FocusPiece vs Easel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
FocusPiece
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FocusPiece โ Where Focus Becomes Art Concentration has become rare. FocusPiece makes it visible. Set the timer, put your phone down and sink into your work. While you stay focused, a hidden masterpiece emerges from the mist, piece by piece. At the end of every session you hold a fully revealed work of art that you have earned. No points. No aggressive streaks. No guilt. Just a calm, beautiful space for deep concentration. HOW IT WORKS โข Choose your time: 15, 25, 45 or 60 minutes of undisturbed focus. โข Stay in the picture: as long as you remain in the app, the hidden painting sharpens with every minute. Leave, and the reveal gently pauses. โข Collect masterpieces: every completed session unlocks a work and places it in your personal gallery. A GALLERY YOU EARN Your collection does not fill up by chance, but through real concentration. Every unlocked work carries the date, the length of your session and the story behind the original. Browse van Gogh's "Almond Blossom", Hokusai's "Great Wave", Monet's "Sunrise", Friedrich's "Wanderer" and many more classics of art history: public-domain masterpieces, curated for quiet moments. ON YOUR WRIST AS WELL With Apple Watch you start, pause and follow a session without reaching for your iPhone. On the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island your progress stays in view. DELIBERATELY MINIMAL FocusPiece was designed around a single principle: nothing that distracts. Warm paper white, a calm terracotta accent, clear typography. No loud notifications, no endless statistics, no mechanics designed to hook you. The app steps back so your focus and the art can step forward. FEATURES AT A GLANCE โข Focus timer with a freely selectable duration โข Progressive art reveal in real time, tied to your concentration โข Apple Watch: start, pause and follow a session from your wrist โข Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island โข Personal gallery with every unlocked work โข Challenges that unlock further works โข One overview in the gallery: focus time collected, rounds and works revealed โข Detail views with title, artist, year and collection context โข Set a work as your lock screen โข Optional ambient sounds, such as rain โข Gentle completion chime and subtle haptic feedback โข "Soft start" for a calm beginning to every session โข Light mode that lets the artworks shine โข Works entirely without an account; your data stays on your device WHO IS IT FOR? For everyone who wants to work more deeply: students studying for finals, creatives in flow, developers and writers, anyone who works with the Pomodoro technique, and everyone looking for a more beautiful, quieter alternative to noisy productivity apps. Concentration is a gift you give yourself. FocusPiece turns it into something you can see.
Easel
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Easel turns focus into something you look forward to. Choose how long you want to concentrate. As your timer runs, a genuine masterpiece slowly emerges from the fog, painted from the center outward. When you finish, the painting is fully revealed and yours to keep in your personal gallery. No feeds. No noise. Just you, your work, and a quiet moment with a great painting. WHY EASEL A calmer way to focus. The reward is not a buzzing notification. It is a beautiful work of art, appearing only if you see your session through. Real masterpieces. Every painting is a genuine public domain work from the great museums, by artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Turner, and Vermeer. Single sessions or full Pomodoro cycles. Focus once, or run classic Pomodoro blocks with breaks and earn a painting for each one. Your personal gallery. Every completed session adds its painting to a collection that grows with your focus. Focus with intention. Choose a collection to focus with, from serene landscapes to old master portraits. Quiet company. Optional ambient piano, drawn from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, plays gently while you work. Beautiful on every device. Widgets bring a painting of the day to your home and lock screen. Easel is free, made by one person, with a small tip jar for anyone who wants to support it. No subscriptions, no ads, no pressure. Focus. Reveal. Keep.
Screenshots
Verdict
FocusPiece and Easel are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. FocusPiece sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Easel sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | FocusPiece | Easel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | โ |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch โ better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 74 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Christoph Hesse | Adam Markocki |
In-app purchases
FocusPiece
- Impressions$0.99
- Nocturnes$0.99
- Dutch Golden Age$0.99
Easel
- Buy me a coffee$2.99
- Nice Coffee$4.99
- Coffee Pot$9.99









