Comparison

Codex by Lloyd Barnes vs Focus by Joel Dickinson

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

Head to head
About

Codex by Lloyd Barnes

This app offers a rapid day-of-week calculation and a reference tool for various card stacks. It's designed for practice and quick lookups with customizable feedback options for different environments.

Highlights
  • Day of week calculator
  • Speak dates for weekday display
  • Optional haptic feedback
  • Customizable tones and volume
  • Reference for common card stacks
  • High-contrast interface
Features
Read full description

Codex is a fast day-of-week calculator and card-stack reference tool designed for practice, rehearsal, and quick lookup. It provides accurate results with flexible output options so you can use it in different environments. Day of Week Calculator - Enter or speak a date and Codex displays the correct weekday. - Optional haptic feedback and optional sounds can be enabled for hands-free or silent operation. Customisation - Configure haptic strength, timing, and patterns. - Choose optional tones and volume. Card & Stack Tools - Quick reference and practice utilities for common stacks and arrangements (e.g., Mnemonica, Aronson, Si Stebbins, Eight Kings, and more). - High-contrast, readable interface for rapid lookup. Codex is built to be quick, reliable, and easy to use—whether you’re practicing at home or reviewing information on the go.

About

Focus by Joel Dickinson

This app allows performers to reveal images participants are thinking of, either from their mind or a gallery. It offers multiple reveal modes and a natural interface, requiring no AI or internet during performance.

Highlights
  • Reveal thought-of images
  • Customizable image galleries
  • Multiple reveal modes
  • No AI or internet required
  • Instant reset
  • Smartwatch notifications
Read full description

A participant thinks of an image. Seconds later, you reveal what they are thinking. Your participant can either think of any image entirely in their mind within a category… or freely focus on an image from your gallery. No writing. No typing. No awkward procedure. No AI and no internet required during performance. Focus is a performance system built for magicians and mentalists, designed to create impossible thought-reading demonstrations using a completely natural gallery. “This has become a go-to for me. The reactions I get are absolutely insane.” — Joe Bainbridge Unlike many digital effects, Focus feels casual, organic, and genuinely natural in performance. The interface mirrors a real photo gallery, allowing the experience to unfold without suspicious handling, strange processes, or awkward procedure. Whether your participant thinks of an image in their mind or freely focuses on one from your gallery, the thought remains completely hidden. Use your own photographs, create custom galleries, and reveal thoughts in the way that best suits your performance style. Comes ready to perform with a built-in “Who Is It?” gallery, allowing you to start performing straight away. Built for real-world performance with instant reset, flexible handling options, optional smart watch notifications, and complete offline capability. Perfect for close-up, walkaround, social media, casual performing, content creators, and professional magic and mentalism routines. FEATURES • Create custom image libraries for different routines • Use your own photos from your gallery, files, or folders • Perform using either a freely thought-of image or a target gallery • Comes ready to perform with a built-in “Who Is It?” gallery • No AI • No internet required during performance • Choose different reveal modes for each routine • Instant reset • Flexible handling options • Optional notification system for compatible smart watches • Familiar gallery interface that feels natural and unforced • Fast, reliable, practical, and performance tested REVEAL MODES Focus is designed to reveal your participant’s thought in any way you want. If you simply want to secretly discover what your participant is thinking and reveal it later in your own way, Focus allows you to do that in seconds. Focus also includes several powerful built-in systems... Live Peek Secretly obtain the thought-of information with invisible handling. Reveal it naturally away from the screen, or receive the information through an optional notification system on your phone or compatible watch. Blind Reveal The participant interacts with the gallery while the phone remains face down. Somehow they still arrive at the exact image they are thinking of, this revelation happens in their own hands. Date Reveal A participant thinks of any image and any date. Moments later they discover that exact image was predicted long before the performance began, on the very date they are thinking of. Force Mode Focus doesn’t just reveal thoughts. It can secretly create them. Guide a participant to any image you choose while everything appears completely fair and natural. Mosaic Zoom out from a single image and watch the entire gallery visually transform into a giant mosaic revealing the participant’s exact thought. Falling Tiles The gallery shatters apart, exposing the single image the participant is merely thinking of beneath it. Polarise Shake the device and the gallery visually morphs into one clear image, the image held in the participant’s mind. Recently Added Sometimes the strongest methods are the simplest. Quietly identify the participant’s image using a deceptively innocent reveal process that feels completely genuine and impossible to backtrack. Turnover Appear to arrive at the wrong conclusion before the image unexpectedly transforms, revealing that you knew the participant’s thought all along. Designed for performers who want mentalism that feels impossible, fast, and real.

Screenshots

Codex by Lloyd Barnes4 screens
Focus by Joel Dickinson3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Codex by Lloyd Barnes at $49.99 against Focus by Joel Dickinson's $59.99. Codex by Lloyd Barnes also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Codex by Lloyd Barnes costs $49.99 and Focus by Joel Dickinson $59.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Codex by Lloyd Barnes ships an update every 9 days, Focus by Joel Dickinson every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and August 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Codex by Lloyd Barnes versus Focus by Joel Dickinson: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCodex by Lloyd BarnesFocus by Joel Dickinson
Price$49.99 — better$59.99
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLloyd BarnesJoel Dickinson

Customer experience

Codex by Lloyd Barnes

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Focus by Joel Dickinson

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Codex by Lloyd Barnes

No in-app purchases

None

Focus by Joel Dickinson

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Codex by Lloyd Barnes free?
Codex by Lloyd Barnes costs $49.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Focus by Joel Dickinson free?
Focus by Joel Dickinson costs $59.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Codex by Lloyd Barnes or Focus by Joel Dickinson have ads?
Neither Codex by Lloyd Barnes nor Focus by Joel Dickinson shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Codex by Lloyd Barnes or Focus by Joel Dickinson?
Codex by Lloyd Barnes ships an update every 9 days, and Focus by Joel Dickinson every 3 weeks. Most recently, Codex by Lloyd Barnes was updated on September 19, 2026 and Focus by Joel Dickinson on August 8, 2026.

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