Orb vs Worry Beads
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Orb
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Whether youβre feeling overwhelmed, distracted, or struggling to wind down, Orb helps you regulate your breath using clear visual guidance and proven breathing patterns. WHAT ORB DOES - Guided breathing with a calm, visual orb - Exercises for calm, focus, sleep, and energy - Science-backed breathing techniques - Fully customizable breathing patterns DESIGNED FOR SIMPLICITY A tool you open, breathe with, and close. PRIVACY FIRST - No account required - No analytics or tracking - Your data stays on your device WHEN TO USE ORB - During stress or anxiety - Before sleep - To refocus during work - Anytime you need to reset your breath Take a minute. Follow the orb. Breathe.
Worry Beads
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Greek komboloi have been rolled between finger and thumb for centuries β not to count anything, just to have something to do with your hands while your head sorts itself out. Worry Beads is that, on the phone you are already holding. A loop of beads hangs on the screen. You push it with your thumb. It has weight: flick it and it keeps going, tilt the phone and the whole string swings from its top point, shake it and the beads scatter. Every bead that passes gives one small tap of haptic feedback. There is no score you can lose, no timer running out, nothing to fail. THREAD A WORRY Type the thing that is sitting on your chest, pick how heavy it is, and it goes onto the string. Now the scrolling has somewhere to go: light worries come apart after about two minutes of beads, crushing ones take twelve. Get there in one sitting or over three days β the string remembers. When it finally lets go, the bead scatters and the worry moves to a private journal so you can see, weeks later, what you were carrying in March. The text of a worry never leaves your device. It is not in iCloud, not in a backup, not on any server. There is no server. ON YOUR WRIST The Apple Watch app turns the Digital Crown into the loop. Hardware detents mean one physical click per bead β a real mechanical click, which is something a glass screen cannot do. Sessions sync back to the phone on their own. MAKE IT YOURS 19, 33, 59, 99 or 108 beads. Wood, glass, metal, stone, crystal, jade, obsidian, bone. Hearts, skulls, stars, snowflakes. Snowfall, lanterns, a starfield, or a photograph of an ocean behind it all. Left-handed and right-handed layouts, because the loop should be under the thumb you actually use. TWO WAYS TO SCROLL Flow β fast, with momentum and friction, for when your hands need something to do. Zen β one bead at a time, with an optional breathing guide, for when you are trying to slow down. STATISTICS, SOME OF THEM SERIOUS Beads, loops, sessions, distance, day streaks. Also: how far your beads have travelled in kilometres, what fraction of the way around the Earth that is, how many worries you have let go, and how long you carried the one that lasted longest. Ten achievements and Game Center leaderboards, if you like a number to beat. HEALTH Releasing a worry can be logged as Mindful Minutes in the Health app. Optional, off until you turn it on, and nothing else is ever written. QUIET BY DESIGN No account. No sign-up. No ads. No analytics. No tracking. Works on a plane. Free to use, with optional bead packs if you want more materials to play with.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Worry Beads at Free against Orb's $3.99. Orb's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On ads and device support 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
Worry Beads is free to download; Orb costs $3.99 up front. Worry Beads sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Orb asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Orb | Worry Beads |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free β better |
| Update frequency | β | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No β better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch β better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 β better | 17.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christer Johnsrud | Mariusz Gieparda |
In-app purchases
Orb
No in-app purchases
Worry Beads
- Valentine's Pack$0.49
- Dark Arts Pack$0.99
- Cosmic Pack$0.99
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- Earth Elements Pack$0.99
- Christmas Pack$0.99
- Zen Master Pack$0.99
- Summer Vibes Pack$0.99
- Halloween Pack$0.99
- Lunar New Year Pack$0.99
- All-In-One Bundle$4.99









