Comparison

Notify vs FocusDown

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

Head to head
About

Notify

Transform your thoughts into instant notifications to remember what matters. Schedule reminders, customize themes, and access your history offline. Easily import events and reminders from other apps.

Highlights
  • Create instant notifications
  • Schedule notifications
  • Lock screen widgets
  • Customizable themes
  • Offline functionality
  • Import calendar events
  • Import reminders
Features
Read full description

Life’s busy. Remembering shouldn’t be. Notify helps you remember what matters most. It’s your thoughts, turned into instant notifications. We built Notify because we forget things too. Capture a thought before it’s gone and turn it into a lock screen reminder in seconds. Whether it’s something to bring with you, a task for later or an idea you don’t want to lose, just type it and send. You don’t need to choose a date or time to remind yourself now. Notify puts your notes where you’ll see them: on your iPhone lock screen. Use Live Activities for visible reminders you can glance at throughout your day, with a simple way to edit them while they’re active. • Quick reminders, your way Choose a Live Activity, a smaller live notification or a standard notification. Send yourself a quick note now, or schedule a reminder for when you need it. • Capture thoughts even faster Open Notify straight from a lock screen widget. Use Siri to start a reminder, or voice-to-text to get your message down without typing. • Photo reminders Sometimes a picture says it better. Take a photo in Notify and turn it into a Photo Live Activity, so the thing you need to remember is right there on your lock screen. • Ticklists for everyday tasks Keep a short to-do list on your lock screen and tick things off as you go. Schedule a repeating ticklist for your daily routine and start with fresh, unticked tasks each time. • Reminders for later Schedule any notification type once or on a repeating schedule. Change the message, type or schedule when plans change. When a scheduled Live Activity needs you to open Notify to start it, a notification will prompt you. • Notification history and folders Find past reminders, resend a note and organise your notification history into folders with your own names, colours and icons. Deleting a folder keeps your notifications. • Bring your plans together Import events from Apple Calendar and tasks from Apple Reminders to use them as notifications in Notify. • Make Notify feel like yours Choose your theme colour, pick a custom colour and explore a collection of backgrounds, from simple black to animated designs. Create and schedule reminders on your device, even offline. iCloud sync is available with Premium and can be turned off in settings. Notify is free to download. Notify Premium adds photo and ticklist reminders, smaller and standard notifications, history folders, voice-to-text, all backgrounds, imports and more, with a one-time purchase and no subscription. Got a thought you don’t want to forget? Send it to yourself.

About

FocusDown

This app helps you reduce phone usage and improve focus by simply flipping your phone face down. It gamifies your focus sessions with a mascot, leaderboards, and progress tracking to build lasting habits.

Highlights
  • Flip phone to start focus
  • Focus mascot companion
  • Leaderboards and friend challenges
  • Session tracking and analytics
  • Ambient soundscapes
  • Pomodoro and custom timers
  • Focus tags for organization
Features
Read full description

Your phone is winning. Flip it face down and take it back. FocusDown turns deep focus into a game. Block distracting apps, build streaks, and out-focus your friends. FLIP TO FOCUS Flip your phone face-down and your session starts. Lift it before time's up and your apps stay locked. The simplest way to actually put the phone down. BLOCK WHAT DISTRACTS YOU TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snap — lock the apps that eat your day during every focus session. No willpower required. BUILD A STREAK YOU WON'T BREAK Every session powers up your phone mascot — from Groggy to Legendary — and grows a streak you won't want to lose. RANK AGAINST YOUR FRIENDS Add friends, join live focus rooms, and climb the global leaderboard. Studying alone is boring. Studying ranked is not. COLLECT THE WORLD Earn stamps and souvenirs from every country, one session at a time. Turn focus hours into a passport you actually want to fill. BUILT FOR FOCUS THAT STICKS • Pomodoro timers + deep work sessions • Detailed stats — see exactly where your focus goes • Made for studying, deep work, and ADHD brains that need a nudge • Beat doomscrolling, dopamine detox & phone addiction for good Stop scrolling. Flip down. Lock in. Download FocusDown and make focus the game you want to win. Terms of Use: https://focusdownapp.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://focusdownapp.com/privacy

Screenshots

Notify4 screens
FocusDown4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: FocusDown at 4.8 against Notify's 3.7. FocusDown also leads on ratings volume (70 vs 3) and device support (3 vs 1). Notify's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. Notify sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and FocusDown sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

FocusDown holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FocusDown has 70 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Notify's written reviews are positive against 69% of FocusDown's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notify ships an update every 11 days, FocusDown every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Notify versus FocusDown: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotifyFocusDown
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (3 ratings)4.8 (70 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews69.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings370 — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB214 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDominic PonniahRaidersoul LLC

Customer experience

Notify

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

FocusDown

All ratings70 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral1.4%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive69.2%
Neutral7.7%
Negative23.1%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Notify

One-time1
  • Notify Premium$5.99
4 purchases

FocusDown

Subscriptions4
  • FocusDown Pro - Weekly$6.997 Days
  • FocusDown Pro - Monthly$9.991 Month
  • FocusDown Pro - Special Offer$14.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • FocusDown Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Notify free?
Notify is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is FocusDown free?
FocusDown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notify or FocusDown?
FocusDown is rated higher. Notify averages 3.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while FocusDown averages 4.8 from 70 ratings.
Do Notify or FocusDown have ads?
FocusDown shows ads; Notify does not.
Which is updated more often, Notify or FocusDown?
Notify ships an update every 11 days, and FocusDown every 3 weeks. Most recently, Notify was updated on October 17, 2026 and FocusDown on October 15, 2026.

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