Comparison

Do This First vs Sync

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

Head to head
About

Do This First

This app helps you focus on essential tasks by temporarily blocking distracting applications during dedicated focus sessions. Prioritize your day, create a distraction-free environment, and track your progress to build better habits.

Highlights
  • Block distracting apps during focus sessions
  • Create prioritized short task lists
  • Allowlist essential tools
  • Track focus session stats and streaks
  • Schedule automated focus sessions
  • Receive smart notifications for focus opportunities
Features
Read full description

In a world designed to capture our attention, it may feel like a constant battle to focus on your work. Do This First is a focus tool built on a simple, powerful idea: your phone should help you achieve your goals, not distract you from them. The concept is simple. You decide on the essential tasks for your day and start a Focus Session. While the session is active, the apps you've marked as distracting are temporarily blocked. The only way to get them back is to complete your list. It’s an unbelievably easy way to finish things that matter. Prioritize The Important Instead of a never-ending to-do list, create a short list of what you need to accomplish right away. Prioritizing helps you stick with your commitment and kills procrastination. Create a Distraction-Free Space You have complete control over which apps and websites are off-limits during a session. By removing the temptation for a "quick check" of social media or news, you give yourself the freedom to concentrate fully on your work. Keep Your Tools Accessible Productivity isn't about blocking everything. Our Allowlist feature ensures your essential tools—like a calculator for homework, music for ambiance, or a note-taking app—remain available while everything else is shielded. See Your Discipline Grow Your effort deserves to be recognized. The Stats tab visualizes your progress, tracking your total sessions, average focus time, and helping you build motivational streaks. It’s a clear and satisfying look at how your habits are improving over time. Build Effortless Routines Use Scheduled Starts to automate your most important work blocks. Set up your "Weekday Study Period" or "Morning Writing Hour" once, and let the app automatically create your focused environment when you need it most. Get Smarter Reminders Enable Smart Notifications, and the app will learn your typical work patterns. It will send a timely, gentle nudge when it senses a good opportunity for you to start a productive session. Your goals are important. Download Do This First, and let's start making real progress on them, together.

About

Sync

This app helps you compare your planned schedule with your actual daily activities. It visualizes where your time goes, highlighting discrepancies and helping you identify time-wasting habits. Integrate with Apple Health and Calendar for automatic tracking.

Highlights
  • Dual timeline for plan vs. actual
  • One-tap confirmation of planned activities
  • Habit and repeat plan creation
  • Real-time timer tracking
  • Goal setting and to-do lists
  • Apple Health and Calendar integration
  • iCloud sync across devices
Features
Read full description

Few days go exactly as planned. Sync lines up your plan and what you actually did on one timeline, and shows where they part. After a week, the hours that always slip become obvious. Plan your day in the morning, record what you did in the evening, and the two tracks line up side by side. Time that went as planned and time that drifted show in color. ■ Two tracks Plan and actual share one time axis. Drag over the hours, pick an activity, done. ■ One tap to confirm When a plan ends, Sync asks "Did it go as planned?" — Record as planned · Adjust and record · Skip. The buttons are right on the Lock Screen and in widgets. ■ Repeats and habits Turn a plan into a repeat or a habit as you save it. When you edit a repeating plan, choose "Save for this day only" or "Save for all future days." Plans that run past midnight save in one go. ■ Timer Start a timer and the actual track grows in real time. Stop it from the Lock Screen or the Dynamic Island. ■ Goals and to-dos Set weekly, monthly, or yearly time goals per activity and they fill in from your actuals. To-dos can have both a scheduled day and a deadline. ■ Apple Health, Calendar, Reminders Connect Apple Health (HealthKit) and your workouts and sleep — from Apple Watch or any app that writes to Health — flow into the actual track automatically. Read-only: Sync never writes to Health. Calendar events show beneath the plan track; choose which calendars to show, and the activity is picked for you when you import an event. To-dos stay in sync with a Reminders list. ■ Close the day Close your day before bed to see your Sync and time per activity, and leave a one-line note. ■ iPhone and iPad On iPad, Sync uses views made for the larger screen. Turn on iCloud sync to keep records in step on an iPhone and iPad signed in to the same Apple Account. Your records are stored on your device. With iCloud sync on, they move only through your own iCloud. No sign-up, no server of ours.

Screenshots

Do This First4 screens
Sync4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Do This First at Free against Sync's $4.99. On ads, in-app purchases, 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

Do This First is free to download; Sync costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Do This First versus Sync: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDo This FirstSync
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequency—Every 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMatteo Marotta037

Customer experience

Do This First

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Sync

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Do This First

No in-app purchases

None

Sync

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Do This First free?
Do This First is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sync free?
Sync costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Do This First or Sync have ads?
Neither Do This First nor Sync shows ads.

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