Comparison

Ice Study vs Glass Notes

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

Head to head
About

Ice Study

A calming focus timer that uses the visual of melting ice to encourage concentration during study or work sessions. It offers customizable durations, Pomodoro mode, and ambient sounds to create a distraction-free environment.

Highlights
  • Visual melting ice timer
  • Customizable focus durations
  • Pomodoro mode with breaks
  • Ambient soundscapes
  • Daily goal and streak tracking
  • Minimalist interface
Features
Read full description

Ice Study is a calm visual focus timer for studying, deep work, and Pomodoro sessions. Pick a duration, start your session, and watch a cup of ice slowly melt as you focus. No anxious progress bars. No noisy pressure. Just ice becoming water while you get work done. A focus timer you can feel Choose 25, 50, or 90 minutes, or set your own custom focus session. As time passes, the ice cubes shrink, water rises, droplets form on the glass, and tiny drips fall. When the ice is gone, your session is complete. Pomodoro mode for study sessions Use four 25-minute focus blocks with 5-minute breaks between them. After each break, the cup refills so you can begin the next round with a clean visual reset. Built for calm deep focus Ice Study helps students, writers, coders, remote workers, and people who prefer ADHD-friendly focus routines stay with one task at a time. The app is intentionally minimal, so you can focus without social pressure, aggressive gamification, or clutter. Ambient sounds for concentration Add rain, cafe ambience, ocean waves, or warm white noise when you want a softer study environment. Keep it quiet when you prefer silence. Gentle progress without shame Track daily goals and streaks in a lightweight way. Ice Study encourages consistency without nagging you or making productivity feel stressful. No account required Your sessions, streaks, goals, and preferences are stored locally on your device. Use Ice Study for Study sessions, exam prep, homework, reading, writing, coding, remote work, deep work, ADHD-friendly focus routines, Pomodoro sessions, and quiet productivity. Focus until the ice melts. Privacy Policy: https://icestudy.app/privacy.html

About

Glass Notes

Capture thoughts with visually appealing glass cards that change color based on their background. Organize notes with color tags, checklists, and folders. Protect your private entries with Face ID and access them easily via home screen widgets.

Highlights
  • Visually appealing glass card design
  • Color-coded note organization
  • Interactive checklists
  • Folder-based note grouping
  • Face ID/Passcode protection
  • Home screen widgets
  • Private data storage
Features
Read full description

Write, plan and keep private information on translucent, colorful glass cards. Capture tasks, checklists, photos, scans, drawings and voice notes in one polished workspace for iPhone and iPad. Start free with up to 10 notes. One purchase unlocks unlimited notes, with no subscription, ads, tracking or account. CUSTOMIZE YOUR WORKSPACE Create translucent glass cards and choose any HEX color for notes, folders, text and the app accent. Use bold and italic text with nine text colors. CAPTURE MORE Add photos, scan documents and search for text found inside images. Record voice notes with on-device transcription. Draw by hand with Apple Pencil. ORGANIZE EVERYTHING Create checklists with progress indicators. Group content into folders and tags, then filter tags in one tap. Use calendar view and reminders. Select multiple notes to move, share or delete them together. SEARCH AND SHARE Spotlight searches your notes, while locked notes are never indexed. Share notes as images or PDFs. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Protect private notes with Face ID or a passcode. Recently Deleted retains removed notes for 30 days. WIDGETS AND iPAD Add Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for quick access. Use the iPad sidebar layout for efficient navigation. DESIGNED FOR iOS 26 Glass Notes is built for iOS 26 and Apple's Liquid Glass design, bringing a translucent, modern interface to your everyday writing. FREE TO START Keep up to 10 notes for free. One purchase unlocks unlimited notes, forever. No subscription. No ads. No tracking. No account.

Screenshots

Ice Study4 screens
Glass Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

Ice Study and Glass Notes both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Ice Study's written reviews are positive against 50% of Glass Notes's. Ice Study also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). Glass Notes's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 8 days vs monthly). On price, rating, in-app purchases and device support 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. Ice Study sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Glass Notes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 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 Ice Study against 5.0 for Glass Notes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Ice Study's written reviews are positive against 50% of Glass Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ice Study ships an update monthly, Glass Notes every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Ice Study versus Glass Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIce StudyGlass Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 8 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJTR Labs LLCBirkan Aksoy

Customer experience

Ice Study

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Glass Notes

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Ice Study

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$9.99
1 purchases

Glass Notes

One-time1
  • Glass Notes Full Access$4.99

Questions

Is Ice Study free?
Ice Study is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Glass Notes free?
Glass Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ice Study or Glass Notes?
Ice Study and Glass Notes are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do Ice Study or Glass Notes have ads?
Ice Study shows ads; Glass Notes does not.
Which is updated more often, Ice Study or Glass Notes?
Ice Study ships an update monthly, and Glass Notes every 8 days. Most recently, Ice Study was updated on October 24, 2026 and Glass Notes on October 31, 2026.

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