Lifeback vs FocusWell
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lifeback
This app enhances your phone's screen time settings to help you focus better and achieve your goals. It offers app restrictions and time limits to reduce distractions and boost productivity. Many users report significant reductions in screen time and improved mental well-being.
- App restrictions and time limits
- Focus reports and progress metrics
- Instant app blocking
- Scheduled blocking via calendar
- Temporary unblocking for breaks
- Hard mode for maximum protection
- Shortcut integration for automation
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Imagine if your Screen Time Settings on your phone were super powered. That's what we do. 5 hours. That’s the average time you’ll spend looking at your phone today. With a combination of app restrictions and hard time limits, you can begin to focus better and accomplish your dreams, just like our members. Many of the world's top teams and companies companies trust Lifeback. to help protect their focus. You can too. **This app cut my screen time by 3 hours per day – Senior Backend Dev at Google ** **Lifeback cuts off your apps’ internet access to help you stop doomscrolling – WSJ ** **Lifeback Helped Me Quit My Nightly TikTok Habit – Productivity Mag ** BENEFITS 98% of Lifeback members are less distracted 94% are more productive thanks to the app 91% experience improved mental health 82% save at least 2 hours *daily* thanks to the app Added benefits: - Better screen time management - Improve productivity at work - Reduce stress, be more mindful - Better manage ADHD - Set daily working hours, sleep, and routines - Unplug with family and friends - Stay in focus when you need it most - You're happy and in control of your screen time FEATURES - Focus Report: Diagnose your Focus and measure your progress with clear metrics, important context and compare with your peers. - #1 App Blocker: Instantly block apps you choose. - Sessions: Block apps from your phone while you’re focusing, and you can always take a break to unblock them temporarily. - Calendar: Set daily working hours, sleep and routines, block apps automatically, so you don’t have to remember. - Breaks: Use apps without mindless scrolling. Choose the app you want to use and set a timer. - Shortcut Integration: Connect iPhone shortcut automations to start/stop Focus Sessions based on app opens, time, location and more! - Hard Mode: Maximum protection, you can’t cancel or bypass the timer you set. CREATE A PERSONALIZED APP LIST You can customize your Control experience and block all apps and sites on your phone, including: - Facebook - Instagram - Snapchat - TikTok - Youtube - Netflix - Tinder - Hinge - Bumble - Many more: News, Messaging, Dating, Adult/Porn, Money apps etc. PRIVATE & SAFE We use Apple's Screen Time API in order to monitor and block apps you use. Installation is easy and takes a few seconds on your iPhone. Unlike most apps, Lifeback works entirely on your phone and personal browsing data never leaves your device. HEAR IT FROM THE COMMUNITY "Never in a bazillion years did I think I would be below 3 hours of screen time a day. My mood is SO much better." - Sam "Weird to think that an app would make me use my phone less but this app is the only thing helping me focus on deep work days" - Cody "Thanks Lifeback for being the only way my monkey brain can do homework for more than like 20 minutes" - Stevie TERMS, PRIVACY & CONDITIONS – https://lifeback.io/privacy – https://lifeback.io/terms
FocusWell
This app helps you regain control of your daily screen time and combat excessive scrolling. It introduces a mindful pause before opening distracting applications and allows you to set custom limits and focus sessions to build lasting concentration.
- Mindful pause before distracting apps
- Custom app limits
- Focus sessions
- Daily screen time insights
- Distraction-free design
- Private data handling
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Most people don't decide to scroll for forty five minutes. It just happens, somewhere between checking one notification and looking up an hour later. FocusWell is an app blocker and focus tool built for exactly that moment, the split second before autopilot takes over. Your phone is built to keep you tapping. FocusWell is built to give you a way out, not through willpower alone, but through a calm pause, honest app limits, and focus sessions that actually hold. WHY FOCUSWELL A calm pause, not a lecture. Before a distracting app opens, FocusWell gives you one honest moment to decide. No shame, no lockouts you didn't ask for, just a real choice where autopilot used to win. Block one app or everything at once. Choose exactly what to limit, one app, a category, or all of it, for a focus session or on a schedule that runs automatically in the background. See where your time actually goes. Daily and weekly screen time insights show your real habits, not a guess, so you can see the hours you win back add up week over week. Build focus that lasts. Turn one good day into a streak. FocusWell helps you trade the scroll reflex for deep work, study time, or simply being where you already are. WHAT YOU GET - A calm pause before distracting apps open - App limits and focus sessions, for one app or all of them - Schedules that run automatically, not just when you remember - Daily and weekly screen time insights - Private by design: your usage data stays on your device WHO IT'S FOR Students protecting a study block. Anyone building a career who needs one uninterrupted hour before the inbox opens. People who pick up their phone for one notification and put it down forty minutes later, more tired than when they started. FocusWell meets you at the moment you already recognize, right before the scroll starts. Every skipped scroll adds up to a real hour somewhere else, a workout, a book, a conversation, or just quiet. FocusWell doesn't ask you to try harder. It just removes the moment where autopilot used to win. FocusWell runs on Apple's own Screen Time framework, so your usage data stays on your device, not a server. No streak shaming, no guilt trips, just a clear tool for people who want their attention back. Download FocusWell and start your first focus session today. Terms, Privacy and Conditions https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ https://https://www.getfocuswell.com/terms-of-service
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: FocusWell at 100% against Lifeback's 53%. FocusWell also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and in-app purchases (none vs 13). Lifeback's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (79 vs 3). On price, update cadence, device support 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
Both are free to download. Lifeback sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $3.00 per month. FocusWell asks for nothing beyond the download.
FocusWell holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lifeback has 79 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 53% of Lifeback's written reviews are positive against 100% of FocusWell's.
Lifeback ships an update every 6 days, FocusWell weekly. The most recent releases landed on August 26, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lifeback | FocusWell |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (79 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 52.6% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 79 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 72 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Control. Alt. Delete. LLC | Stanislav Varetskyi |
Customer experience
Lifeback
FocusWell
Bugs and requests
Lifeback
Reported bugs
3 issues- App closing unexpectedly
- Focus mode not working as expected
- Inconsistent app behavior
Requested features
2 requests- Better unblock functionality
- Improved notification system
FocusWell
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Lifeback
- Monthly Plan$3.001 Month
- Monthly Plan$4.001 Month
- Monthly Plan$5.001 Month
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- Monthly Plan3 Days trial$6.001 Month
- Monthly Plan$7.001 Month
- Monthly Plan$8.001 Month
- Monthly Plan$9.001 Month
- Monthly Plan$10.001 Month
- Monthly Plan$11.001 Month
- Monthly Plan$12.001 Month
- Promo Yearly Plan7 Days trial$40.001 Year
- Yearly Plan3 Days trial$40.001 Year
- Yearly Plan3 Days trial$99.001 Year
FocusWell
No in-app purchases









