Comparison

The Square Is vs Mr Broccoli

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

Head to head
About

The Square Is

Features
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The Square Is - a daily ritual of digital resistance. We have lost the ability to be absent. The digital world is noise. The Square Is: the return to the zero of form. One hour of total black. No content. No scrolling. Leave the screen, and the session ends. THE DISCIPLINE Each day, the Square waits. You come when you are ready - morning, noon, or night. Three attempts. Every start consumes one, whether it ends in the journal or in a crack. The day does not grant a fourth. Once you begin, you do not leave. THE BLACKOUT Initiate the manifest. The screen becomes a solid black square. No content. No exits. No distractions. Just you and 60 minutes of total presence. THE REFLECTION After one hour, a solitary cursor appears. Record your thoughts. Or let them disappear. This is your choice. THE RECAP On the final day of each month, the Square reveals the sum of your resistance. An echo of your mind while the world was yours. WE REJECT THE ALGORITHM We reject the infinite scroll. We reject the constant "on". We value absence over engagement. We offer silence over content. A daily reminder is optional - a fixed hour, or a random one. Not a command. An invitation. You come on your own, or not at all. TOTAL CONFIDENTIALITY On iOS we store absolutely no data about you. No account. No name. No cloud. Your journal never leaves this device. THE INITIATION 7-Day Trial: experience the void. Keep it, or leave. Lifetime License: $9.99. In an era of endless subscriptions, reclaim the ritual once. This is not a tool. It is an act of liberation. Some of us choose the Square.

About

Mr Broccoli

Features
Read full description

Mr Broccoli is a voice-first AI app for people who already have their own provider accounts. Add your keys, choose exactly which model answers, and listen to the reply. Nothing routes through a server of ours, because there isn't one. BEFORE YOU BUY Mr Broccoli is built around your own API keys from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, xAI, Mistral, DeepSeek, OpenRouter or Alibaba Qwen. Your purchase gives you the app. It does not include AI usage — your provider bills you directly for what you use. TALK, DON'T TYPE • Speak, type or attach an image • Answers are read aloud, starting as soon as the first paragraph is ready • Skip by paragraph, pause, resume or restart playback • Drive Session for hands-free turns: it waits until you finish, counts down, sends, speaks the answer and listens again • Speech recognition using the system, an on-device model or your provider CHOOSE WHO ANSWERS • Save up to four routes — provider, exact model and reasoning effort • Switch between them mid-conversation without losing context • The home screen says who answers next and at what effort • Every answer records the route that actually produced it, including any fallback TUNE EACH CONVERSATION • Length: brief, normal or thorough • Tone: professional, casual, nerdy, concise, Socratic or ELI5 • Your own model and speech-delivery instructions • A specific voice per conversation Set defaults globally, override them per conversation. YOUR CONVERSATIONS • Kept in a local database on your device • Search, pin, archive, rename, share or delete • Fold and expand entries in one continuous transcript • Branch from any message to try another direction without losing the original • Lock individual conversations behind a password or biometrics MORE WHEN YOU WANT IT • Web search grounding, with sources attached to the answer • Council: several models answer, review each other, then one synthesises • Image prompts to compatible models • Optional recall from your past conversations, entirely on the device PRIVACY • No Mr Broccoli account and no Mr Broccoli server • Requests go straight from your device to the provider you chose • API keys stay in the operating system's secure storage — never in backups, logs or exports • A hosted provider still receives the request you send it YOURS TO KEEP • Full backups as readable JSON or passphrase-encrypted AES-256-GCM • Markdown archives to read anywhere or hand to another AI • Importing never overwrites what is already there 19 languages, including Arabic and Urdu right-to-left. Interface, dictation and answer language are set independently. Screen reader, large text, contrast and reduced-motion support throughout. WHAT IT DOESN'T DO No cloud account, no cross-device sync, no hosted inference, no included credits, no silent switching of your chosen model or voice, and no autonomous actions on your behalf. AI output is not medical, legal or financial advice. No subscription. Because there is no account system, a purchase on one store does not unlock the app on the other.

Screenshots

The Square Is4 screens
Mr Broccoli4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mr Broccoli at none against The Square Is's 1. Mr Broccoli also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. The Square Is sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Mr Broccoli asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Square Is ships an update every 3 months, Mr Broccoli every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
The Square Is versus Mr Broccoli: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Square IsMr Broccoli
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB57 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAna Maria DumbraveanuTobias Winkler

In-app purchases

1 purchases

The Square Is

One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$9.99
None

Mr Broccoli

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is The Square Is free?
The Square Is is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mr Broccoli free?
Mr Broccoli is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do The Square Is or Mr Broccoli have ads?
Neither The Square Is nor Mr Broccoli shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Square Is or Mr Broccoli?
The Square Is ships an update every 3 months, and Mr Broccoli every 3 weeks. Most recently, The Square Is was updated on October 25, 2026 and Mr Broccoli on October 29, 2026.

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