Comparison

Campfire vs Ice Study

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

Head to head
About

Campfire

This app provides a minimalist 30-minute focus timer designed to help you stay present during work or study sessions. It continues timing even when your phone is locked, but ends if you exit the application. Support its development through optional in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • Minimalist 30-minute timer
  • Focus sessions continue when phone is locked
  • Session ends if app is exited
  • No ads, accounts, tracking, or data collection
  • Optional in-app purchases for development support
Read full description

Campfire is a simple 30-minute focus timer. It is intentionally designed to keep you present. The session continues while your phone is locked, but ends if you leave the app. Tap to light a campfire. Stay with the app or lock your screen. You'll hear a bell when the fire goes out and the session ends. We don’t track you. That’s our Privacy Policy in a nutshell. - No ads - No accounts - No tracking - No data collected - No third-party analytics - Data stays on device If Campfire feels useful, you can choose to support its continued development. If not, that’s perfectly okay too. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Ice Study

A calming focus timer that uses the visual of melting ice to encourage concentration during study or work sessions. It offers customizable durations, Pomodoro mode, and ambient sounds to create a distraction-free environment.

Highlights
  • Visual melting ice timer
  • Customizable focus durations
  • Pomodoro mode with breaks
  • Ambient soundscapes
  • Daily goal and streak tracking
  • Minimalist interface
Features
Read full description

Ice Study is a calm visual focus timer for studying, deep work, and Pomodoro sessions. Pick a duration, start your session, and watch a cup of ice slowly melt as you focus. No anxious progress bars. No noisy pressure. Just ice becoming water while you get work done. A focus timer you can feel Choose 25, 50, or 90 minutes, or set your own custom focus session. As time passes, the ice cubes shrink, water rises, droplets form on the glass, and tiny drips fall. When the ice is gone, your session is complete. Pomodoro mode for study sessions Use four 25-minute focus blocks with 5-minute breaks between them. After each break, the cup refills so you can begin the next round with a clean visual reset. Built for calm deep focus Ice Study helps students, writers, coders, remote workers, and people who prefer ADHD-friendly focus routines stay with one task at a time. The app is intentionally minimal, so you can focus without social pressure, aggressive gamification, or clutter. Ambient sounds for concentration Add rain, cafe ambience, ocean waves, or warm white noise when you want a softer study environment. Keep it quiet when you prefer silence. Gentle progress without shame Track daily goals and streaks in a lightweight way. Ice Study encourages consistency without nagging you or making productivity feel stressful. No account required Your sessions, streaks, goals, and preferences are stored locally on your device. Use Ice Study for Study sessions, exam prep, homework, reading, writing, coding, remote work, deep work, ADHD-friendly focus routines, Pomodoro sessions, and quiet productivity. Focus until the ice melts. Privacy Policy: https://icestudy.app/privacy.html

Screenshots

Campfire4 screens
Ice Study4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Campfire at none against Ice Study's shown. Campfire also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly). Ice Study's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, ratings volume 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. Campfire sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Ice Study sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Campfire against 5.0 for Ice Study. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Campfire ships an update every 2 days, Ice Study monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Campfire versus Ice Study: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCampfireIce Study
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSaumya KaranJTR Labs LLC

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Campfire

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly (basic)$0.991 Month
  • Monthly (extra)$1.991 Month
One-time3
  • One-time support (small)$1.99
  • One-time support (medium)$4.99
  • One-time support (large)$9.99
1 purchases

Ice Study

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$9.99

Questions

Is Campfire free?
Campfire is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ice Study free?
Ice Study is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Campfire or Ice Study?
Campfire and Ice Study are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Campfire or Ice Study have ads?
Ice Study shows ads; Campfire does not.
Which is updated more often, Campfire or Ice Study?
Campfire ships an update every 2 days, and Ice Study monthly. Most recently, Campfire was updated on October 31, 2026 and Ice Study on November 5, 2026.

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