Comparison

Gentle Screen Time vs Focus Blocks

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

Head to head
About

Gentle Screen Time

This app helps families establish healthier screen time habits by wrapping addictive apps in timed sessions. It introduces a rhythm of usage and rest without surveillance or negotiation, allowing intentional app engagement.

Highlights
  • Timed app sessions with beginnings and ends
  • Automatic app locking after sessions
  • Intentional app opening friction
  • Remote family management
  • Customizable session and rest lengths
  • No content monitoring or surveillance
Features
Read full description

Most screen time apps work by capping you. They set hard limits, block apps for the rest of the day, and leave you locked out the moment you hit a number. Gentle works differently. There are no usage limits and no permanent blocks. You move through a rhythm of sessions and rests, and your total screen time drops, often dramatically, without anything being capped or taken away for good. Here's how it works. You start a session and have full, unlimited access to everything on your phone. When the session ends, a short rest begins, a brief pause where your controlled apps become unavailable for a few minutes. When the rest ends, your apps return, ready for your next session. No daily cutoffs. No "you're out of time." Just a gentle in-and-out rhythm that adds up to far less screen time. Gentle is for people who've tried strict limits and bounced off them. If hitting a wall every day has never worked, a gentle rhythm of sessions and rests might. Use everything you love, in a calmer cadence. Lower your screen time. No limits, no daily cutoffs, just a gentler rhythm. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.gentlescreentime.app/privacy

About

Focus Blocks

Read full description

Focus Blocks is an app blocker for iPhone and iPad that puts distracting apps out of reach during the time you set aside to focus. Choose the apps. Choose the rule. Block during focus hours, allow only inside chosen windows, or set a daily app budget. When a rule applies, selected apps are hidden system-wide until they are allowed again. No willpower games, no streaks, no social layer — just one clear setting that gives you your attention back. Built on Apple's Screen Time APIs, Focus Blocks works entirely on your device. It has no backend and no account. Your rules sync between your own devices through iCloud, under your own Apple ID. Screen Time app selections are private device-local tokens, so each device asks you to confirm the apps it should block before enabling a synced rule there. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Create as many focus blocks as you want — mornings, weekdays, deep-work afternoons • Pick specific apps and whole categories in one tap • Block during a schedule, allow only during a schedule, or set a daily limit • Enable synced rules separately on each device after confirming local app selections • Add a weekly setup window so blocks cannot be edited on impulse • Enable or disable any inactive block from one screen PRIVACY BY DEFAULT • No sign-up, no account • No analytics, no ads, no third-party SDKs • Uses Apple's Screen Time framework — selections and usage stay on-device • iCloud Key-Value Store is the only remote storage, and it lives in your own Apple ID Focus Blocks is self-directed. It is not a parental-control product and does not monitor or manage other people's devices. Requires iOS 18 or later.

Screenshots

Gentle Screen Time4 screens
Focus Blocks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Focus Blocks at none against Gentle Screen Time's 4. On price, update cadence, ads 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. Gentle Screen Time sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Focus Blocks asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gentle Screen Time ships an update every 5 days, Focus Blocks every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Gentle Screen Time versus Focus Blocks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGentle Screen TimeFocus Blocks
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoseph CaseyMikhail Nemilov

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Gentle Screen Time

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Monthly Family Plan7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$29.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Yearly Family Subscription7 Days trial$99.991 Year
None

Focus Blocks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Gentle Screen Time free?
Gentle Screen Time is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Focus Blocks free?
Focus Blocks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Gentle Screen Time or Focus Blocks have ads?
Neither Gentle Screen Time nor Focus Blocks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gentle Screen Time or Focus Blocks?
Gentle Screen Time ships an update every 5 days, and Focus Blocks every 4 days. Most recently, Gentle Screen Time was updated on October 16, 2026 and Focus Blocks on October 8, 2026.

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