Focus Pause vs Atempause
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Focus Pause
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Trying to spend less time on your phone, but keep reaching for it anyway? A spare moment. A tiring day. Something you would rather put off. You open a familiar app for a quick look, and the time you meant to spend studying, working, or resting slips away. Focus Pause helps you change what happens in those small moments. Take a breath before opening an app and decide what you came to do. Block distractions when you need to focus. Then look back at when you stopped and when you kept going. You do not have to change every habit at once. Start with one pause, one focus session, and find a way of using your phone that works for you. PAUSE BEFORE YOU OPEN β’ Use iOS Shortcuts to add a pause before opening distracting apps. β’ Follow a breathing animation, then ask yourself: what am I opening this app for? β’ Choose your purpose and decide whether to continue or put your phone down. β’ Set a usage duration when you continue. Protection kicks in when time is up, giving you another chance to stop and choose. MAKE SPACE TO FOCUS β’ Quick Timer immediately blocks selected apps and categories for study, work, reading, or rest. β’ Choose 15, 30, or 60 minutes, or set a custom duration from 15 minutes to 24 hours. β’ An immersive full-screen timer keeps the remaining time in view. Minimize it and your session keeps going. β’ Follow your countdown with Live Activities on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island on supported iPhones. BUILD FOCUS INTO YOUR DAY β’ Schedule app blocking for work, study, sleep, or any time you want fewer distractions. β’ Set multiple time periods, all-day blocks, or overnight periods. β’ Pause, resume, or adjust your schedules as needed. β’ Quick Timer and schedules can run together. Ending one leaves the others in place. UNDERSTAND YOUR HABITS β’ See whether you stopped or continued after each opening pause. β’ Review recent records, opening paths, and your stop rate to spot apps and purposes that tend to distract you. β’ Look back at Quick Timer and scheduled blocks, including completed, ended-early, and interrupted sessions. β’ Use your own choices to shape what you do next time. YOUR CHOICES. YOUR RECORDS. Focus Pause uses Appleβs Screen Time controls to select and block apps. Focus and review records stay on your device. You can end an active block early after confirmation when you need to. β’ Focus and review records stay on your device. RevenueCat receives an anonymous member ID and purchase history for access and subscription analytics. START FREE. UPGRADE WHEN YOU NEED MORE. The free version includes the opening pause for up to 2 apps, up to 5 purposes per app, Quick Timer, and your first 2 schedules with one active day each. Premium unlocks unlimited protected apps, schedules, and custom purposes, multiple active days, more breathing settings, and deeper review insights. Choose monthly, yearly, or Lifetime Premium. Less opening out of habit. More choosing for yourself. Make time for what you want to do, and for the life around you. SUBSCRIPTIONS Monthly and yearly subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage or cancel them in your Apple Account subscription settings. Lifetime Premium is a one-time purchase and does not automatically cancel an existing subscription. Terms of Use: https://focuspause-privacy.pages.dev/terms Privacy Policy: https://focuspause-privacy.pages.dev/
Atempause
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Atempause sends you random breathing pauses β short moments of silence that bring you back to the present. No fixed timer. No predictable intervals. Instead: consciously random reminders within your personal time range. You simply define the range β for example between 20 and 60 minutes β and Atempause chooses the moment. Why random? Because the brain ignores fixed patterns. Behavioral research shows that variable intervals create the most sustained attention. Each breathing pause remains effective because it arrives unexpectedly β gentle, yet present. How a breathing pause works: Your screen slowly fades to black. A gong sounds. For a few seconds: silence. Then everything returns. That is enough β one conscious breath, one moment of clarity. Features β’ Random intervals with adjustable minimum and maximum limits β’ Works on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch (stand-alone), and Mac β’ Smart Skip: automatically detects when camera or microphone are active β’ Apple Health integration β’ Only 3.7 MB β lightweight and resource-efficient β’ No subscription, no in-app purchases, no data collection Free. Private. Honest. Atempause collects no data, shows no ads, and costs nothing. The goal of this app is to one day no longer be needed. APPLE WATCH The watchOS companion app works independently or paired with your iPhone. Receive gentle haptic cues on your wrist, track your progress, and adjust settings directly from the watch face using WidgetKit complications. CROSS-PLATFORM Atempause is also available for macOS and Windows so that your practice remains consistent across devices. Especially if you spend a lot of time in front of screens, the effect can be surprising. This is not a productivity tool. It is a practice aid β micro-interruptions that become anchors of mindfulness throughout your workday. Breathe. You are here.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Atempause at none against Focus Pause's 3. Atempause also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 9 days) and device support (4 vs 2). On price and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Focus Pause sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Atempause asks for nothing beyond the download.
Focus Pause ships an update every 9 days, Atempause every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Focus Pause | Atempause |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Every 2 days β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No β better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch β better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | θΎΎζ ε ¨ | Joerg Klaas |
In-app purchases
Focus Pause
- VIP Monthly1 Month trial$0.991 Month
- VIP Yearly1 Year trial$6.991 Year
- Lifetime Premium$12.99
Atempause
No in-app purchases









