Hourglow vs DOTS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hourglow
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Reclaim your time. Hourglow blocks the apps and websites that pull you in, so you can focus on what actually matters. Social media at work. Games before bed. Endless scrolling when you should be studying. Hourglow puts you back in control with a single tap. BLOCK DISTRACTIONS INSTANTLY Pick the apps, websites, or whole categories you want a break from, set a timer, and go. 15 minutes or 4 hours, focus starts now. SET IT AND FORGET IT Create recurring schedules that block automatically: work hours, study sessions, bedtime, the gym. Your focus runs on autopilot, every day. BLOCK BY PLACE Trigger blocks the moment you arrive somewhere. Walk into the office or the library and the distractions switch off by themselves. DAILY LIMITS Give yourself a budget. When you hit your daily minutes on an app, Hourglow steps in. STRICT MODE For the moments you would talk yourself out of it. Lock your blocks behind a PIN, a confirmation phrase, and a cool-down delay, so the spur-of-the-moment urge can't win. KEEP WHAT MATTERS WORKING Add an allowlist for the apps that should never be blocked, like phone, maps, messages, and accessibility tools. MAKE IT YOURS Replace the block screen with your own title and motivational message. A reminder of your goals every time you reach for a distraction. SEE YOUR PROGRESS Track the time you've reclaimed with clean weekly stats and insights. Watch your screen time drop. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Hourglow is built on Apple's Screen Time technology. Your data stays on your device. No accounts, no tracking, no sharing. Ever. HOURGLOW PREMIUM Unlock the full experience: - Unlimited apps and categories - Recurring and location-based schedules - Daily usage limits - Strict Mode - Detailed insights - Custom shield messages Try Premium free for 3 days. Cancel anytime. Start with a single block. Reclaim hours. Hourglow offers auto-renewing subscriptions: Annual (with a 3-day free trial) and Weekly. Prices are shown in the app. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Terms of Use: https://appfusionutilities.com/focusGuard/terms_of_use.html Privacy Policy: https://appfusionutilities.com/focusGuard/privacy_policy.html
DOTS
Visualize your finite time and protect it from distractions. Set daily app limits, schedule downtime, and track reclaimed hours to live more intentionally. Features include a life grid, focus mode, and weekly reflections.
- Life grid visualization
- Focus mode to block distractions
- Daily app time limits
- Scheduled downtime
- Weekly reflections
- Time reclaimed tracking
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You have one life. About 4,000 weeks, if you're lucky. DOTS shows you every single one - as a grid of dots - so the time you have stops being an abstraction and starts feeling real. Then it helps you protect it. THE LIFE GRID Each dot is one week of your life. See the weeks you've already lived, the one you're in right now, and the ones still ahead. It's a quiet, powerful reminder that your time is finite - and worth defending. FOCUS MODE Start a focus session and DOTS shields the apps that pull you away. No willpower battles, no endless scrolling. Just the space to do what actually matters to you. DAILY LIMITS Set a daily time budget for the apps that eat your hours. When you hit your limit, DOTS steps in with a calm reminder of the commitment you made to yourself not a guilt trip, just a nudge back to your intentions. MINDFUL BLOCKING Choose the apps and categories you want to manage. DOTS uses Apple's Screen Time technology to block them on your terms, for the time you decide. Everything is opt-in and fully in your control. WEEKLY REFLECTIONS Look back on how you spent your time, notice your patterns, and set intentions for the week ahead. Small, honest check-ins that compound into real change. BUILT FOR YOU, AND ONLY YOU DOTS manages your own device, for your own goals. It is not a parental-control or tracking app. Your usage data stays private - stored on your device and synced only to your personal iCloud. We don't collect it, sell it, or share it. WIND-DOWN The "just ten minutes" that becomes two hours, fixed. Set a bedtime window and a short allowance. You get your few minutes, a gentle heads-up as the time runs low, then your apps wind down until morning. Keep it and your sleep streak grows. SCHEDULED DOWNTIME Block the apps that pull you away on a schedule that fits your life - work hours, school, dinner, deep work. Set it once and it runs every day, on its own. PER-APP LIMITS Give each app its own daily budget instead of one shared timer. Keep essentials like Maps, your bank, and Messages always allowed, and get a heads-up a few minutes before a limit is reached. TIME WON BACK See the hours you reclaim from focus sessions and protected nights add up as a growing field of green dots. The cost of a screen is easy to feel - now the winnings are too. LIFE LIVED A ten-second daily check-in: did you actually use the time you saved the way you meant to? It builds a quiet record of the days you showed up for your own life, not just the time you saved. MILESTONES Count down to the dates that matter - a birthday, a goal, a someday - in weeks. Seal a letter to your future self that opens on the very day it arrives. ON YOUR LOCK SCREEN AND WITH SIRI Follow your focus countdown live on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, and start or end a session hands-free with a Shortcut. WHY DOTS IS DIFFERENT Most screen-time apps treat the symptom. DOTS starts with the why: a clear, visceral picture of how precious your time is. Once you feel that, blocking an app stops feeling like a restriction and starts feeling like a choice - your choice. Privacy Policy: https://novarch.lol/dots-privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://novarch.lol/dots-terms Your life. Your time. Your choice. Download DOTS and start protecting the weeks you have left.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: DOTS at every 8 days against Hourglow's every 3 months. Hourglow's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.1). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Hourglow sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and DOTS sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Hourglow ships an update every 3 months, DOTS every 8 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Hourglow | DOTS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 26.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Suna Ordulu | Novarch LLC |
In-app purchases
Hourglow
- Weekly$4.997 Days
- Annual3 Days trial$19.991 Year
DOTS
- Weekly Premium$1.997 Days
- Monthly Premium$4.991 Month
- Yearly Premium$29.991 Year
- Lifetime$49.99









