Comparison

Focus Train vs ShelfApp

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

Head to head
About

Focus Train

Enhance your focus with immersive railway journeys and ambient soundscapes. Track your progress like a travel log, unlock new destinations, and earn medals. This app offers a unique, atmospheric approach to productivity.

Highlights
  • Immersive focus journeys with satellite landscapes
  • Ambient soundscapes (train, rain, ocean, forest)
  • Gamified progress tracking and medal system
  • Cinematic views (satellite map or window mode)
  • Premium aesthetics with gesture-driven interface
  • Privacy-focused local data storage
Features
Read full description

Focus Train turns your productivity sessions into beautiful, scenic railway journeys. It is designed for students, deep workers, and dreamers who need an escape from distractions to find their flow. It has 3 primary features: - Immersive Focus Journeys: Transform your timer into a travel experience. Watch your train traverse real-world satellite landscapes as you work, with every minute bringing you closer to a new destination. - Ambient Soundscapes: Block out the noise with dynamic, high-quality audio environments. Choose from the rhythmic clatter of Train wheels, calming Raindrops, deep Ocean waves, or a peaceful Forest. - Gamified Progress: A tracking system that feels like a travel log. Record every trip in your history, track your total distance, unlock new stations, and earn medals as you master your focus. Cinematic Views: Switch between a detailed satellite map or an immersive "Window" mode to watch the world go by. Premium Aesthetics: A stunning, gesture-driven interface with liquid-glass effects, haptic feedback, and fluid animations. Privacy First: Your journey data and habits are stored locally on your device, respecting your privacy. Focus Train is a unique alternative to Forest, Flora, and generic Pomodoro timers for those seeking a more atmospheric and relaxing path to productivity! Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

ShelfApp

Organize and save links, books, recipes, podcasts, and videos for later. Keep important content accessible with titles, summaries, images, and notes. Ideal for thoughtful reads and useful references.

Highlights
  • Save links and content
  • Organize with notes and tags
  • Keep titles, summaries, and images
  • Share directly from other apps
  • Access saved content later
Read full description

ShelfApp is a quiet personal bookshelf for the web: save links, books, recipes, podcasts, videos, and posts you want to revisit later. Paste a link or share into ShelfApp from iOS. The app keeps the useful title, summary, image, notes, tags, and recipe details together so the good stuff does not disappear into a noisy feed. Use ShelfApp for thoughtful reads, useful references, trusted recommendations, and long-form nuggets you want to keep close.

Screenshots

Focus Train4 screens
ShelfApp4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ShelfApp at 5.0 against Focus Train's 4.0. ShelfApp also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks). Focus Train's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price 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. Focus Train sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. ShelfApp asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ShelfApp holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Focus Train ships an update every 2 weeks, ShelfApp every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Focus Train versus ShelfApp: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFocus TrainShelfApp
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size200 MB2 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperEloan TourtelierJon Keseley

Customer experience

Focus Train

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

ShelfApp

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

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Focus Train

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Yearly$17.991 Year
None

ShelfApp

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Focus Train free?
Focus Train is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ShelfApp free?
ShelfApp is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Focus Train or ShelfApp?
ShelfApp is rated higher. Focus Train averages 4.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while ShelfApp averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Focus Train or ShelfApp have ads?
Neither Focus Train nor ShelfApp shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Focus Train or ShelfApp?
Focus Train ships an update every 2 weeks, and ShelfApp every 4 days. Most recently, Focus Train was updated on October 12, 2026 and ShelfApp on October 8, 2026.

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