Comparison

Focus vs EarnTime

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Strict app blocking sessions
  • Scheduled focus windows
  • Live Lock Screen countdown
  • One emergency pass per session
  • Screen time insights
  • Standalone timer and alarms
Features
Read 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

About

EarnTime

This app intelligently blocks distracting applications by requiring users to earn screen time through physical activity. It offers workout immunity and allows unused time to roll over, promoting a healthier balance between digital habits and physical well-being.

Highlights
  • Earn screen time through physical activity
  • Workout immunity for active sessions
  • Intelligent app shielding
  • Screen-off audio doesn't count against time
  • Rest day grace period and reserves
  • Apple Watch and iOS widgets
  • 100% on-device privacy
Features
Read full description

Tired of doomscrolling? Earn your screen time through real movement. Intelligent app blocking that only counts true visual screen time: free background audio, workout immunity, and rest day reserves—with zero subscriptions and 100% on-device privacy. Most screen time blockers treat you like a child, forcing rigid locks that punish you for listening to music or working out. EarnTime is different. It seamlessly aligns your physical health with your digital habits: close your Apple Watch rings, earn minutes, and spend them without guilt. SMART SCREEN TIME: ONLY REAL USAGE COUNTS • Free Screen-Off Audio: Listening to YouTube, Spotify, or podcasts with your screen locked in your pocket? It won't cost you a single second. We detect display state and only count time when your eyes are actually on the screen. • Workout Immunity: Out for a run, cycling, or lifting at the gym? Monitored apps stay completely unlocked during active Apple Watch workout sessions. Never get locked out of your workout playlist or training log. • Exercise Adds Time: Each synced Exercise ring minute earns one minute of unlocked app allowance. Active movement above your daily baseline earns an extra bonus. • Keep Room for Rest: Real life happens. You start each day with a 30-minute grace period, backed by a 60-minute weekly reserve (up to 120 minutes) for rest days and recovery. • Intelligent Shielding: When your daily allowance and reserve run out, selected distracting apps are gently shielded until you get moving again. A GLANCE ON YOUR WRIST & HOME SCREEN • Apple Watch Companion: Check your live remaining allowance, reserve, and status directly from your wrist. • iOS Widgets: Beautiful Lock Screen and Home Screen widgets keep your balance visible at all times. • History & Marks: Track your weekly progress, celebrate streaks without punitive broken-streak penalties, and collect editorial weekly covers. WHY EARNTIME IS DIFFERENT • No Subscriptions: Free to start with 1 monitored app. Unlock up to 10 apps with a single, tiny $1.99 one-time purchase. Future core updates included forever. • 100% Private & Local: No accounts, no ads, no trackers, and no remote servers. Everything runs strictly on your device via Apple’s native Screen Time and HealthKit APIs. • Guilt-Free Balance: We don't believe in digital starvation. Unused daily time rolls over into your reserve, turning your screen time into a healthy, earned reward. COMPATIBILITY & NOTES Requires an iPhone with iOS 17.4 or later and Apple Watch Exercise ring data in Apple Health. Health read access and individual Screen Time authorization are required. The Apple Watch companion app requires watchOS 10.0 or later. Balance updates after exercise data syncs via HealthKit. Sync and callback frequency are managed by iOS.

Screenshots

Focus4 screens
EarnTime4 screens

Verdict

The call

Focus and EarnTime are too close to call on the numbers: across 9 compared parameters — price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Focus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days and EarnTime sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Focus against 5.0 for EarnTime. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Focus ships an update every 2 days, EarnTime every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Focus versus EarnTime: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFocusEarnTime
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.4
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMustafa Anıl KayaHangfang Zhang

Customer experience

Focus

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

EarnTime

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Focus

Subscriptions2
  • Focus Pro Weekly$5.997 Days
  • Focus Pro Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
1 purchases

EarnTime

One-time1
  • EarnTime Full$1.99

Questions

Is Focus free?
Focus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is EarnTime free?
EarnTime is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Focus or EarnTime?
Focus and EarnTime are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Focus or EarnTime have ads?
Neither Focus nor EarnTime shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Focus or EarnTime?
Focus ships an update every 2 days, and EarnTime every 3 days. Most recently, Focus was updated on October 24, 2026 and EarnTime on October 9, 2026.

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