Comparison

Flip Focus vs Focus

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

Head to head
About

Flip Focus

Features
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Flip your phone face down. The timer starts. Lift it, and the timer stops. Flip Focus is a deep work timer for people who are tired of promising themselves they'll concentrate. There is no honour system here and no button to press when you get distracted. The session is physically bound to your phone: face down on the desk, you are working. In your hand, you are not. WHY THIS ONE HOLDS UP Every other focus timer runs happily in your pocket while you scroll something else. This one cannot. Flip Focus reads your phone's motion sensors and only accumulates time while the phone is actually face down. You cannot quietly cheat a session, which is precisely why the hours in your history mean something. START IN ONE MOVE Choose a session and flip. That is the entire ritual. No setup to work through every time you sit down, no timer to remember to start, no excuse to open the phone "just to begin". BLOCK EVERY DISTRACTING APP While a session runs, Flip Focus uses Screen Time to put your distracting apps behind a lock screen. It works as an allowlist rather than a blocklist: everything is blocked except what you deliberately permit, so a newly installed app cannot slip through a gap you forgot to close. AUTO-PAUSE KEEPS YOU HONEST Pick the phone up mid-session and the timer pauses itself and tells you to put it back down. Your streak is not broken by the pause; it is broken by pretending the pause never happened. Flip Focus simply refuses to pretend. QUITTING TAKES A MOMENT Ending a session early is still possible, it just isn't two taps any more. You copy out a short passage that makes the case for staying, then hold a button for a few seconds. Neither step is hard, and the way out is always there when you genuinely need it. It simply stops being something you can do without thinking. Most urges to quit don't survive the minute it takes. SESSIONS THAT MATCH REAL WORK Start from ready-made blocks for deep work, quick focus, study and creative work, or build your own with the length, name and colour that suit how you actually work. Long, uninterrupted blocks for hard problems. Short ones for clearing the deck. SEE WHERE THE TIME WENT After every session, mark how it went. Your dashboard tracks total sessions, total focused time and your success rate, with your recent sessions and outcomes laid out plainly. Because the timer cannot be gamed, the trend line is the real one. BUILT TO STAY OUT OF THE WAY A Live Activity keeps the countdown on your Lock Screen so you can check the time remaining without unlocking anything. Haptics confirm the start and finish of a block. The app is quiet, quick and does not ask for your attention while you are trying to give it to something else. WHO IT IS FOR Engineers, writers, designers, founders, analysts, researchers, students โ€” anyone whose output depends on long stretches of uninterrupted attention, and whose phone is the single largest threat to getting them. If you have tried focus apps before and drifted away from them, the reason is usually the same: they asked you to be disciplined about the tool itself. Flip Focus asks for one physical action, once, at the start. The desk does the rest. Flip the phone. Do the work. Privacy Policy: https://flipfocus.cosmosmindlabs.com/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://flipfocus.cosmosmindlabs.com/terms-of-service

About

Focus

Features
Read full description

Make time for what matters, one focused session at a time. Focus brings a Pomodoro timer, tasks, and useful progress tracking together on your iPhone. GIVE EACH SESSION A PURPOSE Choose what you want to work on, then start the timer. Keep reading, writing, revision, and everyday work in a simple task list. Add daily time goals to the tasks you want to make room for. FIND YOUR RHYTHM Use a Pomodoro timer with focus periods and breaks, adjust the durations to suit your day, or switch to the stopwatch when you want to count up. Pause, resume, or end a session as your plans change. SEE WHERE YOUR TIME WENT Review your sessions and weekly focus time. See time by task and follow your progress toward a daily goal, so your next session starts with a clearer picture. KEEP YOUR TIMER IN VIEW Follow an active session with Live Activities on your iPhone. On supported iPhone models, your timer can also appear in the Dynamic Island. BRING YOUR DEVICES TOGETHER Use Focus on iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch. Sync your Focus data through your private iCloud database when iCloud is available. Local features work without creating a Focus account. Start with one task. Make a little time. Build from there.

Screenshots

Flip Focus4 screens
Focus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Focus at none against Flip Focus's 3. Focus also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Flip Focus sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Focus asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flip Focus ships an update every 2 weeks, Focus daily. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Flip Focus versus Focus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlip FocusFocus
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksDaily โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, Mac, Apple Watch โ€” better
Requires iOS16.4 โ€” better17.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size46 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAugustine EzehAyush Deolasee

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Flip Focus

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium3 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$59.99
None

Focus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Flip Focus free?
Flip Focus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Focus free?
Focus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Flip Focus or Focus have ads?
Neither Flip Focus nor Focus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flip Focus or Focus?
Flip Focus ships an update every 2 weeks, and Focus daily. Most recently, Flip Focus was updated on October 2, 2026 and Focus on October 10, 2026.

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