# Countdown Star (Ad-Free) — Countdowns for Every Event > Event timer for countdowns and count-ups with customization and sharing. (iPhone/iPad app by Joseph Merrill.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/countdown-star-ad-free/id569371565 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Joseph Merrill](https://appshunter.io/developer/1099488988) - Category: Entertainment, Lifestyle - Price: $1.99 - Rating: 4.70/5 from 3,659 App Store ratings · 392 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 17.0 · 53 MB - Languages: American English, Danish, Dutch, French (France), German (Germany), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmål, Polish and 7 more - Released: 2012-11-20 - Data updated: 2026-08-28 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/countdown-star-ad-free/id569371565/reviews.md ## What is Countdown Star (Ad? Countdown Star is the best way to countdown to — and count up from — all of your favorite events. Countdown to birthdays, holidays, an upcoming vacation, a wedding, the New Year, parties, sporting events, concerts and more. Count up from anniversaries, the day you were born, and other special events in the past. * How many seconds until your next birthday? * How many months since you were born? * How many days until you graduate from college? * How many hours until your anniversary? * How much time is left until your vacation starts? * How many days until Christmas? * How many minutes until your party begins? * How much time is left until your baby's due date? Countdown Star is the countdown app that lets you choose which events to add, then keeps them in sync across all of your devices. Features: * iCloud Sync — events and wallpapers sync automatically across all your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch devices * Celebration Animations — choose Confetti, Fireworks, Balloons, Stars, or Lasers when your countdown reaches zero * Repeating Events — annual events automatically advance to the next year so you never have to update them * Home Screen Widgets — Small, Medium, and Large widgets let you glance at your countdowns without opening the app * Apple Watch — view your events right on your wrist * Add Your Own Events — add as many events as you like * Custom Wallpapers — choose from 15+ built-in wallpapers or use your own photos * Time Zone Support — set each event in any time zone with localized city names * Sort and Search — sort by date, title, or your own custom order; events are sectioned into Countdown and Count Up groups * Favorites and Notifications — mark events as favorites to receive a notification when their countdown reaches zero * Interactive Slider — instantly switch between seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years to see your countdown exactly how you want it * Customizable Timer — choose timer position (Top, Middle, or Bottom), show or hide weeks, and toggle the leading zero * Multiple App Icons — personalize the app icon on your Home Screen Note: Countdown Star is available as a free version (with ads and an optional Remove Ads purchase) and as a paid ad-free version. ## Key features - Add custom events - Customize event visuals - Apple Watch display - Today Widget integration - Set exact event times - Adjust time units - Share event timers ## What do users think of Countdown Star (Ad? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 👍 Easy to use - 💡 Customizable backgrounds - 🚀 Simple and functional - 🎨 Nice visual design **Cons** - 🐛 Unreliable widget functionality - 🔍 Limited event management options - 💰 Paid version doesn't import free version data - 🔧 Lack of customization options **Commonly reported bugs** - Custom wallpapers not saving - Countdown not updating correctly - Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions - Notification system not working as expected **Most requested features** - Recurring event support - Ability to exclude weekends/holidays from countdown - Multiple event display on main screen - Improved widget functionality - Sync across devices ## Recent user reviews (10 of 392) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/countdown-star-ad-free/id569371565/reviews.md ### 4/5 — Sync Error *2026-08-14* Love this app! But lately it says sync error at the bottom of my Home Page?? I emailed the guy and never got a response. Maybe he is not updating it anymore. I see review after review months before I left this one and obviously it isn’t being fixed so. I guess I’ll find another app. I don’t want to end up losing all my dates like others. ### 1/5 — Everything has gone? *2026-08-07* I have been using a fully paid-for version Countdown Star for years and have previously been very pleased with it. However, when I downloaded the update in July it purged all of my data????? All of my countdowns are now missing! All of my count-ups are missing too! Even my bespoke wallpapers are missing. It’s so frustrating as I don’t know some of the dates and times to enable me to recreate the events. I contacted the developer but have yet to receive a response. This is so poor that I’m giving it a single star and creating this review as a warning to others. ### 1/5 — Sync error??? *2026-08-05, version 3.0.5* Used this app for a while now but all of a sudden it says sync error but Idkh to fix this issue. Help please ### 1/5 — All events gone ☹️ *2026-07-28* Since the update all my events disappeared. When I start re-entering them I eventually get an iCloud Sync error ❌ I’m afraid I’m going to have to think about giving up on this app. It used to work fine until the recent update but has since become annoyingly unusable, for me at least 🤯 A shame ‘cos I used to enjoy using it on an almost daily basis. ### 1/5 — Sync error *2026-07-28* Crashes - used to be reliable - now won’t sync ### 1/5 — Rubbish update *2026-07-25* Latest update deleted EVERYTHING I had saved in the app. Prior to the update it was working perfectly. Lost some very important dates - not happy! ### 4/5 — Sync Error *2026-07-25, version 3.0.4* Love this app! But lately it says sync error at the bottom of my Home Page?? ### 1/5 — Not something I recommend *2026-07-24, version 3.0.4* While this works. I’ve learnt the hard way that I should just keep a spreadsheet as a main reference as I have lost all of my special dates from an update. ### 1/5 — Complicated *2026-07-23, version 3.0.4* Just purchased and already have the sync error. And I can’t figure out how to change the event I just created or how to just have the countdown on my home screen. ### 5/5 — Love this App, but have ‘Sync Error’ issues since last update *2026-07-20* I love this App and use it for so many things! Counting down to upcoming events and appointments, and counting ‘up’ to keep track of friends and family birthdays; when I purchased major items; when major events happened (how long ago was that?); and other things. However, the App shows “Sync Error“ on my iPhone since the last update. I don’t have my phone synced to any other devices, and should be included in the iCloud backup updates like it always has before. It doesn’t show up on the ‘Background Refresh’ App list, so that’s not it. Otherwise, I still love it and tell others about it all the time. ## Frequently asked questions about Countdown Star (Ad ### What does Countdown Star do? Countdown Star helps you track the time remaining until important future events or the time elapsed since past events. You can set up countdowns for birthdays, holidays, vacations, weddings, and more, or count up from anniversaries and significant dates. ### What are the key features of Countdown Star? Key features include the ability to add your own custom events, personalize each event with your own wallpaper or photo, display events on Apple Watch and in the Today Widget, set the exact time for events, adjust time units, and share event timers with others. ### How much does Countdown Star cost? This version of Countdown Star is a paid application, meaning there is an upfront cost to download and use it. The description notes that the paid version does not contain advertisements. ### What devices is Countdown Star compatible with? The app is designed for Apple devices, as it mentions display capabilities on Apple Watch and integration with the Today Widget, which are features specific to the Apple ecosystem. ### What are common use cases for Countdown Star? Common use cases include counting down to major life events like birthdays, holidays, weddings, and vacations. It can also be used to count up from significant past events such as anniversaries, the day of birth, or the start of a new journey. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 3.0.8 — 2026-08-18 This update is about knowing whether your events have really made it to iCloud. * The sync status is now more accurate. It only says "Synced with iCloud" once your events have actually reached it * Editing while offline shows "Saved on this device" — your change is safe, and it uploads as soon as you're back online * If Countdown Star is switched off in your iCloud settings, the app now says so and explains how to turn it back on. Your events are still in iCloud and come back when it can sync again * No more "Sync error" when you simply aren't signed in to iCloud * Your Apple Watch no longer shows out-of-date events after changes sync from another device * Choosing a photo that isn't downloaded to your device now tells you, instead of quietly doing nothing If your events look missing, open Settings › Apple Account › iCloud and check that Countdown Star is turned on. Thank you for using Countdown Star! ### 3.0.7 — 2026-08-13 This update is about keeping your events safe — and getting them back if they went missing. * Fixed the cause of events disappearing after an update. When the app has trouble opening your library, it now tries every safe option instead of setting your data aside * New: Recover My Events, in Settings, brings your events and photos back from a saved copy on your device * If a saved copy is found, the app now offers to restore it when you open the app * Restoring adds your events back alongside anything you've created since, and never deletes the saved copy If your events went missing in an earlier version, try Recover My Events first — in most cases they're still on your device. Thank you for using Countdown Star! ### 3.0.6 — 2026-08-06 More stability work — this time focused on syncing between devices: * Fixed a crash that could happen when you saved an event that had just been deleted on another device * Fixed a remaining crash that could close a countdown shortly after syncing from iCloud * Countdowns settle more reliably when changes arrive from another device while you're using the app * Translation fixes in several languages Thank you for using Countdown Star! ### 3.0.5 — 2026-07-28 Thanks for your feedback — this update is all about stability. We tracked down the most common crashes and fixed them, so Countdown Star stays smooth and reliable: * Fixed the most frequent crash — some countdowns could close unexpectedly right after your events synced from iCloud * Fixed a rare crash that could stop the app from opening on some devices * More reliability improvements and polish under the hood Thank you for using Countdown Star! ### 3.0.4 — 2026-07-16 Thanks for your feedback — this update makes iCloud sync easier to follow and lets you choose where the app opens: * Sync status at a glance — a new banner shows when your events and wallpapers are syncing with iCloud, so a new device or fresh install no longer looks empty while your data is still on its way * Home Event — pick the countdown the app opens to (Settings → Event Options → Home Event); if you're upgrading, your previous favourite comes back automatically * Tidier event options — Favourite and Home Event are quick toggles in the event menu, and you can now favourite an event while adding or editing it * Smoother and more reliable — faster wallpaper loading, no blank backgrounds while photos sync, crisper widget thumbnails, and general polish Thank you for using Countdown Star! ## Apps similar to Countdown Star (Ad | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Countdown Star](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/countdown-star/id576177593) | 4.8 (214,803) | Free | Entertainment | | [Christmas Countdown! 2026](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-countdown-2026/id1439014968) | 4.7 (6,165) | Free | Entertainment | | [Christmas Countdown!](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-countdown/id295350675) | 4.8 (70,705) | Free | Entertainment | | [Christmas Countdown (2026)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-countdown-2026/id1175449517) | 4.8 (3,486) | Free | Entertainment | | [Christmas Countdown Live 2026](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-countdown-live-2026/id1541858661) | 4.8 (2,267) | Free | Entertainment | | [Christmas Countdown 2026](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-countdown-2026/id1544660121) | 4.7 (2,034) | Free | Entertainment | ## More apps by Joseph Merrill - [Countdown Star](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/countdown-star/id576177593) - [Number Mash: Math Puzzle Game](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/number-mash-math-puzzle-game/id1130712591) All apps by Joseph Merrill: https://appshunter.io/developer/1099488988 ## Related topics [countdown star](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/countdown-star) · [twominapp](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/twominapp) · [shot timer countdown](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/shot-timer-countdown) · [tenbrink](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/tenbrink) · [countdowns anniversary](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/countdowns-anniversary) · [watch timer countdown](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/watch-timer-countdown) · [count up event](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/count-up-event) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-28.*