Comparison

Grass vs Amber

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

Head to head
About

Grass

Features
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Grass — Focus, Visualized Turn your focused time into visible progress. Grass is a simple focus timer and session tracker that transforms every completed session into a colorful block on your daily timeline and a patch in your growing field. See when you focused, when you rested, and how your focus habits develop over time. There is no complicated productivity system to manage. Choose a duration, start the timer, and focus on what matters. Whether you prefer short study sessions or longer deep-work blocks, every completed session becomes part of your progress. Grow your Grass. Grow yourself. Key Features - Simple Focus and Break Timer Start a focus or break session in seconds with a clean, distraction-free interface. - Daily Focus Timeline See exactly when you focused, rested, and completed each session throughout the day. - Visual Focus History Explore your focus patterns across days, weeks, and months as your completed sessions grow into a field. -Focus Statistics Check your completed sessions, total focus time, break count, and break time at a glance. -Flexible Session Tracking Name your activities, choose colors, and edit or delete completed sessions whenever needed. -Study and Deep-Work Support Use Grass for studying, reading, writing, creative work, daily routines, or Pomodoro-style focus sessions. -iCloud Sync Keep your focus history synchronized across your Apple devices. -Light and Dark Mode Use Grass comfortably throughout the day and night.

About

Amber

Features
Read full description

Enhance your late-night reading, deep study sessions, and Pomodoro workflows. Amber is a comprehensive productivity suite and acoustic shielding tool engineered specifically for nighttime focus environments and shared spaces. Designed for students, researchers, and avid readers, Amber combines time management, acoustic masking, and specialized visual reading aids into one distraction-free interface. Whether you are cramming in a shared dorm or reading without waking your partner, Amber provides a multi-sensory environment to keep you locked into your physical book or deep work session. Core Productivity Features: • Ambient Focus Sessions: Manage your study time effectively. Utilize built-in session timers to box your reading or work into 15, 30, or 60-minute increments. Perfect for Pomodoro-style workflows, the app’s visual and audio cues organically adapt when your session is complete. • Unbroken Acoustic Shielding: Maintain your concentration by masking background home and dorm noises. Amber features built-in, seamlessly looping pure Brown and Pink Noise generators. Audio streams fully uninterrupted into your locked screen background to keep you in the zone. • Line-Tracking Reading Ruler: A highly specialized concentration utility for physical books. Amber dims the majority of your display into deep shadow, leaving only a customizable, draggable horizontal strip. Use this strip to visually track line-by-line down your physical textbook—drastically reducing visual clutter, aiding reading focus, and minimizing room light pollution. • Low-Stimulation Visual Themes: Select from dedicated low-Kelvin interface themes (Deep Red, Amber, and Candlelight). These organic dark-light zones are designed to minimize eye strain during late-night app usage and prevent jarring visual transitions. • Guided Access Optimized: Amber's interface is structurally designed to act as a strict "Do Not Disturb" hub. When paired with native iOS Guided Access, it functions as a locked-down focus blockade, preventing doom-scrolling and external alerts while the app’s timer and audio keep you on task. • OLED-Conscious Architecture: Built mindfully for modern displays. Amber integrates complex pixel-drifting modules, deep moving vectors, and organic true-black rendering to protect your screen and optimize battery life during multi-hour study marathons. Important Notice: Amber is a productivity and ambient focus tool intended strictly for personal comfort, time management, and study session enhancement. It makes no medical claims regarding sleep, ADHD, or health benefits, and users assume all risks associated with prolonged screen usage. EULA/TOS: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Grass3 screens
Amber4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Grass at none against Amber's 1. Grass also leads on ads (none vs shown). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Amber sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per month. Grass asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Grass versus Amber: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrassAmber
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 9 days—
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB114 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPaul KimGal Itach

In-app purchases

None

Grass

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Amber

Subscriptions1
  • Amber Light Pro$0.991 Month

Questions

Is Grass free?
Grass is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Amber free?
Amber is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Grass or Amber have ads?
Amber shows ads; Grass does not.

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