Focura vs NextStep
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Focura
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Most focus timers ship one rigid setup. Focura asks one question ā do you struggle to start, stay, or stop? ā then tunes the timer, haptics, and pacing to match. Built for ADHD brains. Works for anyone fighting a 25-minute box. A TIMER THAT FITS HOW YOU FOCUS Pick your struggle and Focura adjusts the physics: ⢠Starting ā 5-minute first wins and gentle pacing, no pressure haptics ⢠Staying ā classic 25s with a soft haptic heartbeat anchoring the last minute ⢠Stopping ā longer blocks and 10-minute wind-downs, because transitions hurt YOUR CALENDAR BECOMES THE PLAN Connect iOS Calendar (read-only) and your events appear as locked time blocks, so the day is never empty. If a meeting starts mid-session, Focura auto-pauses your timer and lets you know. HYPERFOCUS IS CELEBRATED, NOT PUNISHED Run past the timer and the screen turns green: Flow State. No alarm yanking you out, no red "overtime" guilt. Keep going ā Focura keeps counting. MISSED A BLOCK? NO SHAME. ⢠Smart Reschedule finds it a new slot in one tap (Premium) ⢠Skipping records a reason, not a failure ā and your streak forgives it ⢠Streaks come with freeze days, so a rough day doesn't break the chain ⢠Fresh Start resets the day without erasing what you already did BRAIN DUMP YOUR REMINDERS Your iOS Reminders show up as an inbox on the Today tab. Tap one, give it a time, done. Finish the session and Focura offers to check the reminder off. A DAY YOU CAN SEE A visual timeline where every block is sized to its real duration. Drag to reorder. Pin a block to a time, or let Focura slot it into the next free gap. Morning person or night owl ā set your own day's start and end. ALWAYS ONE GLANCE AWAY Lock Screen Live Activity, Dynamic Island, and a Home Screen widget keep your current block and today's progress visible without unlocking your phone. 100% ON-DEVICE No account. No cloud sync. No tracking. Your blocks and sessions live in your iPhone's local database. Your focus, your data, your control. FREE FOREVER ⢠Up to 7 recurring time blocks (one-off blocks unlimited) ⢠Calendar mirroring, weekly stats, and forgiving streaks ⢠Full timer with Flow State, widget + Live Activity FOCURA PREMIUM ⢠Unlimited time blocks ⢠Smart Reschedule ā one-tap recovery for missed blocks ⢠Custom app icons ⢠Every premium feature we ship next, included Monthly, annual (over 60% off), or lifetime ā see pricing in the app. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings ā Apple ID ā Subscriptions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Focura is a tool, not a treatment. It is not a medical device and is not a substitute for professional care. Built by an indie developer who needed it. Built by Noah Carpenter (NDC) Ā· noahdoescoding@gmail.com
NextStep
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One step on screen and your finish-by time right beside it. NextStep turns getting ready, heading out or winding down into a short run of steps that you follow on iPhone or Apple Watch. Every step counts down its own estimate. When the countdown hits zero, nothing jumps ahead: the step waits for you to tap Done. PLAN THE ROUTINE ⢠Up to 30 steps per routine, each with a time estimate, a short note and an optional flag ⢠Give the routine a finish-by time and keep an eye on the estimated finish while you go ⢠Begin from a starter such as Leave for work, Evening reset or Start a focus block, or write your own ⢠Break a task into steps: NextStep suggests steps and times from its own templates for common tasks and, on iPhones with Apple Intelligence, from the on-device model for the rest. You check every step before it is added ⢠Reorder, duplicate or archive routines ⢠Recurring reminders nudge you at the time you pick; a reminder never starts a routine by itself FOLLOW ALONG, STEP BY STEP ⢠Done, Skip, Pause, Add 1 minute and End are always your call ⢠Running behind? Adjust plan lists the optional steps still ahead and the minutes each one would save. Skip a few, or move the finish time for this run only ⢠Pausing or adding a minute leaves your deadline where you set it, so you see straight away what it does to the plan APPLE WATCH, WIDGETS AND LOCK SCREEN ⢠The Apple Watch app runs saved routines by itself, even with iPhone out of reach, and the two catch up when they reconnect ⢠An optional Live Activity follows routines started on iPhone, with a Done button for the current step ⢠The Home Screen widget shows the current step with a Done button, or your next routine ⢠A Start routine control in Control Center or on the Action button opens your next routine, ready for you to confirm ⢠Watch complications show your current progress at a glance ESTIMATES THAT LEARN YOUR PACE ⢠History lists the routines you completed or ended ⢠After enough real runs, NextStep proposes new step times based on your own pace, and you choose which ones to keep WITHOUT PRO ⢠Two saved routines, run as often as you like ⢠Routine editing, reminders, widgets, the Live Activity, the Start routine control, the last seven days of history, estimate suggestions and file export and import ⢠Three tries of Break a task into steps ⢠Watch complications, if you used NextStep before version 1.1 ⢠A 45-second demo run that stays out of your history NEXTSTEP PRO ⢠No two-routine limit ⢠Full history plus planned-versus-actual time comparisons ⢠Extra ready-made programs, such as Ready to go and A calmer evening, each one open to preview before you buy ⢠Break a task into steps as often as you like ⢠Watch complications, when NextStep was first installed at version 1.1 or later ⢠If Pro ends, every routine you made stays available to view, edit and run ⢠A paywall never interrupts a routine in progress KEPT ON YOUR DEVICES There is no NextStep account, no advertising and no outside AI service; Apple Intelligence suggestions are made on the iPhone itself. Routines and history stay on the devices that run them, and you can export a file whenever you want a copy. PAYING FOR PRO Pro is sold three ways: a monthly subscription, an annual subscription, or a lifetime unlock bought once. Before you confirm, the purchase sheet lists what Pro costs in your region and how often it bills, and payment comes from your Apple Account. A subscription carries on into each new period by itself. To stop that, turn off auto-renewal at least a day before the current period ends, since the coming period is billed in the final 24 hours. Manage or cancel from Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions. A lifetime unlock does not end a subscription you already pay for; cancel that separately. Privacy: https://mubaraklabs.com/privacy/nextstep/ Terms: https://mubaraklabs.com/terms/nextstep/ License: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
Focura and NextStep are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters ā price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them ā neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Focura sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and NextStep sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Focura ships an update every 2 weeks, NextStep every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.
| Parameter | Focura | NextStep |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks ā better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 17.0 ā better |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Noah Carpenter | Mubarak Almahmeed |
In-app purchases
Focura
- Focura Premium Monthly$4.991 Month
- Focura Yearly$19.991 Year
- Focura Premium Lifetime$99.99
NextStep
- Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
- Pro Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Pro Lifetime$49.99







