Onbeat Running vs Refocus.
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Onbeat Running
This app provides a metronome to help runners achieve a quicker, lighter stride. It plays a steady beat that syncs with your steps, even under music or podcasts, and offers interval workouts and a four-week program to retrain your cadence. It also features a standalone Apple Watch app for phone-free runs.
- Adjustable running metronome
- Plays under music/podcasts
- Interval workouts with voice cues
- Four-week cadence retraining program
- Standalone Apple Watch app
- Customizable workouts
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Sore knees? Overstriding? Quicker, lighter steps are the fix. Onbeat gives you a steady beat in your ears. Your feet lock onto it. The beat plays under your music or podcast. You can still hear it on a loud road, with your phone in your pocket or just your watch on your wrist. Run to the beat and your cadence goes up. The training layer makes it stick: interval workouts with voice cues, and a program that retrains your cadence in four weeks. THE BEAT • Exact timing at any steps per minute. No drift, no stutter • Plays under whatever you listen to. Loud enough for the road • Change tempo without breaking stride. Controls on the Lock Screen THE TRAINING LAYER • Interval workouts. A voice tells you when to push and when to recover. You never look at the screen • Cadence Builder: four weeks of small steps that raise your cadence for good • Build your own workouts and keep them APPLE WATCH • Works on its own. Leave the phone at home and the real beat plays from your wrist • Intervals and voice cues on the watch too. Every run saves to Apple Health FREE, FOR EVERYONE Every feature is free: the running metronome that plays under your podcast, interval workouts with voice cues, the four week cadence program, and the standalone Apple Watch app. No trial. No unlock. No subscription. No account. No ads. Works offline. My mission is to expand what people can do and be so that we each can build a life worth living. Since the costs to maintain the apps are minimal, I freely offer these tools to the public in service to the mission. If you would like to support the cause, you can leave a tip, rate the app, or join the newsletter from Settings. Tips are optional and unlock nothing, because everything is already yours.
Refocus.
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Refocus is a personal attention aid. When you open apps that pull you off track, iOS shows a short system pause first. Breathe or write an intention, then continue or step away. • Guard apps with Screen Time (Family Controls) • Timing: immediate, delayed, or ask-on-open • Today & focus report on device • Free: up to 2 guarded apps; Refocus Pro (monthly/yearly) unlocks unlimited apps Lifestyle guidance only—not medical advice. Requires iOS 16+ and Screen Time authorization.
Screenshots
Verdict
Onbeat Running and Refocus. are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. Onbeat Running sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Refocus. sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Onbeat Running | Refocus. |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alterras LLC | Nightelf |
In-app purchases
Onbeat Running
- A coffee$2.99
- A generous tip$9.99
- Pay it forward$19.99
Refocus.
- Refocus Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Refocus Pro Yearly$14.991 Year









