App Blocker & Focus Timer vs Circuit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
App Blocker & Focus Timer
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Put your phone on lockdown and get real work done. FocusLock is a deep work timer with a built-in app blocker: start a focus session and iOS Screen Time shields the distracting apps you picked until your time is up. Most timers just count minutes while your worst app stays one tap away. FocusLock pairs a precise wall-clock timer with Apple's Family Controls, so the apps that break your focus are actually shielded during the session โ chosen privately by you in Apple's own picker, never seen by us. WHAT YOU GET โข Start a 15, 25, 45, 60 or 90 minute session and the apps you chose go behind a shield until it ends โข A wall-clock timer that survives backgrounding and relaunch โ the minutes you log are minutes that really passed โข Zen Mode: a quiet full-screen clock that keeps the display awake, with nothing else on screen โข A daily goal with current and best streaks โ hit today's minutes and the chain stays alive โข Every session saved to a private on-device log: categories, notes, search, and a seven-day chart across Deep work, Study, Creative and Admin PERFECT FOR โข Students who need study blocks that social apps cannot interrupt โข Remote workers defending deep work hours from their own phone โข Writers, coders and creators tracking honest maker time โข Anyone breaking a phone habit one shielded session at a time WHY NOT JUST USE iOS SCREEN TIME LIMITS? System limits are easy to snooze and hard to aim at a single work block. FocusLock uses the same system power but ties it to a session with a start, an end, a goal and a log โ so you see exactly how many focused minutes you actually earned. If you deny or revoke the Screen Time permission, the timer still works and the app tells you plainly that shielding is off. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Sessions, goals, streaks and settings stay on this device. App selections are opaque Apple tokens โ FocusLock never learns which apps or websites you chose. No account, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. FULL ACCESS FocusLock requires a Full Access purchase: an auto-renewing Weekly or Yearly subscription, or a one-time Lifetime unlock. Every plan includes the session timer, app shielding, Zen Mode, the complete session archive, streaks and all-time totals. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled in your Apple ID settings at least 24 hours before the period ends. Start one session tonight: pick 25 minutes, shield your worst app, and watch the streak begin. Terms of Use: https://leanstudio.asia/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://leanstudio.asia/privacy-policy Support: support@leanstudio.asia
Circuit
This app helps you break free from phone addiction by blocking distracting apps and websites. It offers customizable timers, schedules, and strict modes to enforce focus, with motivational rewards for achieving goals.
- App blocking with customizable timers
- Scheduled focus sessions
- Strict mode for uninterrupted focus
- Daily app usage limits
- Always allowed apps
- Focus soundscapes
- Achievement coins and progress tracking
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Your phone is built to keep you scrolling. Circuit is built to stop it. Trip the breaker and the apps you can't put down stop opening. No negotiation, no notification to swipe away โ the app just doesn't come up until your time is done. THE BREAKER Hold the dial and your apps close: 15 minutes, 30, an hour and a half, or a whole quiet day. Start it in the app, from Control Center, or by asking Siri. A Live Activity keeps the timer on your Lock Screen the whole time. SCHEDULES Name a set of apps and give it hours. Study on weekday evenings. Sleep from 22:30 to 07:00. Work nine to five. Schedules run themselves, so being disciplined stops being something you have to remember. FRICTION, NOT WILLPOWER Reach for a blocked app and there's a breath to take, a countdown to sit through, or a sentence to type before anything opens. Usually the urge is gone before the timer is. STRICT MODE For the sessions that matter: no early exit, no five more minutes. You set it, and that's that. DAILY LIMITS Give one app a budget โ thirty minutes of Instagram a day. When it's spent, it's spent until tomorrow. ALWAYS ALLOWED Some apps are never blocked, whatever else is running. Maps, your bank, whoever you'd need at 2am. SOUND TO WORK TO Rain, a fire, waves, brown noise, or a slow wordless pulse. One at a time, playing under whatever else you're listening to, and it keeps going with the screen off. 28 LEGENDARY COINS Every milestone earns a famous coin of ancient Greece or Rome: the owl of Athens for a schedule kept to the end, Caesar's elephant, the Colosseum of Titus, and for a thousand days in a row the gold EID MAR aureus of Brutus, one of three known. Tap the coin on Home to see all 28 and what each one takes. Every coin you earn opens its story, a few things most people don't know about it, what one sold for at auction, and the museums where you can see one. Real coins, every fact checked against museum and auction records. HONEST NUMBERS Time blocked each day, your streak, this week against last, and a report every Sunday. Your real Screen Time usage sits alongside it, drawn by Apple itself. PRIVATE BY CONSTRUCTION No account. Circuit blocks through Apple's Screen Time, which means it cannot see which apps you picked โ only draw their icons. Your choices, schedules and stats stay on your phone. What leaves it is an anonymous count of which screens get opened โ one switch in Settings stops it โ and a crash report if Circuit falls over. Circuit Pro is $59.99/year with a 7-day free trial, $12.99/month, or $4.99/week. One subscription covers your Family Sharing group. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless turned off at least 24 hours before the current period ends; manage or cancel it in App Store settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://circuitapp.app/legal#privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Circuit at daily against App Blocker & Focus Timer's every 4 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. App Blocker & Focus Timer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Circuit sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
App Blocker & Focus Timer ships an update every 4 months, Circuit daily. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | App Blocker & Focus Timer | Circuit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | โ | 0.0% of reviews |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Daily โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | โ | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad โ better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 โ better | 18.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | LEAN ASIA CO., LTD | Vasily Lukin |
In-app purchases
App Blocker & Focus Timer
- Digital Detox Weekly$4.997 Days
- Pomodoro Yearly$24.991 Year
- Concentration Lifetime$49.99
Circuit
- CircuitAI Pro$7.991 Month
- CircuitAI Advanced$15.991 Month
Questions
Is App Blocker & Focus Timer free?
Is Circuit free?
Do App Blocker & Focus Timer or Circuit have ads?
Which is updated more often, App Blocker & Focus Timer or Circuit?
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