Comparison

AetherLife vs FocusPass

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

Head to head
About

AetherLife

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Aether is the all-in-one personal productivity app that keeps your life organized โ€” beautifully and privately. No subscriptions. No ads. No servers. Just your data, on your device. NOTES Write and organize your thoughts with a clean, distraction-free editor. Star your favorites, group by category, and find anything instantly with smart search. TASKS Stay on top of everything with a powerful to-do system. Set due dates, assign urgency levels, and get daily morning and evening reminders to keep you focused. CALENDAR A beautiful monthly calendar to plan your life. Add events, set reminders days in advance, and see everything at a glance. PASSWORDS Store your accounts and passwords securely on your device. Track subscriptions, billing cycles, and get notified before anything expires. INSURANCE & TABLES A unique spreadsheet-style tool to manage your insurance policies and any structured data you need โ€” with custom columns, formulas, and file attachments. PRIVACY FIRST Aether stores everything on your device and syncs privately via your personal iCloud. We have no servers, no accounts, and no access to your data โ€” ever. โ€” Sign in with Apple โ€” iCloud sync across all your devices โ€” Supports 13 languages โ€” One-time purchase. Yours forever.

About

FocusPass

Features
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Your distracting apps need a Pass. FocusPass blocks the apps you choose and lets you deliberately request short periods of access when you actually need them. When the Pass ends, the app locks again on its own. PROTECT. CHOOSE. RETURN. BLOCK THE DISTRACTIONS Pick apps, whole categories or websites with Apple's own Screen Time picker. Opening one shows a native shield: PROTECTED. You chose to protect this app. CHOOSE BEFORE OPENING Every shield offers two choices. GO BACK and return to what you were doing, or USE A PASS. Pick a length (for example 5, 10 or 15 minutes) and an optional reason like Reply, Post, Check something or Research, as a note to yourself. AUTOMATICALLY RELOCK The relock is scheduled with iOS before the app opens, so protection resumes when the Pass ends even if FocusPass is closed. End a Pass early anytime. An optional Reset Window stops one Pass from turning into three. EVERY GO BACK COUNTS Each time you choose Go Back at a shield, FocusPass records one Focus Save. It counts the choice honestly, with no invented minutes and no guesses about what you did next. BUILD RULES FOR YOUR ROUTINE โ€ข Wallets: a daily Pass plan for a group of apps โ€ข Focus Zones: protected hours for Work, Study, Evening or Sleep โ€ข Task Access: up to 3 minutes for one specific task when you're out of Passes. It never spends a Pass and it's limited so it can't become a loop โ€ข Essentials: apps you must always reach stay available PROTECT YOUR DEEP FOCUS Start a 25, 45, 60 or 90-minute session from Home, Siri, Apple Watch or a widget. Protected apps stay shielded, and the timer appears in a Live Activity and the Dynamic Island. Focus Rescue gives a short, once-per-session exit for something truly essential. UNDERSTAND YOUR DISTRACTIONS A Pass heatmap shows when you reach for your apps. When there's enough data, FocusPass points out one pattern, like "Most of your Passes happen after 9 PM", and offers a fix you control, like an Evening Zone. Weekly Review, Focus Saves by day and Pass reflections are all calculated on your device. OPTIONAL PROGRESS Momentum, missions and a calm Sanctuary grow from real recorded actions. One off day never erases your progress, and nothing can be bought to skip ahead. YOUR FOCUS. YOUR CONTROL. Turn Off All Protection always works and is never locked behind a purchase or streak. Protection Check shows exactly what's working and how to fix what isn't. Uses Apple's Screen Time frameworks. If a parent or organization manages Screen Time, their settings come first. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No ads. No analytics SDKs. Your rules and history stay on your device, and Apple keeps your app selections opaque, even to FocusPass. Purchases are validated through Apple and RevenueCat using an anonymous ID. FREE AND PRO Free is useful forever: native shields, Go Back and Focus Saves, timed Passes, automatic relocking, one Wallet, one Focus Zone, one Deep Focus session a day, 7-day insights, Momentum and missions. FocusPass Pro adds more Wallets with exact custom rules, more Focus Zones, Free Windows and Rule Profiles, Task Access, Adaptive Resistance, unlimited Deep Focus, full history and premium Pass materials. Pro never sells a way around your own rules. Works on iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later. The Apple Watch app shows your status and focus timer; blocking always happens on your iPhone. FocusPass Pro is an auto-renewing subscription, billed monthly or yearly. The yearly plan includes a free trial for eligible new subscribers. Prices appear in your local currency before purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple ID and renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions. Terms: https://ifocuspass.rork.app/terms.html Privacy: https://ifocuspass.rork.app/privacy.html

Screenshots

AetherLife4 screens
FocusPass4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: AetherLife at none against FocusPass's 2. FocusPass's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.5). On price, ads 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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. FocusPass sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. AetherLife asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
AetherLife versus FocusPass: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAetherLifeFocusPass
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyโ€”Every 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch โ€” better
Requires iOS26.518.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size4 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTiago PereiraJames Gray

In-app purchases

None

AetherLife

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

FocusPass

Subscriptions2
  • FocusPass Pro Monthly$8.991 Month
  • FocusPass Pro Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is AetherLife free?
AetherLife is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FocusPass free?
FocusPass is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do AetherLife or FocusPass have ads?
Neither AetherLife nor FocusPass shows ads.

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