Mini Focus Timer vs smalltype
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Mini Focus Timer
This minimalist timer uses the Pomodoro technique to help you focus for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. It features a simple interface with a circular dial and a large start button, offering focus, short break, and long break phases. Track your progress with daily, weekly, and monthly charts.
- Minimalist Pomodoro timer
- Focus, short break, long break phases
- Circular glass dial interface
- Home & lock screen widgets
- Apple Watch complications
- Daily, weekly, monthly focus charts
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Focus 25, rest 5. That's it. MiniFocus is the simplest Pomodoro timer for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch โ one glossy glass dial, one big start button, and a gentle ping when the phase ends. โข Three phases only โ focus, short break, long break โข Big circular glass dial in the iOS 26 Liquid Glass tone โข Home & lock screen widgets โ running timer ยท today stats ยท quick start โข Apple Watch complications โ your remaining time, always one glance away โข Universal โ iPhone, iPad, and a paired Apple Watch app, all in one โข Daily, weekly, monthly focus charts โข No sign-up. No ads. No tracking. No IAP. No account, no cloud โ everything lives on your device. The point isn't measuring time. It's not drifting away for 25 minutes.
smalltype
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Short notes, many times a day, saved as plain .md files in real folders. Open the same folder on your Mac in VS Code, Vim, or any editor. Calm, minimal, and ready for iPhone Duo. smalltype is for your notes. The small ones, the quick ones, the big ones, the unpolished ones. It's a fast, quiet place to type. ## Start No tutorial, no setup screen. Tap New Note and start typing. Leave one empty and it quietly disappears, so you never end up with a pile of blank untitled notes. That's the whole app. ## Yours Every note is a real .md file, sitting right there in the Files app. You can open it, copy it, or back it up yourself, anytime. Delete one and it still goes to Recently Deleted, same as any other file: nothing's gone for good. ## Sync or Don't Keep notes in iCloud Drive to have them on every device. Or keep them On My iPhone, fully local, never leaving your device. Either way, you can switch anytime. ## Visible Markdown Markdown markers stay gently visible as you type. What you see is exactly what's in the file. A bar above the keyboard types the markers for you, with undo and redo a tap away. ## Organize Folders, search, and quick note-making, all from one screen. Nothing to set up first. Put "daily" in a folder's name and new notes inside it get today's date as their name. ## No Catch No ads. No subscription. No tracking. No account, ever. Markdown notes. Yours to keep.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Mini Focus Timer at daily against smalltype's every 5 days. Mini Focus Timer also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Mini Focus Timer ships an update daily, smalltype every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mini Focus Timer | smalltype |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | โ |
| Update frequency | Daily โ better | Every 5 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | โ |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch โ better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lim Sangjin | Herman Haidin |
In-app purchases
Mini Focus Timer
No in-app purchases
smalltype
No in-app purchases









