Comparison

SurveyNotes vs Focumo

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

Head to head
About

SurveyNotes

This professional tool assists surveyors, engineers, and contractors with precise grade and elevation calculations in the field. It functions as a digital field book, recording instrument setups, benchmark elevations, and foresight shots with timestamps. Export your data as professional PDFs for easy sharing.

Highlights
  • Differential leveling calculations
  • Instrument setup in seconds
  • Session-based field book recording
  • Professional PDF export
  • Offline functionality
  • Custom measurement keyboard
  • Dark mode interface
Features
Read full description

SurveyNotes is a professional differential leveling tool built for surveyors, engineers, and contractors who need a reliable field book in their pocket. Set up your instrument in seconds. Enter your benchmark elevation and backsight rod reading and SurveyNotes instantly calculates your Height of Instrument. From there, enter any desired elevation and get the exact rod reading you need to hit grade. FIELD BOOK RECORDING Every shot you record is saved to a session-based field book — organized by instrument setup, exactly the way a real level book works. Each session stores your benchmark, backsight, HI, and every foresight shot with notes and timestamps. PROFESSIONAL PDF EXPORT Export any session as a clean, print-ready PDF formatted like a traditional differential leveling field book. Share it by email or AirDrop directly from the app. BUILT FOR THE FIELD • Works completely offline — no account, no internet required • Dark mode interface easy on the eyes in all lighting conditions • Custom measurement keyboard supporting decimal feet, feet-inches, and fractions to the nearest 1/16" • Sessions are saved automatically and available across app launches SURVEYING TERMINOLOGY SurveyNotes uses standard differential leveling terminology — Benchmark (BM), Backsight (BS), Height of Instrument (HI), and Foresight (FS) — so it fits naturally into any professional workflow. All data is stored locally on your device and never transmitted anywhere.

About

Focumo

Features
Read full description

Light an ember. Focus for 25 minutes. Watch it burn down, one tick at a time. Focumo is a Pomodoro timer designed for calm. No clutter, no ads, no accounts — just a beautiful ember ring that keeps you honest, and the stats to prove you showed up. THE EMBER RING Every minute of your session is a glowing tick. As you focus, ticks burn out one by one; the active tick breathes slowly, like an ember. When the ring goes dark, you're done — take your break. Breaks refill the ring in cool sage and lavender. TASKS THAT COUNT TOMATOES Add a task, give it an estimate, and every finished session counts toward it. See 2/4 on the timer and know exactly where you stand. No projects, tags, or due-date guilt just what you're working on right now. STATS THAT KEEP YOU COMING BACK Today's focus minutes and sessions. A 7-day chart. A 14-day streak strip and a monthly heatmap. Your all-time totals and a per-task breakdown — all on your device. TIMER YOU CAN TRUST The countdown is anchored to the clock, not the app. Lock your phone, switch apps, even restart — your session survives. A notification tells you when time is up, and the countdown lives in the Dynamic Island and on your Lock Screen. SOUND, IF YOU WANT IT Synthesized white, pink, and brown noise for focus. A gentle chime when the session ends. Or complete silence — your call. MAKE IT YOURS Custom durations for focus, short breaks, and long breaks. Auto-start options. Four themes, from ember-dark to paper-light. Seven languages — English, Tamil, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and French — with full right-to-left support. FREE, PRIVATE, YOURS Everything in Focumo is free. No subscription, no ads, no tracking, no account. Your data never leaves your device. Start one session. That's the whole trick and it works.

Screenshots

SurveyNotes4 screens
Focumo4 screens

Verdict

The call

SurveyNotes and Focumo are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
SurveyNotes versus Focumo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSurveyNotesFocumo
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.226.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNicholas VanderKlipMohamed Shafi

In-app purchases

None

SurveyNotes

No in-app purchases

None

Focumo

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SurveyNotes free?
SurveyNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Focumo free?
Focumo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SurveyNotes or Focumo have ads?
Neither SurveyNotes nor Focumo shows ads.

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