Focus Lock

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Ritual

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Focus Lock

Subscriptions4
  • Focus Pro$1.997 Days
  • Focus Pro$4.991 Month
  • Focus Pro3 Days trial$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Yearly Plan1 Month trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Focus Pro$17.99
2 purchases

Ritual

Subscriptions1
  • Ritual Pro14 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Ritual Pro Lifetime$59.99

Questions

Is Focus Lock free?
Focus Lock is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ritual free?
Ritual is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Focus Lock or Ritual?
Focus Lock is rated higher. Focus Lock averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Ritual averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Focus Lock or Ritual have ads?
Neither Focus Lock nor Ritual shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Focus Lock or Ritual?
Focus Lock ships an update every 2 weeks, and Ritual every 5 days. Most recently, Focus Lock was updated on October 24, 2026 and Ritual on October 24, 2026.

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