Comparison

Stupid Notes vs Focus

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

Head to head
About

Stupid Notes

Features
Read full description

Stupid Notes for Clever People Stupid Notes is a minimalist note-taking app that focuses on what matters.  No fancy formatting, just plain text and checklists. - Create multiple notepads to organize your thoughts - Move or copy notes between notepads  - Stupid search helps you find exactly what you're looking for within your notepads. This app is designed for people who want a straightforward tool without unnecessary features or distractions.  Open it, type your thoughts, and get on with your day. Perfect for shopping lists, quick ideas, daily tasks, or anything else you need to write down and find later. Upgrade to Stupid Pro to create unlimited Notepads. If you subscribe to Stupid Pro, payment will be charged to your Apple account and your account will be charged for renewal at the end of the current period. Auto-renewal can be turned off by going to settings in the App Store after purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://stupidnotes.com/privacy

About

Focus

Features
Read full description

Focus is a clean and simple timer designed to help you start quickly, stay on track, and see your progress at a glance. It masterfully pairs a beautiful circular timer with lightweight task and project management, privacy‑first data handling, and rich Live Activities on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Why you’ll enjoy Focus: A Timer You’ll Actually Want to Use: Start, pause, and reset your sessions with deeply satisfying haptics. The elegant dual-segment ring visualizes both focus and break periods in a single, clear view. Time is rendered in a crisp, monospaced font, complemented by smooth animations that make every interaction a pleasure. Effortless Preset Switching: Swipe between your favorite timer configurations directly on the main screen. Set up different presets for various activities—like 'Deep Work,' 'Reading,' or 'Quick Review'—and switch between them instantly without navigating through menus. Stay in the Flow: Receive optional notifications for the end of Focus and Break sessions, plus a helpful reminder minutes before your focus time is up. Banners can be shown even while the app is open, and an option to "Keep Screen Awake" ensures your timer is always visible when you need it. Rich Live Activity Support: Track your remaining time directly from the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island (iOS 16.2+). The Live Activity is more than just a countdown; it beautifully reflects the current phase (focus or break), pause state, and your chosen theme color, keeping you informed without unlocking your device. Tasks and Projects, Perfectly Integrated: Go beyond a simple timer by adding tasks with optional memos and planned times. Group them under projects with custom emoji and due dates, and easily reorder everything with a long-press drag. Mark tasks as complete, restore them later, and review your recent accomplishments—all within a clean, unified interface. Clear Progress, Every Day: See today’s total focus time right on the timer screen. For a deeper analysis, a dedicated Reports tab provides daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly charts and totals. Use quick-jump buttons to navigate to "today," "this week," "this month," or "this year," and visualize your commitment with a color-coded calendar view that shows your focus history at a glance. Focus Pro unlocks more for power users: Unlimited Tasks and Projects: Break free from limitations. Create as many tasks and projects as you need to manage everything from small to-dos to large, complex goals. Full Focus History: Go beyond the recent activity window. Unlock complete weekly, monthly, and yearly charts, and browse your entire focus history with the interactive calendar to identify patterns and celebrate your long-term progress. Customizable Timer Duration: Tailor every session to your exact needs. Adjust Focus and Break durations in precise 1-minute steps, allowing you to perfect your personal productivity rhythm. Multiple Preset Timers: Create and save up to 8 unique timer configurations for different activities. Switch between them with a simple swipe to instantly match the timer to your current task. Expanded Theme Palette: Personalize your experience by unlocking a full palette of 8 beautiful accent colors to match your mood, project, or home screen setup. Advanced iCloud Backup & Restore: Your data is always safe with automatic daily backups to your private iCloud account. Browse your backup history and restore your entire dataset from a specific version with a single tap, giving you complete peace of mind. Whether you want a simple, reliable timer—or a focused workflow with tasks, projects, charts, and more—Focus keeps everything fast, clear, and distraction-free so you can do your best work, every day. Terms of Use: https://nkmr35.github.io/terms_en.html Privacy Policy: https://nkmr35.github.io/privacy_en.html

Screenshots

Stupid Notes4 screens
Focus4 screens

Verdict

The call

Stupid Notes and Focus are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Stupid Notes sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $6.99 per year and Focus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stupid Notes ships an update every 4 days, Focus every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Stupid Notes versus Focus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStupid NotesFocus
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid PflueglHiroto Nakamura

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Stupid Notes

Subscriptions1
  • Stupid Notes Pro$6.991 Year
2 purchases

Focus

Subscriptions2
  • Focus Pro (Monthly)$2.991 Month
  • Focus Pro (Annual)3 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Stupid Notes free?
Stupid Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Focus free?
Focus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Stupid Notes or Focus have ads?
Neither Stupid Notes nor Focus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stupid Notes or Focus?
Stupid Notes ships an update every 4 days, and Focus every 5 days. Most recently, Stupid Notes was updated on September 22, 2026 and Focus on September 12, 2026.

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