Comparison

Focus vs Focus Watch

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 users improve concentration and productivity by breaking work into structured intervals with scheduled breaks. It offers task management, detailed statistics, and syncs across all Apple devices, including Apple Watch and widgets.

Highlights
  • Customizable Pomodoro timer
  • Unlimited to-do lists
  • In-depth productivity statistics
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
  • Lock Screen and Home Screen widgets
  • Apple Watch app
Features
Read full description

Do your best work. Focus helps you concentrate with timed focus sessions built on the Pomodoro technique, track your tasks and projects, and see real progress — across all your Apple devices. A calm, proven rhythm: plan, work, break, review. “[…] a tool that can genuinely make people more productive” – MacStories.net “[…] a must-have for anyone who finds themselves easily getting distracted or forgetting to take occasional breaks.” – iDownloadBlog.com I always use Focus when… … I need to start a deep-work session … I want to stop procrastinating and finally begin … I want to break a big project into focused sprints … I’m studying and need to concentrate … I want to protect my time from distractions … I want to build a daily focus habit … I want to see what I actually got done today … I want structure without a heavy, complicated system Benefits * Start focusing in seconds: pick a task, start a session, get to work * The proven Pomodoro rhythm — plan → work → break → review — that gives your attention somewhere to go * Sessions and tasks together: a focus timer plus real task, project, and time tracking (most apps split these into two) * See your progress: daily and weekly activity and goals make focus feel earned, never nagged * Restful breaks that are part of the rhythm, not slacking * Calm and encouraging — momentum, never hustle, grind, or guilt Features * Timed focus sessions with flexible session and break lengths * Tasks, projects, and time tracking * Daily and weekly activity and goals * In-app Learning: short, friendly guides you can apply as you read * Widgets, Live Activities, and Dynamic Island * Siri, Shortcuts, and Spotlight via App Intents * Seamless iCloud sync * Built-in accessibility * Privacy first: your data stays on your devices and in your own iCloud * Available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro * Handcrafted by real humans :-) Focus is free to start. Focus Pro unlocks everything with a 7-day free trial. Thanks for doing your best work with us! We’re always improving Focus. If you have feedback or an idea, we’d love to hear it. About us Focus is made by Jan & Kerstin, two independent app developers based in Germany. We built Focus for our own workdays — to concentrate, make real progress, and still keep things calm. Our goal: a productivity app that’s a joy to use every day. We built this tool for ourselves — and now we’d love to share it with you! Questions? We offer friendly support. Just drop us a note at support@meaningful-things.com and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can. Privacy & Terms https://meaningful-things.com/privacy https://meaningful-things.com/terms

About

Focus Watch

Enhance productivity with a task planning and focus timer. Track your progress with insightful charts and receive background notifications. Sync sessions across devices for seamless workflow management.

Highlights
  • Task planning and management
  • Customizable work and break timers
  • Background session timer with alarms
  • Progress tracking with insightful charts
  • Cross-device session syncing
  • Apple Watch support
Features
Read full description

Focus Watch is a perfect tool for those who strive for performance, now with AppleWatch support! It helps you in planning the tasks you need to accomplish, staying focused on them while running the sessions timer and analysing your progress with insightful charts. Focus Watch perfectly works in background mode, so you can start the timer and switch to any other app - you'll be notified with an alarm when the session ends. Key features: • Full control on the Focus timer - start, pause, resume, stop with just a single tap. • Customize the length of work sessions, short break, and long break. • Activate long break whenever is more suitable for you with just a single tap. • Receive alarm notifications even when the app is running in the background. • Manage the list of tasks you plan to work on. • Sync tracked sessions between your devices. • Track your progress with insightful charts, see how many sessions you've spent for any separate task in any given day.

Screenshots

Focus4 screens
Focus Watch4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Focus Watch at free with in-app purchases against Focus's subscription. Focus Watch also leads on review sentiment (83% vs 57%) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). Focus's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (1.8K vs 110). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Focus sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Focus Watch 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

Focus Watch holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Focus has 1.8K ratings behind it against 110, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Focus's written reviews are positive against 83% of Focus Watch's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Focus ships an update every 10 days, Focus Watch every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Focus versus Focus Watch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFocusFocus Watch
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (1.8K ratings)4.7 (110 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.3% of reviews82.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.8K — better110
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision ProiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.09.3 — better
Further details — not scored
Size311 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMeaningful Things GmbH & Co. KGAndrii Zborovskyi

Customer experience

Focus

All ratings1,841 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral2.9%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews309 reviews
Positive57.3%
Neutral12.6%
Negative30.1%

Focus Watch

All ratings110 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews46 reviews
Positive82.6%
Neutral4.3%
Negative13.0%

User reviews

Focus

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Time tracking
  • 👍 Minimalist design
  • 🚀 Seamless cross-device sync
  • 👍 Helpful for productivity
  • 👍 Great for Pomodoro technique

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🐛 Sync issues between devices
  • 🐛 Unreliable notifications
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🐛 Forced to pay for basic functionality

Focus Watch

From 110 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use interface
  • 🚀 Increases productivity
  • 👍 Helps stay focused
  • 👍 Good for time management
  • 👍 Works well with Apple Watch

Room to improve

  • 👎 Customization options lacking
  • 👎 Inconsistent notifications
  • 👎 Alarm volume too low/inaudible with earphones
  • 👎 Watch app limited (viewer only)
  • 👎 No watch face complications

Bugs and requests

Focus

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Infinite intro screen
  • Prompts to set up app on every open
  • Timer resets unexpectedly
  • Sync issues between iPhone, iPad, and Watch
  • Notifications not working as expected

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to duplicate tasks
  • Calendar integration
  • Background sounds
  • Customizable timer lengths
  • Automatic focus mode switching
Show 1 more
  • More detailed analytics and reporting

Focus Watch

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Break mode doesn't work
  • Reset counter button doesn't work
  • Inaccurate history data (missing days)
  • Alarm doesn't sound through earphones
  • Notifications are inconsistent
Show 2 more
  • App force closes when clicking on tasks
  • No alarm even when enabled and volume up

Requested features

11 requests
  • Allow customization of time chunks (e.g., 50 min work, 10 min break)
  • Add a ticking sound option
  • Improve alarm volume and persistence
  • Enable independent use of the Apple Watch app with full functionality
  • Add Apple Watch face complications
Show 6 more
  • Make timer visible on the phone's lock screen
  • More customization options for color themes
  • Option to disable pauses
  • Manually sort to-do list items
  • Add due-date property for to-do list items
  • Improve handling of marking a task as 'done' mid-tomato

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Focus

Subscriptions9
  • Focus - Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Focus - 3 Months$14.993 Months
  • Focus Yearly$19.991 Year
Show 6 more
  • Focus Yearly$27.991 Year
  • Focus Yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Focus Early Bird7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Focus Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Focus Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Patron Subscription7 Days trial$59.991 Year
1 purchases

Focus Watch

One-time1
  • Focus Watch Pro Version$1.99

Questions

Is Focus free?
Focus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Focus Watch free?
Focus Watch is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Focus or Focus Watch?
Focus Watch is rated higher. Focus averages 4.4 out of 5 from 1.8K ratings, while Focus Watch averages 4.7 from 110 ratings.
Do Focus or Focus Watch have ads?
Neither Focus nor Focus Watch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Focus or Focus Watch?
Focus ships an update every 10 days, and Focus Watch every 2 months. Most recently, Focus was updated on November 11, 2026 and Focus Watch on November 2, 2026.

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