Comparison

Symptom FOCUS vs Scenes

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

Head to head
About

Symptom FOCUS

Read full description

Finding Our Center Under Stress (FOCUS) is a 6-week mobileHealth-telehealth intervention for advanced cancer patients. The primary goal of the intervention is to improve symptoms for people living with advanced cancer so that people with cancer can continue to live meaningfully despite these symptoms. The app consists of a welcome section which provides an overview of the app followed by four modules – each focused on a different symptom – sleep, worry-anxiety, fatigue, and mood. Each module contains evidence-based practices shown to improve these symptoms and enhance quality of life. The app wraps up with a summary of the most essential tips provided in the app and goal-setting to ensure long-term success in coping with cancer. The app is only available to individuals who are participating in the FOCUS research study.

About

Scenes

Escape digital stress with interactive ambient worlds designed for mindful breathing. Explore calming scenes that respond to your touch, offering guided exercises and generative audio. It's a free, ad-free sanctuary for finding peace anytime.

Highlights
  • Guided breathing exercises
  • Interactive ambient scenes
  • Generative audio
  • Deep per-scene settings
  • Haptic feedback
  • Sleep timer
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Your phone doesn't have to stress you out. Scenes is a collection of handcrafted ambient worlds with built-in breathing exercises — designed to help you put down the scroll and pick up some calm. Each scene is a living, interactive artwork. Touch the screen and watch the world respond. Start a breathing session and let the scene guide you. Or just set your phone down and let it breathe on its own. Six scenes to explore: DRIFT — Luminous particles floating through space, reacting to your touch. Choose from color palettes, instruments, gravity modes, and particle shapes. Every session is different. RAIN — A storm on the windowpane. Adjust thunder, lightning, fog, and intensity. A rainy night, whenever you need one. FROST — Tap the glass and watch ice crystals spread from your fingertip. Delicate, meditative, and oddly satisfying. RADIANCE — Born from an original painting. Hundreds of brushstrokes flow inward toward a central point. Drag your finger across them and strum the scene like a harp — each stroke plays a note on a pentatonic scale. Grab the center and move it anywhere. CORAL REEF — An underwater world. Synthesized whale songs drift through cathedral reverb. Tap coral and watch bioluminescence pulse outward. Fish swim toward your touch. Swipe to create currents. NYC AT NIGHT — The Empire State and Chrysler buildings in art deco detail. Tap the sky for fireworks. Swipe for aurora borealis. Long press for a city-wide blackout with a cascading floor-by-floor restore. Live water reflections mirror every lit window. Breathe together: Every breathing session you complete adds to our community counter — a shared total of mindful minutes created by Scenes users everywhere. Anonymous — we never know who you are. But there's something powerful about knowing you're not breathing alone. Features: • Guided breathing exercises in every scene (4-7-8, box breathing, and more) • Interactive — every scene responds to touch, swipe, and long press • Generative audio that evolves and never loops • Deep per-scene settings (colors, intensity, weather, palettes, and more) • Haptic feedback tuned to each interaction • Sleep timer with gentle fade-out • Screenshot capture to save your favorite moments • No accounts, no ads, no data collection beyond anonymous session duration • Works offline • Designed for OLED displays More scenes coming soon. Free forever. No catch. Just breathe.

Screenshots

Symptom FOCUS3 screens
Scenes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Scenes at every 4 days against Symptom FOCUS's every 4 months. Symptom FOCUS's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Symptom FOCUS ships an update every 4 months, Scenes every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Symptom FOCUS versus Scenes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSymptom FOCUSScenes
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB33 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperOhio State UniversityBryan TUNICK

In-app purchases

None

Symptom FOCUS

No in-app purchases

None

Scenes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Symptom FOCUS free?
Symptom FOCUS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Scenes free?
Scenes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Symptom FOCUS or Scenes have ads?
Neither Symptom FOCUS nor Scenes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Symptom FOCUS or Scenes?
Symptom FOCUS ships an update every 4 months, and Scenes every 4 days. Most recently, Symptom FOCUS was updated on November 8, 2026 and Scenes on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons