Strict App Blocker vs Focus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Strict App Blocker
This app helps you regain control of your screen time by setting daily limits or blocking specific applications during designated hours. Features include a countdown timer, a strict "hard mode" for complete blocking, and a grayscale option to discourage usage. It offers a ten-day training period to build new habits.
- Daily time limits for apps
- Scheduled app blocking (Hard Mode)
- Grayscale mode for usage deterrence
- Strict training mode to lock settings
- Sixty-day usage history
- No account required, data stays on device
Read full descriptionHide full description
Set a daily time limit on the apps that eat your day, or shut them off completely between the hours you choose. When the time is gone, it's gone. Free. No account, no subscription, no trial that runs out. DAILY BUDGET Pick your worst apps and give them a limit. The timer counts down while you use them and resets each morning. Open a blocked app and you see how long is left, not a wall with no explanation. HARD MODE Schedule a window and the apps simply don't open. 9 to 5. 11pm to 7am. Whatever you need. No countdown, no bargaining. GREYSCALE Turn the screen black and white the moment you open something you're trying to cut down on. It sounds like a gimmick. It works better than it should. STRICT TRAINING Ten days to get used to it, then you can lock the settings so the version of you at 1am can't undo what you decided at 10am. WHY IT'S FREE Every other blocker wants forty dollars a year to help you use your phone less. This one doesn't. There's a tip jar in Settings if you want to, and that's the whole business model. No account means there's nothing to leak, and your data never leaves your phone. Dark mode, a sixty day history of the days you left your rules alone, and Otto, who tells you where you're at without nagging.
Focus
This app helps you stay focused by blocking distracting applications for set periods. It uses your own words as reminders and offers features like scheduled focus windows and detailed screen time insights. An emergency pass allows brief access to a blocked app once per session.
- Strict app blocking sessions
- Scheduled focus windows
- Live Lock Screen countdown
- One emergency pass per session
- Screen time insights
- Standalone timer and alarms
Read full descriptionHide full description
Focus is the app blocker that keeps your word for you. Pick a task, set a duration, and hold to commit. From that second, your chosen apps are locked behind a shield — and there is no snooze, no "remind me in 15 minutes", no way around it. The only way out is through. WHY FOCUS WORKS WHEN WILLPOWER DOESN'T Every distracting app is built by teams whose whole job is to keep you scrolling. Focus levels the field: once you commit, the decision is out of your hands. Open a blocked app and the shield answers with your own words — "I committed to finish my thesis until 21:30." Not a system warning. Your promise, held up to you. STRICT SESSIONS • Choose a task, a duration, and hold to start — a deliberate gesture, not an accidental tap • Blocked apps stay blocked until time is up; the session cannot be cancelled • A live countdown on your Lock Screen keeps the goal in sight • One Emergency Pass per session: unlock a single app for five minutes, then the wall returns FOCUS ON A SCHEDULE • Recurring focus windows for work, study, or sleep — your mornings block themselves • Real alarms that ring from a locked phone, so a schedule is a commitment, not a suggestion • Each rule runs on Apple's Screen Time system, enforced by iOS itself SEE THE PAYOFF • Watch your screen time fall week by week, right next to your focus hours • Per-app insight: what an app cost you before Focus, and what it costs now • Streaks and lifetime stats that never judge, only count TIMER & ALARMS • A clean standalone timer with proper, full-volume alarms • Pick a classic ring or search a song you love as your alarm sound PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account required. Blocking runs on Apple's Screen Time framework, and your activity never leaves your iPhone. We couldn't read it even if we wanted to, because iOS doesn't allow anyone to. The only thing we keep is anonymous usage statistics, never your content. WHO IT'S FOR Students who lose evenings to their phone. Writers, developers, and makers guarding deep work. Anyone who has deleted an app on Sunday and reinstalled it on Monday. Your time is the only thing you truly spend. Focus makes sure it goes where you promised. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ · Privacy Policy: https://itsfocusapp.github.io/focus-legal/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Strict App Blocker at free against Focus's freemium. Strict App Blocker also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Focus's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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. Strict App Blocker sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Focus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Strict App Blocker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.
Strict App Blocker ships an update every 3 days, Focus every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Strict App Blocker | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.7 (3 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Casebuddy Pty Ltd | Mustafa Anıl Kaya |
Customer experience
Strict App Blocker
Focus
In-app purchases
Strict App Blocker
- A small tip$1.99
- A good tip$4.99
- A generous tip$9.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- A very generous tip$19.99
Focus
- Focus Pro Weekly$5.997 Days
- Focus Pro Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year









