Ocean Gaze vs Drift
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ocean Gaze
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Pocket Retreat brings the world's most immersive natural soundscapes to your fingertips — crafted by field recording artists and musicians who recorded in real places across the globe. Whether you have five minutes or an hour, Pocket Retreat helps you rest, breathe, and reconnect with the natural world. JOURNEY Choose a soundscape, set your time, and go. Drift away to Iceland's glaciers, a safari in Rwanda, the forests of Copenhagen, the temples of Guatemala, the coast of Big Sur, and more - each paired with looping video and meditative reflections. BREATHE Guided breathing exercises set to ambient music help regulate your nervous system. Choose from Box Breathing, 4-7-8, In and Out, or Pursed Lip — each visualized with a breathing circle and optional audio cues. SLEEP Let the music carry you off. Sleep mode gently fades the audio as you drift away, so you can close your eyes and stop thinking about your phone. RADIO Not sure what you need? Radio mode plays a continuous shuffle of soundscapes. Press play and let it choose for you. TRACK YOUR PRACTICE Pocket Retreat logs your mindful minutes and marks your progress with milestones as your practice grows. THE ARTISTS Our soundscapes feature original recordings and compositions by real artists - no AI slop!
Drift
This app allows users to create personalized ambient soundscapes by intuitively dragging orbs on screen. It offers timed sessions and a unique visual fade-to-black feature to minimize distractions, promoting better sleep and focus. A one-time purchase unlocks additional sounds and extended features.
- Tactile orb sound mixing
- Physics-based volume control
- Customizable ambient soundscapes
- Timed sleep sessions
- Gentle screen fade-to-black
- Offline functionality
- Lock-screen playback
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The Drift — Quiet Software for Loud Times You deserve rest without the noise. Drift is a tactile sleep tool that lets you mix ambient sounds by touch. Drag glowing orbs to the center of your screen—the closer they are, the louder they play. Let the mix play for 15 or 30 minutes (or all night with Premium). To protect your rest, Drift's gentle fade slowly dims your screen to pure OLED black—silencing your visual space without interrupting your sound session. THE PRICING PROMISE Free to download and use the core features forever. No subscriptions, no ads, no hidden fees. If you love it, a single $4.99 in-app purchase unlocks the premium sounds and extended timers for life. HOW IT WORKS Drag Sound Orbs Choose from 5 free ambient sounds (with 7 more available in Premium). Drag them toward the center. The physics are simple: closer = louder. You can even preview premium sounds in your mix before deciding to upgrade. Set Your Timer Pick 15 or 30 minutes for free—or go Premium for up to 2 hours or Unlimited. As you settle in, the screen gently fades to pure OLED black. This removes the visual noise from your room while your audio session continues to play seamlessly. Sleep (or Focus) Your mix plays smoothly in the background and on your lock screen. Drift remembers your last session, so tomorrow night's rest is just one tap away. CORE FEATURES (FREE FOREVER) • 5 Essential Sounds — Rain, Wind, Fire, Waves, and Thunder. • Tactile Orb Mixing — Drag to center = louder. Physics-based volume control. • Timed Sessions — 15 and 30-minute sleep timers. • Quick Resume — Automatically saves your single most recent mix to jump right back in. • Lock-Screen Playback — Control your mix from Now Playing without unlocking. • Gentle Visual Fade — Slowly dims your screen to black. It silences your screen, not your sound. • Offline-First & Zero Analytics — Works without the internet. No tracking, ever. PREMIUM UNLOCK (ONE-TIME $4.99) No subscriptions. Buy once, unlock everything forever: • 7 Additional Sounds — Night, Fan, Apartment, Restaurant, Train, Voice 1 (High ASMR), and Voice 2 (Low ASMR). • Extended Timers — 60 min, 90 min, 2 hours, and Unlimited (until stopped). • Heartbeat Entrainment — Foundational audio pulses, advanced visual modes (Minimal, Immersive, Leaves), and gradual audio slowdown to gently guide your sleep. • Mix Memories — Instantly access and reload your 3 most recent mixes. • Quick Mute — Double-tap any orb to instantly mute it. PRIVACY Drift collects zero personal data. No analytics. No accounts. No cloud sync. No network requests. Your mixes stay on your device. Apple processes in-app purchases—we never see your payment info. THE DRIFT PROMISE We built Drift for ourselves. We were burned out by cluttered wellness apps, predatory subscriptions, and data-hungry platforms. So we made something quiet. Something private. Something that respects your rest. Drag orbs. Set a timer. Drift. — Ekoche Studios — "Quiet Software for Loud Times"
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ocean Gaze at none against Drift's 1. Ocean Gaze also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.2). On price, 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. Drift sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ocean Gaze asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Ocean Gaze | Drift |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joshua Robertson | Ekoche Studios LLC |
In-app purchases
Ocean Gaze
No in-app purchases
Drift
- Lifetime Unlock$4.99









