Idea Notes vs Focus Blade
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Idea Notes
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"Capture your ideas — don't let them disappear." Tweet-style notes, organized with hierarchical tags, rediscovered at random. Make brainstorming a daily habit with your own personal idea journal. "Idea Notes" is a brain dump app designed to capture every spark, insight, and thought the moment it strikes. Tired of complex note-taking apps where ideas get buried under deep folder structures, or simple memo apps where notes are written and forgotten? "Idea Notes" rescues your ideas from the "write and forget" trap. Organize ideas flexibly with hierarchical tags. Reconnect with past thoughts through random rediscovery. Works fully offline, so you can capture ideas on the go, in bed, or anywhere inspiration strikes. By recording even just one idea a day, brainstorming becomes a natural habit. Features: ・Quick Capture: From launch to input in just 2 taps. Catch every spark and insight before it fades. ・Hierarchical Tag Organization: Organize ideas with nested tags. Add multiple tags to a single idea for multi-angle reflection. ・Random Rediscovery: Our signature feature surfaces forgotten ideas at random. Let your past self help your present self. ・Daily Idea Notification: A local notification delivers one past idea each day, turning reflection into a habit. ・Powerful Full-Text Search: Search across all your notes — find anything in seconds. ・Offline-First: No Wi-Fi needed. Launches instantly, captures instantly, even when you're off-grid. ・Image Attachments: Attach images to ideas to capture visual sparks alongside your thoughts. ・Archive Function: Hide ideas you don't need right now without deleting. Restore them anytime. ・Export Support: Keep your ideas as a personal asset with flexible export options. Start the habit of turning sparks into assets with "Idea Notes." ■ Pro Plan By purchasing the Pro Plan, you can unlock the following features: ※ The Pro Plan is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. 【Pro Plan Features】 ・Ad-free for uninterrupted thinking ・Up to 8 photos per note (vs. 2 in free) ・Unlimited tags (vs. 10 in free) ・Up to 4 nested tag levels (vs. 2 in free) ・Custom priority labels (vs. 4 in free) ・Unlimited daily random rediscoveries (vs. 10 per day in free) ・19 premium themes (vs. 7 in free) ・Export to PDF and text (Pro exclusive) For more information, please refer to the following: 1. Privacy Policy: https://giversthankapp.com/privacy-policy-for-idea-notes-quick-capture-en/ 2. Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/us/terms.html
Focus Blade
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Put your phone down for 25 minutes. Only then can your blade reach the enemy. Focus Blade turns the Pomodoro timer into a retro RPG battle. Tap Fight, set your phone aside, and get back to your studies or your work. Every focus session, 10 to 25 minutes long, becomes a strike against a monster. - OPEN ANOTHER APP, AND THE ENEMY STRIKES BACK Leave the app during a focus session and the enemy readies an attack. Come back within 10 seconds, or take a counterattack and lose some of your gold. A second counterattack in the same battle hits even harder. Locking your screen and turning your phone face down is fine. The real enemy is the feed you open without thinking. - THE MONSTERS ARE YOUR DISTRACTIONS Notification imps, read-receipt eyeballs, message fairies... All 40 monsters in the tower are everyday distractions in disguise. The higher you climb, the more they come from inside your own head. - CLIMB A 10-FLOOR TOWER, ONE FOCUS SESSION AT A TIME Each floor hides a monster carrying a key. Defeat it to unlock the next floor. Bosses wait on every other floor. When your 5-minute break ends, the next monster appears. Leave it too long and it starts to heal. - THE MORE YOU FOCUS, THE STRONGER YOU GET Win battles to earn EXP, gold and gear. Collect 100 pieces of equipment across five slots: weapon, shield, armor, helmet and accessory. Each weapon type has its own attack animation. Choose your hero from 14 looks. - WEEKLY LEADERBOARD Compete with other adventurers on focus time each week and all-time. You get an automatic name like "Adventurer#a1B2c3". No sign-up, no login. - GREAT FOR YOU IF - You reach for your phone in the middle of studying or working - You like the Pomodoro Technique but get bored of plain timers - You want to build up study hours for exams or certifications - You love retro pixel-art RPGs - ALSO - 10 to 25-minute focus (your choice), 5-minute break - A notification warns you before the counterattack - Progress is saved on your device. No account needed - Pixel-art graphics and original music - Works on iPhone and iPad The Tower of Focus stands inside your own mind, right where you sit down to work. Put your phone down, and strike the first blow.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Focus Blade at none against Idea Notes's 1. Focus Blade also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Idea Notes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Focus Blade asks for nothing beyond the download.
Idea Notes ships an update every 3 weeks, Focus Blade every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Idea Notes | Focus Blade |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | RYOTA SUZUKI | Tsubasa Tanabe |
In-app purchases
Idea Notes
- Pro Plan$12.99
Focus Blade
No in-app purchases









