FocusDown vs Solace
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
Read full descriptionHide 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
Solace
This app removes willpower from focus sessions by requiring a physical NFC tag scan to start and end. It leverages system-level blocking for apps, websites, and adult content, and prevents its own deletion during active sessions. Optional alarms also require an NFC scan to dismiss.
- NFC-locked focus sessions
- System-level app and website blocking
- Optional NFC-gated alarms
- Multiple focus modes
- On-device processing, no cloud
- Focus statistics tracking
Read full descriptionHide full description
Solace is a focus app for people who are tired of tricking themselves. Most productivity apps rely on willpower. You tap a button, you promise yourself this session will be different, and ten minutes later you're back in the feed. Solace takes willpower out of the equation. To start a focus session, you physically scan an NFC tag. To end one, you scan the same tag again. That's it. If your tag is across the room, in another bag, or locked in a drawer, your distractions stay blocked — because getting back in means getting up. Focus sessions in Solace use Apple's Screen Time system to block whatever pulls you off course: • Specific apps • Entire app categories • Websites • Adult content (optional) • In-app purchases (optional) • App installs and deletions (optional) Create as many focus modes as you want — one for deep work, one for studying, one for reading, one for the gym. Pick a mode, scan your tag, and everything in that mode gets blocked until you scan again. Solace even prevents itself from being deleted during an active session, so you can't uninstall your way out of a commitment. Alarms are gated the same way. Solace's optional alarm feature (iOS 26 and later) rings until you scan your tag. There's no snooze button, no slide-to-dismiss, no escape hatch. If you set the alarm, you're getting up. WHAT MAKES SOLACE DIFFERENT • NFC-locked sessions — the tag is the key, not a password you can talk yourself around • Runs entirely on-device — no accounts, no cloud, no analytics, no trackers • Focus stats for today, this week, this month, and all time • Multiple focus modes for different contexts • Emergency unblocks for real life situations — used sparingly, gone when they're gone • A clean, dark-first interface built for SwiftUI and iOS PRIVACY FIRST Solace collects nothing. No sign-in. No email. No anonymous telemetry. No crash reporting from third parties. Your focus history, blocked apps, and alarm settings live on your device and nowhere else. When you delete Solace, every trace goes with it. REQUIREMENTS • iPhone with NFC support (iPhone 7 or later) • iOS 17 or later for focus sessions • iOS 26 or later for the NFC-gated alarm • Any NDEF-writable NFC tag. Solace-branded tags are available, but any tag works. GETTING STARTED Open Solace, grant Screen Time and NFC permissions during the short onboarding, pick your first focus mode, and scan your tag. You're in.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Solace at none against FocusDown's 4. Solace also leads on ads (none vs shown). FocusDown's advantage is ratings volume (77 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and rating 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. FocusDown sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. Solace asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for FocusDown against 5.0 for Solace. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FocusDown has 77 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | FocusDown | Solace |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (77 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 69.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 77 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | — |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 214 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Raidersoul LLC | Levon Malkhasian |
In-app purchases
FocusDown
- FocusDown Pro - Weekly$6.997 Days
- FocusDown Pro - Monthly$9.991 Month
- FocusDown Pro - Special Offer$14.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- FocusDown Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Solace
No in-app purchases









