Focus Timer vs MindTime
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Focus Timer
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Some brains need something to hold onto before they can settle into work. Focus Timer gives them 110 sounds to hold onto — layered, looping, and timed. Open it, tap play, start working. No account. No onboarding. No ads. LAYER WHAT YOUR BRAIN LIKES Stack up to 6 sounds at once and set the volume of each one independently. Brown noise under rain. A fan under a keyboard. Whatever combination makes the room feel right. Save it and it's one tap away tomorrow. 110 SOUNDS IN 6 CATEGORIES Nature (24) — ocean waves, rivers, waterfalls, forest birds, crickets, frogs, whale songs Weather (16) — rain (light, heavy, monsoon, tropical), rain on a tent, on a tin roof, on a window, thunder, wind Ambient (39) — fireplace, campfire, fans, washing machine, singing bowls, wind chimes, heartbeat, and the textures: whispering, page turning, fabric rustling, bubble wrap, hair brushing, sand pouring, a cat purring Urban (19) — coffee shop, library, office, keyboard typing, pencil writing, train journey, subway, restaurant murmur Binaural (6) — delta, theta, alpha, 4Hz, solfeggio 432Hz and 528Hz White Noise (6) — white, pink, brown, green and blue noise, plus lo-fi vinyl crackle A FOCUS TIMER THAT STARTS AT 5 MINUTES Not 30. Some days the whole job is starting. Drag the dial to anything from 5 to 120 minutes, or run it open-ended. When the session ends you get a soft chime, not a jolt — and you can add time without restarting. STREAKS THAT DON'T PUNISH YOU Your focus days fill in a calendar. They never reset to zero. You will never get a notification telling you that you broke something, or watch anything die because you stopped early. Stopping early is allowed here. SEE THE MINUTES ADD UP Every session is logged automatically. Minutes focused this week, your longest session, which mixes you actually come back to, and which ones you abandon. All on-device. KEEPS PLAYING WHILE YOU WORK Lock the phone or switch apps — the mix keeps running, with controls on the lock screen. WORKS OFFLINE Every sound is bundled with the app. Nothing streams, nothing buffers, nothing needs a connection. Sounds start the instant you tap. WHY FOCUS TIMER - Playing in under 5 seconds from launch - No account, no onboarding, no ads — free or paid - Background playback with lock screen controls - Restores your last session when you reopen - Nothing leaves your device. No analytics, no tracking FAIR PRICING The free version is genuinely usable: 18 sounds, 3 layers, 3 saved mixes, and every session length — 5 to 120 minutes, or open-ended. Pro unlocks all 110 sounds, 6 layers, unlimited saves and full history. Buy it yearly, or buy it once and never think about it again. ABOUT THE RESEARCH Many people with ADHD say steady background noise helps them settle in. A 2024 meta-analysis in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (13 studies, 335 participants) found a small but statistically significant benefit of white and pink noise on task performance in young people with ADHD — and, notably, the opposite effect in people without it. The mechanism is still debated. Focus Timer is a wellness app, not a medical device, and it does not diagnose or treat anything. Talk to a clinician about ADHD. Open it. Pick a sound. Start. For more details, please refer to our privacy policy and terms of use. Privacy policy: https://sites.google.com/view/nguyendangnam-privacy-policy/home Term of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
MindTime
This app offers a customizable meditation timer with various bell sounds and session types. Track your progress, build daily streaks, and reflect with an optional journal. Enjoy a distraction-free experience designed to support your mindfulness practice.
- Customizable timer durations
- Choice of 8 meditation bells
- Interval bells with adjustable volume
- Four session types (Meditation, Sleep, Focus, Relaxation)
- Daily streaks and practice tracking
- Optional journaling feature
- Cloud sync across devices
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A silent meditation timer that gets out of the way. No guided voices, no feed, no ads — just a bell, your breath, and the time you choose. Most meditation apps want your attention. MindTime gives it back. Set a duration, pick a bell, and sit. When you finish, your streak, your stats and your journal are waiting — and nothing else is. Built for a real practice MindTime is the timer, not a content library. It is made for people who already sit: vipassana and insight meditation, zen and zazen, mindfulness and MBSR, samatha and anapanasati, metta, breathwork, yoga nidra — or simply sitting quietly for ten minutes a day. Silent by design • No voices, ever: nothing talks over your session. No guided tracks, no teacher, no feed to scroll. • Vibration-only mode: feel your interval bells instead of hearing them — made for retreats, shared rooms, offices, dorms and late nights beside a sleeping partner. • Fully silent mode: or switch every sound off and let the session simply end. • No ads, no interruptions: nothing appears while you are sitting. Your timer, your way • Any duration: from seconds to hours — or endless mode with no time limit at all. • Warm-up phase: settle in before the session really begins. • Presets: save your usual sit and start it with a single tap. • Four session types: Meditation, Sleep, Focus and Relaxation, each with its own statistics. Six interval bells that bring you back • Six recorded bells: three Tibetan singing bowls (Manipuri, Jambati, Thadobati), a crystal bowl, a Hanchi gong and Koshi chimes. • Start, interval and end bells: set each one separately — ring every 5 minutes, every 10, or at any interval you like. • Independent volumes: every bell has its own level, so nothing ever jolts you out of a sit. • Or no bell at all: vibration only, or complete silence. 31 soundscapes — entirely optional • Noise: brown noise, light brown and intense brown noise, white noise, pink noise, green noise and blue noise. • Rain and nature: gentle rain, heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, rain on a van, ocean waves, a mountain river, forest birds and crackling fire. • Ambient and frequency: zen garden stream, choir pad, cosmic space, 174 Hz, 285 Hz and 528 Hz. • Silence is the default: mix a soundscape under your session only when you want one. Build the habit • Daily streaks: see your consistency at a glance. • Real statistics: total sessions, total minutes and average session length, broken down by type. • Weekly view: the days you actually practiced. • Gentle reminders: stay on track without being nagged. Reflect with a journal • Session notes: capture what came up while it is still fresh. • History: browse back through weeks and months to notice patterns. • Optional: turn journaling off in Settings and never see it again. Distraction-free by design • Hide the clock: show or hide the countdown and the progress circle — some people focus better without a number. • Screen stays on: your phone never interrupts a sit. • Gentle fade-out: eases you out of the session instead of cutting it off. • Cloud sync: presets, history and streaks stay in step across your devices. • No sign-up needed: open the app and start. The timer and all six bells work offline. Available in 38 languages. Website: https://mindtime.app Terms: https://mindtime.app/terms Privacy: https://mindtime.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Focus Timer at none against MindTime's 2. MindTime's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and device support (4 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
Both are free to download. MindTime sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Focus Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.
Focus Timer ships an update every 2 months, MindTime weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Focus Timer | MindTime |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.8 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 150 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dang Nam Nguyen | Christian Krueger |
In-app purchases
Focus Timer
No in-app purchases
MindTime
- MindTime Premium Subscription$9.991 Year
- MindTime Premium$19.99
Questions
Is Focus Timer free?
Is MindTime free?
Do Focus Timer or MindTime have ads?
Which is updated more often, Focus Timer or MindTime?
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