Comparison

Dark Surf vs Sprout Focus

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

Head to head
About

Dark Surf

Enhance your browsing experience with a customizable dark theme for Safari. Adjust shade, contrast, saturation, and image settings. Schedule dark mode or set it per-site.

Highlights
  • Customizable dark theme
  • Adjustable shade and contrast
  • Saturation and image handling
  • Scheduling for dark mode
  • Per-site theme controls
  • Preset themes (Midnight, Warm, AMOLED, Gray)
Features
Read full description

Dark Surf gives Safari a thoughtful dark mode for every website. Instead of painting over pages, Dark Surf reads each site’s own design and rebuilds it in the dark. Backgrounds and cards turn deep and calm, text stays crisp, and the colors that carry meaning, like buttons, links, warnings and highlights, keep their character. Photos stay natural. SMART BY DEFAULT • Leaves websites that already have a dark design alone • Keeps dark logos, icons and formulas visible • Keeps text on top of photos readable • Handles modern websites built with CSS variables, Tailwind, Bootstrap and web components MAKE IT YOURS • Six themes: Midnight, Ocean, Dim, Warm, Graphite and true-black AMOLED • Build your own palette from any colors • Fine-tune brightness and contrast, and choose how images look • See every change instantly in a live preview that runs Safari’s own Dark Surf engine YOUR RULES • Switch any website between Dark, Invert and Off right from Safari • Keep lists of websites that are always dark, inverted or never themed • Follow a schedule or your device’s Dark Mode, or pause for an hour PRIVATE BY DESIGN Pages are recolored on your device. Dark Surf has no account, no analytics, no ads and no tracking, and never sends the pages you visit to anyone. Dark Surf is a Safari extension. After installing, turn it on in Settings › Apps › Safari › Extensions. The app shows you how.

About

Sprout Focus

Features
Read full description

Grow your focus, one session at a time. Sprout Focus turns deep work into a garden. Set a timer, lock your phone in your Sprout Focus planter, and watch a seed grow into a blooming plant while you stay focused. Pick up your phone too early and it never blooms — finish the session and your garden grows. Features • Pair with your Sprout Focus device over Bluetooth to physically lock away distractions • Watch your plant grow in real time as your focus session counts down • Tag sessions — studying, work, reading, exercise, meditation and more • Track your garden: total focus time, streaks, daily goals, and a breakdown of what you grew • Set a daily growth goal and gentle reminders to keep your streak alive Plant a session, stay present, and let your focus bloom.

Screenshots

Dark Surf4 screens
Sprout Focus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sprout Focus at 5.0 against Dark Surf's 3.0. Sprout Focus also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sprout Focus holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Dark Surf versus Sprout Focus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDark SurfSprout Focus
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB28 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperVali MikayilovCoding Minds, Inc.

Customer experience

Dark Surf

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Sprout Focus

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Dark Surf

No in-app purchases

None

Sprout Focus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dark Surf free?
Dark Surf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sprout Focus free?
Sprout Focus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dark Surf or Sprout Focus?
Sprout Focus is rated higher. Dark Surf averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Sprout Focus averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Dark Surf or Sprout Focus have ads?
Neither Dark Surf nor Sprout Focus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dark Surf or Sprout Focus?
Dark Surf ships an update every 4 months, and Sprout Focus every 4 months. Most recently, Dark Surf was updated on October 13, 2026 and Sprout Focus on October 24, 2026.

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