Comparison

HeyShield vs Focus Firewall

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

Head to head
About

HeyShield

Features
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HeyValue Shield is an enterprise-grade DNS security solution designed for telecommunications providers, internet service providers, government agencies, educational institutions and businesses. It enables organizations to enforce network policies, protect users from online threats and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Whether you are a telco protecting subscribers, an ISP offering value-added security services, a government agency safeguarding public networks, a school protecting students or an enterprise securing employee devices, HeyValue Shield provides centralized, policy-driven internet protection at scale. Who uses HeyValue Shield β€’ Telecommunications providers: offer subscribers built-in protection against malware, phishing and inappropriate content as a premium service. β€’ Internet service providers: differentiate your offering with DNS-based security that protects households and businesses. β€’ Government agencies: enforce acceptable use policies and protect public networks, libraries and community access points. β€’ Educational institutions: create safe learning environments by filtering harmful and distracting content on school-managed devices. β€’ Enterprises: protect corporate devices and enforce internet usage policies across your workforce. Key features β€’ Policy-driven protection: configure filtering rules centrally and deploy across thousands of devices. β€’ Threat prevention: block malware, phishing, botnets and other security threats at the DNS layer. β€’ Content filtering: enforce acceptable use policies by category (e.g. adult content, gambling, social media, streaming). β€’ Device-wide coverage: protection applies across all apps and browsers, not just a single application. β€’ Lightweight and efficient: DNS-based filtering with minimal impact on device performance and battery life. β€’ MDM compatible: deploy via enterprise mobility management solutions for seamless rollout. How HeyValue Shield works When a device looks up a website (a DNS query), HeyValue Shield checks the domain against your organization's security policies. Blocked domains are stopped before a connection is made, preventing threats and policy violations at the network layer. HeyValue Shield operates at the DNS level and does not inspect the content of web pages, messages or files. It controls which domains can be reached, providing a balance between security, privacy and performance. Use of VPN / Network Extension (required disclosure) HeyValue Shield uses Apple’s Network Extension framework to provide system-wide DNS filtering on iOS: β€’ HeyValue Shield can create an on-device β€œVPN-like” configuration (e.g., DNS Proxy or Packet Tunnel Provider) to securely handle DNS queries from all apps and browsers. β€’ Only DNS queries are processed for filtering and policy enforcement. Other internet traffic continues to use the normal network connection unless your deployment explicitly routes traffic through a tunnel. β€’ HeyValue Shield is not a general-purpose VPN. It does not change the device’s public IP address, hide location, bypass geo-restrictions or provide anonymous browsing. β€’ Network Extension permissions are required to apply DNS-based filtering consistently across the entire device. β€’ DNS requests are encrypted between the device and the filtering service (where supported by your configuration), helping protect integrity and privacy. HeyValue Shield uses Network Extension solely as a technical mechanism to enable DNS-based security and policy enforcement across all applications.

About

Focus Firewall

Features
Read full description

Focus Firewall puts a shield in front of the apps that eat your day. Choose what to block. Choose when. That is the whole app. WHAT IT DOES β€’ Block Now β€” one stretch of focus, from 15 minutes to four hours. β€’ Rules β€” recurring schedules that run on their own, without you opening anything. "No social media, weekdays 9 to 12." β€’ A real shield β€” open a blocked app and you get a full screen and a short written prompt instead. β€’ Per-app breaks β€” need one app for a minute? Take a break that opens only that app. Everything else stays shielded. β€’ Insights β€” streaks and sessions, counted from what actually happened. PRIVACY IS THE POINT No account. No server. No analytics. No third-party SDKs. There is no networking code in this app at all, so there is nothing to send and nowhere to send it. When you choose apps to block, iOS hands the app opaque tokens β€” never names. Focus Firewall never learns which apps you picked. Your iPhone draws the icons and names itself. Your Screen Time data stays inside Apple's own sandbox and never reaches us. WHAT IT WILL NOT CLAIM Focus Firewall is not unbreakable, and will not pretend to be. You can always turn off Screen Time access in iOS Settings, and no app can prevent that. Strict Mode makes a rule harder to change while it is running β€” friction, not a lock. It also will not tell you how many hours you saved. That would mean knowing what you would otherwise have done. Everything in Insights comes from sessions the app itself recorded. And when something goes wrong β€” permission revoked, a shield that did not fire β€” it says so, instead of showing a reassuring checkmark. Settings β€Ί Protection check runs the whole thing end to end and reports each layer. FREE One recurring rule, three apps, Block Now up to an hour, real breaks, today's history. Not a trial. It works. FOCUS FIREWALL PRO Unlimited rules, website blocking, Strict Mode, daily app budgets, longer and more frequent breaks, weekly insights, the full coach library, your own prompts and shield message, interactive widgets, Face ID lock, and an encrypted backup. On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, Pro can also write your week up in plain words and turn a sentence into a rule β€” running entirely on device. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel in Settings β€Ί your name β€Ί Subscriptions. Privacy Policy: https://yuganshjain.github.io/focus-firewall/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://yuganshjain.github.io/focus-firewall/terms.html

Screenshots

HeyShield3 screens
Focus Firewall4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: HeyShield at none against Focus Firewall's 2. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Focus Firewall sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. HeyShield asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 4 level
HeyShield versus Focus Firewall: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeyShieldFocus Firewall
PriceFreeFree
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 β€” better18.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size9 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKonibitYugansh Jain

In-app purchases

None

HeyShield

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Focus Firewall

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly$29.991 Year

Questions

Is HeyShield free?
HeyShield is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Focus Firewall free?
Focus Firewall is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do HeyShield or Focus Firewall have ads?
Neither HeyShield nor Focus Firewall shows ads.

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