Focus Faraway vs DiaryThreads
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Focus Faraway
Transform focus time into a virtual road trip. Earn miles by staying offline and explore detailed virtual landscapes inspired by real journeys. Discover local stories and plan future adventures.
- Focus time converted to virtual travel distance
- Six distinct travel modes (walking, driving, etc.)
- Detailed virtual travel journal entries
- Real-world locations and local details
- Plan future real-world trips based on virtual discoveries
- No pressure focus, rewards presence
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Want to put your phone down, yet keep getting pulled back by endless feeds? Dream of distant mountains, coast roads, and open skies, but find yourself at a desk? Focus Faraway is a different kind of focus app: a quiet self-discipline road movie. It does not only record focus time. It turns every offline act of restraint into online miles across a virtual world. The app is inspired by the real 39,580 km road-trip documentary "1Mao1Young Around China". It avoids shallow check-ins and tourist filters. Instead, it uses grounded human observation, local food details, and real geography to help you find calm while your virtual self moves through wide, generous landscapes. Start a focus session, put the phone aside, and return to life. In the virtual world, "you" pack a bag and begin the next leg. Core features: 1. Focus becomes distance Choose a destination, such as the epic counterclockwise route around the edge of China. Every minute you stay focused offline becomes more kilometers on your virtual journey. 2. Six ways to travel Match the route to your state of mind: Walking or cycling for slow, deep work and creative writing. Hitchhiking or motorcycling for uncertain, intense bursts. Driving or RV travel for long, immersive work sessions and electric-camping road energy. 3. Real places, not empty check-ins When you stop focusing, you receive a travel journal from the road. It may lead you under the stars near Arxan, into a snowy Burqin snack shop, through a difficult moment in the Turpan desert, or to a family-run restaurant hidden in an old Wenshan street. 4. Virtual miles can seed real trips If a view, dish, market, or local story catches you, open its real coordinate in your map app and save it for a future journey. Why Focus Faraway? No-pressure focus: you do not need to stare at a number. The more present you are in real life, the farther your virtual footsteps go. Deep travel content: each story is shaped by practical observation, food memory, local texture, and care for nature. Discipline feels less lonely: every stop is like opening a time capsule from somewhere far away. Choose a travel mode and start focusing. Leave the screen to discipline. Let the soul return to the road. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
DiaryThreads
Transform your life into a series of shareable posts, just like social media. Capture thoughts, photos, videos, or voice notes in short entries organized into a private timeline. Gain insights into your journaling habits and revisit memories with customizable widgets.
- Post thoughts, photos, videos, voice notes
- Private timeline organization
- Insights into journaling habits
- Home Screen widgets for memories and new posts
- App Lock for enhanced privacy
- No account required, local storage
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DiaryThreads offers a new way to journal: capture life as easily as posting and let every entry become part of a timeline that is entirely your own. 【As Easy as Posting—Reply to and Quote Your Past Self】 -- Capture a thought, a photo, or a voice recording in the moment. A flexible editor helps you preserve life in richer detail. -- Find an earlier entry, reply to it or quote it, and see what has changed. -- When you have more to say, use an Article to publish a polished long-form card on your timeline. 【Understand Your Life】 -- Analytics brings together days recorded, total characters, posting frequency, and changes over the last 30 days. -- Your private trending list highlights the keywords and topics you have been returning to lately. -- State of Mind entries you choose to add also appear in Analytics, helping you look back on emotional changes. -- Topic Insights show when and how often each topic appears. 【Let Widgets Bring the Past Back】 -- The “Random Entry” widget brings an older entry to your Home Screen. Tap to shuffle or open its details. -- The “Write an Entry” widget puts writing on your Home Screen, so a new entry is always one tap away. Past and present stay close at hand. -- The “Photo Memory” widget brings treasured photos back into view. 【Light, Simple, and Entirely Yours】 -- DiaryThreads requires no account. Content is stored locally first; Premium can sync it across your Apple devices through your private iCloud. -- No ads, third-party analytics, or cross-app tracking. -- Premium imports and exports are processed locally on your device, keeping your content in your hands. 【Diary Threads Premium】 -- The free version keeps up to 30 current entries. -- Diary Threads Premium unlocks unlimited entries, share posters, keyword trends, private iCloud sync, local import and export, and all three Home Screen widgets. -- Premium is available as a monthly or annual subscription, or as a one-time lifetime purchase. Actual prices are shown in the App Store. Privacy Policy: https://foggy-bellflower-ae3.notion.site/Diary-Threads-Privacy-Policy-3aa1a28522d98112b480d81a7b2f74db?source=copy_link EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: DiaryThreads at daily against Focus Faraway's every 5 days. DiaryThreads also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. Focus Faraway sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and DiaryThreads sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Focus Faraway ships an update every 5 days, DiaryThreads daily. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Focus Faraway | DiaryThreads |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Li Wei | 世杰 戴 |
Customer experience
Focus Faraway
DiaryThreads
In-app purchases
Focus Faraway
- Monthly Membership$0.991 Month
- Yearly Membership$4.991 Year
DiaryThreads
- Monthly Premium$2.991 Month
- Lifetime Premium$6.99









