Focus App Blocker vs Anchor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Focus App Blocker
This app helps you reclaim lost time by blocking distracting applications during focused work or study sessions. It removes tempting shortcuts and builds positive habits through a streak system, making productivity feel automatic.
- Block any app or website
- Focus timer with Pomodoro
- Customizable Focus Profiles
- Session Journaling
- Weekly Focus Reports
- Streak Insurance
- Home screen widgets
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Your phone is built to keep you scrolling. StrictBlock is built to help you stop. Pick the apps that pull you in, start a focus block, and they stay locked until you're done. No willpower contests, no "just one more minute". It's the dopamine detox that turns your iPhone into a dumb phone when you need it, and back again when you don't. WHY PEOPLE USE STRICTBLOCK • Block distracting apps with Apple's Screen Time, so blocks are hard to skip • Schedule focus time for mornings, study sessions or phone-free evenings • Pomodoro-style focus blocks with a goal for each one • Streaks that build a real habit, and trophies you can share • See the hours you take back, every week • Home screen widgets for your streak and today's focus BUILT FOR Students cramming for exams. People doing deep work. Anyone trying to quit doomscrolling, cut social media, or simply be present with the people around them. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No ads. No account needed. No data sold. FAIR PRICING Start free. Pro is available monthly, yearly or as a one-time lifetime purchase, for a fraction of what other app blockers charge. Eligible new subscribers can try Pro free for 7 days. Local prices and offer eligibility are shown before purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel in your App Store account settings. Lifetime is a one-time purchase. LEARN MORE Tips, guides and the story behind StrictBlock: https://www.strictblock.app Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: https://www.strictblock.app/privacy Support: https://www.strictblock.app/support
Anchor
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Some apps were designed to trap you. The feed doesn't end, and "five more minutes" always seems to turn into forty. That's not a willpower problem, it's the design working as intended. Anchor blocks the apps that do this by default, so opening one is always something you decided, never a doomscroll you fell into. THE IDEA Screen Time is built to be turned on. Anchor is built to already be on. There's no timer to start and no "focus mode" to remember. The apps you choose are blocked from the moment setup finishes, permanently, as the baseline state of your phone. The difference isn't less time in these apps. It's who decides when you get it. Want in? You ask for it. Open Anchor, set how long you actually need — five minutes, twenty, whatever the moment calls for — and access is granted for exactly that long. When it runs out, blocking resumes. This is the anchor that prevents you from losing your days to doomscrolling. RECLAIMED TIME, NOT WILLPOWER Anchor isn't a fast to survive. It doesn't track streaks or shame a slip. It tracks one thing: how much of the time you used to lose is coming back to you, every day, measured against the baseline you set for yourself in onboarding. Give it your age, and it shows you how much of your life you get back without these apps quietly eating it. HOW IT WORKS • Pick the apps and websites you drift into without deciding to. • From then on, every one of them is blocked, all the time. • Reach for one anyway, and the block screen meets you instead. • Want it? Open Anchor, set a duration, and go. One deliberate ask, no lecture. • When the time's up, the block returns on its own. Set a new intent whenever you want back in. BUILT TO GET OUT OF YOUR WAY • A Home Screen widget and Control Center button to drop anchor without hunting for the app. • Ask Siri to start or check a session. • A Live Activity keeps the countdown visible in your Dynamic Island while a session runs. YOUR DATA STAYS YOURS Anchor runs on Apple's Screen Time framework entirely on-device. The apps you block, the time you spend, and the breaks you take never leave your phone. There's no account, no server, and nothing to opt out of, because nothing is collected in the first place. Anchor doesn't ask you to want less. It makes sure that whenever you reach for one of these apps, it's because you decided to — not because your thumb got there first.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Anchor at none against Focus App Blocker's 4. On price, ads, 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. Focus App Blocker sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per 7 days. Anchor asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Focus App Blocker | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Paul Contreras | Niklas Buehler |
In-app purchases
Focus App Blocker
- Pro Weekly Access3 Days trial$1.497 Days
- Pro Monthly Access7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Pro Annual Access$14.991 Year
- Pro Lifetime Access$19.99
Anchor
No in-app purchases









