Comparison

Private Writer Markdown Editor vs Orbital Focus

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

Head to head
About

Private Writer Markdown Editor

A fast, distraction-free writing application focused on privacy and security. It offers a clean interface for writing in Markdown or plain text with live formatting and auto-save. All your notes are stored locally and can be locked with a PIN.

Highlights
  • Markdown and plain text writing
  • Live formatting
  • Auto-save
  • Local data storage
  • PIN app lock
  • PDF export
  • Search and pin notes
Features
Read full description

▶ Private Writer – Write. Lock. Own your notes. ▶ Private Writer is a fast, distraction-free writing app built for people who care about privacy and focus. ▶ No account. No cloud. No tracking. Just write. ▶ Fast & Clean Writing ▷ Write in Markdown or plain text ▷ Live formatting while you type ▷ Smooth, lag-free editing ▷ Auto-save instantly — never lose your work ▶ Beautiful Preview ▷ Switch to a clean full preview ▷ Perfect for reading and reviewing ▷ Distraction-free layout ▶ Stay Organized ▷ Search by title and content ▷ Pin important notes ▷ Find everything instantly ▶ Private by Default ▷ Lock app with a 6-digit PIN ▷ All data stored locally ▷ No account • No cloud • No tracking ▶ Export Anytime ▷ Export notes as clean PDF ▷ Share or save anywhere ▶ Built for Focus Private Writer removes everything you don’t need. • No setup • No clutter • No distractions Just a calm space to think and write. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Orbital Focus

This app transforms focus sessions into space missions, with longer focus times leading to higher orbits. It features customizable missions, a living 3D Earth visualization, and gamified progress tracking. Optional app blocking and ambient soundscapes enhance concentration.

Highlights
  • Themed focus sessions with space mission progression
  • Living 3D Earth visualization with real-time data
  • Gamified progress tracking with ranks and rewards
  • Optional app blocking for distraction-free work
  • Ambient focus music and soundscapes
  • Live Activities and Apple Watch companion app
Features
Read full description

Your attention is the most powerful engine you own. Orbital Focus turns every focus session into a rocket launch — pick a destination, strap in, and the only way to arrive is to stay on task. The longer you focus, the higher you fly. A 15-minute warm-up is a suborbital hop. 25 minutes is one clean orbit of Earth. A focused hour parks you in geostationary orbit, 35,786 km up. Push past 90 minutes and you leave Earth orbit entirely. Every minute is real thrust. HOW A MISSION WORKS • Pick a destination — a 15-minute Suborbital Hop, 25-minute Low Earth Orbit, a 45-minute rendezvous with Station Aurora, a full hour in High Earth Orbit, or a 90-minute Deep Space run to lunar distance. Each is a fixed block of focus. • Name your payload (the thing you're actually doing) and choose a crew role — Work, Study, Read, Create, Code, Write, Train, Plan, Chores, or Relax. • Feel the countdown. A cinematic haptic launch ritual — ignition rumble, Max-Q, stage separation — marks the real milestones of your session. • Fly a living 3D Earth. Watch your spacecraft climb its true trajectory over a hand-rendered planet with daylight, city lights, and every flight you've ever flown. • Coast phases = built-in breaks. Long missions split into burn segments with short coasts between them — pomodoro, in orbital mechanics. Fully configurable, or fly one unbroken burn. THE HANGAR Every focused minute earns Δv. Spend it across a fleet of real rockets — from the workhorse Falcon 9 to the mighty Falcon Heavy — and upgrade engines, tanks, and avionics. Launch from seven real-world pads: Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg, Baikonur, Kourou, Tanegashima, Wenchang, and Starbase. Premium also unlocks an exotic collection of legendary sci-fi capital ships, for pilots who want to fly something out of a movie. A LOYALTY PROGRAM FOR YOUR ATTENTION Climb six ranks, Cadet to Mission Commander, by logging real focus time. Ranks unlock new destinations and craft. Your lifetime distance is measured in light-seconds — and it only ever goes up. LAUNCH LOCKDOWN Optional app blocking powered by Apple's Screen Time. While a mission is in flight, your chosen distracting apps are shielded. Leave early and you don't crash — re-entries and pad scrubs still bank partial credit. Orbital Focus never punishes you for being human. THE CUPOLA Look out the window. Stream real satellite imagery of the world passing beneath your spacecraft — a live view from orbit, in flight. FOCUS MUSIC Download ambient flight-deck soundscapes on demand and cache them for offline sessions. Deep Space pilots can also pick a station skin — five orbital outposts to fly past. MISSION REPLAYS Scrub through recreated historic launches — Sputnik 1, Vostok 1, Crew Dragon Demo-2, the Space Shuttle and more — and watch them fly out on the same living globe. EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK Live Activities on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. An Apple Watch companion that flies on your wrist. Home Screen and Control Center widgets. Share your mission to a TV or the big screen. STREAKS, ACHIEVEMENTS, LOGBOOK Daily launch streaks, 16 achievements, and a full flight logbook with charts of where your hours actually go. ORBITAL FOCUS PREMIUM (optional) The core app is free, forever. Premium adds the live Cupola view, Advanced Insights and your full Flight Log, exclusive craft and destinations, and alternate app icons. Subscribe monthly or yearly, or unlock it once for life. Your focus minutes always bank — free or Premium. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No ads in the app. We never sell your data. Every mission record lives on your device, and Screen Time data never leaves your phone. Built for students, makers, writers, engineers, and anyone with ADHD-adjacent attention who needs the session to feel like it matters. Wheels stop. Mission complete. Fly again tomorrow. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Private Writer Markdown Editor4 screens
Orbital Focus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Private Writer Markdown Editor at daily against Orbital Focus's every 2 weeks. Private Writer Markdown Editor also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). Orbital Focus's advantage is ratings volume (11 vs 2) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Private Writer Markdown Editor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Orbital Focus sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 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 Private Writer Markdown Editor against 5.0 for Orbital Focus. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Orbital Focus has 11 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Private Writer Markdown Editor ships an update daily, Orbital Focus every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Private Writer Markdown Editor versus Orbital Focus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPrivate Writer Markdown EditorOrbital Focus
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews—88.9% of reviews
Number of ratings211 — better
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB301 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHai Nam TrinhRed Honey LLC

Customer experience

Private Writer Markdown Editor

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Orbital Focus

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Private Writer Markdown Editor

One-time1
  • Unlock Premium$1.99
3 purchases

Orbital Focus

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • LifetimeFree

Questions

Is Private Writer Markdown Editor free?
Private Writer Markdown Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Orbital Focus free?
Orbital Focus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Private Writer Markdown Editor or Orbital Focus?
Private Writer Markdown Editor and Orbital Focus are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 11 ratings respectively.
Do Private Writer Markdown Editor or Orbital Focus have ads?
Neither Private Writer Markdown Editor nor Orbital Focus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Private Writer Markdown Editor or Orbital Focus?
Private Writer Markdown Editor ships an update daily, and Orbital Focus every 2 weeks. Most recently, Private Writer Markdown Editor was updated on September 28, 2026 and Orbital Focus on September 20, 2026.

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