Comparison

Cadence vs FocusDown

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

Head to head
About

Cadence

This app helps you build positive routines or break bad ones with a focus on daily progress. It offers flexible tracking options, visual progress overviews, and on-device data privacy. Unlock unlimited habits and sync features with a one-time purchase.

Highlights
  • Flexible habit scheduling
  • Visual progress grids and heatmaps
  • Momentum rings for 30-day performance
  • Apple Watch and widget support
  • Actionable lock screen alerts
  • Private, on-device data storage
Features
Read full description

Cadence is a calm, strictly private habit tracker with no subscriptions that helps you focus on your daily progress. No cluttered interfaces and no account signups. Whether you want to build a positive routine or break a bad one, Cadence gives you the clarity to actually stick to it. Log habits by hand, or connect Apple Health and let them log themselves. AUTOMATIC WITH APPLE HEALTH • Connect Once: Link a habit to a Health metric like steps, workouts, water, sleep, or mindful minutes. • Logs Itself: The moment you reach your goal, Cadence marks the habit done for you. Your streak keeps going without a single tap. • You Decide: Connect only the habits you want, and switch it off any time. TRACK IT YOUR WAY • Target Goals: Set "at least" goals to build up or "at most" limits to cut back. • Simple Habits: Track "yes or no" routines like reading or meditating. • Any Schedule: Every day, specific weekdays, 3 times a week, 5 times a day, every other day. If it fits your life, Cadence can track it. • Skip Days: Mark a day as "not applicable" without breaking your streak. Life happens. SEE THE FULL PICTURE • Overview: Your home base to visualize all your habits and progress at a glance. • The Visual Grid: View your long-term consistency on a beautifully color-coded calendar heat map. • Habit Details: Track streaks, personal bests, and completion rates across weeks, months, and years. • Momentum Rings: Instantly gauge your 30-day rolling performance directly from your habit list. ON YOUR WRIST & HOME SCREEN • Apple Watch: Log habits and check your progress right from your wrist. No phone needed. • Widgets: Keep a single habit front and center with small widgets, or track your entire day at a glance. • Heatmap Widget: Put one habit's recent weeks on your Home Screen as a grid of days, shaded by how much you did, with its ring beside them. STAY ON TRACK • Actionable Alerts: Log a habit as "Done" or "Skip" directly from your lock screen without opening the app. • Smart Reminders: Nudges that adapt to you. Hit your weekly goal early, and Cadence stays quiet until next week. • Daily Notes: Attach context to any entry (like noting the weather for a run). • Adaptive Theming: Full support for Light and Dark modes with a carefully curated 28-color palette. YOUR DATA, YOUR BUSINESS Cadence has no analytics, no tracking SDKs, and no data harvesting. Your habit data lives locally on your device, with free iCloud sync through your private Apple account. Cadence reads Health data on your iPhone and never sends it to us or third parties. Health-derived habit entries may sync through your private iCloud when iCloud Sync is enabled. FREE VS. UNLOCKED Use Cadence completely free for up to 4 active habits, including full iCloud sync. Need more? A single one-time purchase unlocks Cadence: • Unlimited active habits • CSV data export and import • Home Screen widgets • Apple Watch app • All future updates No subscriptions. No auto-renewals. Pay once, own it forever.

About

FocusDown

This app encourages users to put their phone down by using a face-down timer. It detects movement and tilting to remind you to stay focused until the session ends. Build better focus habits with dedicated sessions for studying, work, or reading.

Highlights
  • Face-down focus timer
  • Custom session duration
  • Movement and tilt reminders
  • Focus history tracking
  • Daily and weekly statistics
  • Achievement badges
Features
Read full description

FocusDown helps you put your phone down — literally. Start a focus session, place your iPhone face down on a flat surface, and stay away from distractions until the timer ends. Unlike a normal focus timer, FocusDown turns the simple act of flipping your phone over into a clear commitment. During a session, it helps detect movement, tilting, or picking up the phone and gives you a timely reminder so you can return to focus. Great for: * Studying * Deep work * Reading * Exam prep * Writing * Meetings * Phone-free breaks Main features: * Face-down focus timer * Custom session duration * Movement and tilt reminders * Focus history * Daily and weekly statistics * Achievement badges * Calm dark interface How it works: 1. Choose a focus duration. 2. Tap Start. 3. Place your iPhone face down on a flat surface. 4. Stay focused until the session ends. FocusDown does not block other apps. It helps you build a stronger focus habit by making your phone physically harder to pick up. Put your phone down. Stay with one thing. Build better focus, one session at a time. 1. This service is a subscription based paid service, which means you will prepay for future subscription usage. You can currently choose to use this service on a quarterly basis. At the end of each subscription period, your subscription will automatically renew by default, unless you cancel the automatic renewal yourself or we cancel the service. 2. Unsubscribe: To cancel the renewal, please cancel at least 24 hours in advance. You can unsubscribe by opening System Settings, clicking on Apple ID, clicking on Subscription, selecting Premium, and then unsubscribing. 3. Restore purchase: If you receive a prompt saying "You have already subscribed to this project" during the payment process and confirm that you have completed the purchase before, you can click "Restore Purchase" in the upper right corner to restore the purchase. Membership Service Agreement and Automatic Renewal Agreement: https://gcn1s2rmayw3.feishu.cn/wiki/YgqKwPdJmiH0ulkF92kco1CznCg?from=from_copylink Privacy Policy: txhttps://gcn1s2rmayw3.feishu.cn/wiki/SGBIwmUWCiPWoWktE5sclLRgnol?from=from_copylink

Screenshots

Cadence4 screens
FocusDown4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Cadence at free with in-app purchases against FocusDown's subscription. Cadence also leads on ratings volume (9 vs 1). FocusDown's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Cadence sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and FocusDown sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Cadence against 5.0 for FocusDown. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cadence has 9 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cadence ships an update every 10 days, FocusDown every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Cadence versus FocusDown: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCadenceFocusDown
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (9 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings9 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHyundoh Kim春城 贾

Customer experience

Cadence

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

FocusDown

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Cadence

One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$2.99
3 purchases

FocusDown

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Member$3.991 Month
  • Annual Member7 Days trial$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Cadence free?
Cadence is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is FocusDown free?
FocusDown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Cadence or FocusDown?
Cadence and FocusDown are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 9 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Cadence or FocusDown have ads?
Neither Cadence nor FocusDown shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cadence or FocusDown?
Cadence ships an update every 10 days, and FocusDown every 9 days. Most recently, Cadence was updated on October 7, 2026 and FocusDown on September 30, 2026.

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