# Special Dates — Minimalist countdown widgets

> Minimalist countdown widgets for saving and tracking important dates. (iPhone/iPad app by Ernesto Fernández Calles.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/special-dates/id1532853488 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Ernesto Fernández Calles](https://appshunter.io/developer/548312732)
- Category: Productivity, Utilities
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.00/5 from 5 App Store ratings · 38 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 26.0 · 1 MB
- Languages: American English, European Spanish
- Released: 2020-09-22
- Data updated: 2026-08-16
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/special-dates/id1532853488/reviews.md

## What is Special Dates?

Save your important dates and track the days that have left. 

Simplest app to save dates and see a countdown of each one. Allows to save periodically events like birthday or bills.

Supports all the widget sizes that have iOS 14 and the dates will be synced between your devices

## Key features

- Save important dates
- Track days remaining
- Periodic event saving
- Birthday reminders
- Bill tracking
- iOS 14 widget support
- Cross-device syncing

## Recent user reviews (10 of 38)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/special-dates/id1532853488/reviews.md

### 2/5 — CPU Usage

*2026-04-13, version 1.7.1*

Nicely designed and simple app, would be exactly what I’m looking for except it was using 40% of my M1 Pro CPU.

### 1/5 — good app, too much cpu usage

*2025-12-08, version 1.7.1*

the widget used about 70% of my cpu all day without me realising which made my mac very laggy and die very quickly. i love the simplicity and the app itself but please fix the cpu issue.

### 2/5 — Oddly CPU/Battery Intensive

*2025-08-28, version 1.7.1*

This app works well for tracking countdowns, but constantly uses a very high level of CPU on my M3 Air. On battery, it drains super fast and gets very warm. Would be 5 stars if this wasn’t the case!

### 1/5 — Cool, aber furchtbar optimiert? Malware?

*2025-07-18, version 1.7.1*

Die App macht an sich alles was sie soll und sieht dabei gut aus. 
Aber sie zieht durchgehend ca. 10% CPU bei einem MacBook Pro M4, sobald das Widget angezeigt wird. Gehts noch? Mit der Leistung kann ich 10 Safari Tabs laufen lassen.
Ich habe mich gewundert, warum mein Macbook ständig im „Leerlauf“ warm wird. 
Keine Ahnung ob hier nur irgendetwas falsch programmiert wurde oder die App die CPU Leistung für irgendwelche andere Zwecke abzweigt…

### 3/5 — Good for people with a gazillion cores and who don’t care about their battery life

*2025-07-12*

This is a great app! Works as intended, but it took 62% of my intel i5’s cores! It’s good but it shouldn’t consume almost anything for what the app actually does.

### 2/5 — (Zu) Hohe CPU Last

*2025-05-26, version 1.7.1*

Die App tut was sie soll und sieht gut aus. Es wenige aber für mich persönlich ausreichende Möglichkeiten das Widget optisch anzupassen. Was mir aber sehr negativ aufgefallen ist, ist das die CPU Ressourcen, welche die App braucht durchgehend bei 8-9% liegen (M1 Max). Das finde ich schon ordentlich viel für eine Widget. Damit verbunden dann natürlich auch die reduzierte Akkulaufzeit usw. Ich werde die App daher auch wieder löschen und mich nach Alternativen umschauen.

### 3/5 — Works well if you don’t need battery life

*2025-02-20*

This dramatically reduced by battery to less than 3 hours on my M2 Max laptop. The UI is great n all but it should consume 0 battery life for what it does. Perhaps I’ll have to write my own app.

### 1/5 — CPU hog on mac

*2024-12-08*

I love the iOS app, but the Mac widget consistently uses a tremendous amount of CPU. I see the app hasn’t been updated in two years, so I assume it is abandonware?

### 3/5 — Nice and simple

*2024-12-07*

Does exactly what I want, but it seems to be a bit of a resource hog. Putting a single widget on my desktop consumes a steady 80% of one of my CPU cores. App would be perfect if not for this!

### 3/5 — Curiously CPU intensive

*2024-11-27, version 1.7.1*

This widget does the job adequately. It’s simple and intuitive but does seem to occupy the CPU a lot for something that tends to do one calculation a day.

## Frequently asked questions about Special Dates

### What does Special Dates do?

Special Dates is a minimalist app designed to help you save and track important dates. It provides a countdown to each saved event, allowing you to easily see how many days are left until they occur.

### What are the key features of Special Dates?

Key features include saving important dates, tracking the remaining days, and the ability to save periodic events like birthdays or bills. It also supports all iOS 14 widget sizes and syncs dates across your devices.

### Is Special Dates free to use?

Yes, Special Dates is a free application. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements mentioned, indicating it is completely free for users.

### What devices is Special Dates compatible with?

The app supports all widget sizes available on iOS 14. It also offers cross-device syncing, meaning your saved dates will be consistent across all your devices where the app is installed.

### How can I use Special Dates to manage my events?

You can use Special Dates to save any important date, such as birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays. It's also useful for tracking recurring events like bill due dates, ensuring you never miss an important occasion or payment.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 4.0.0 — 2026-02-16

- Updated to iOS 26

### 3.0.0 — 2024-10-24

- Updated UI

### 2.0.0 — 2023-09-17

New in version 2.0.0:
- Share events as text (long press in event)
- Pint items to the top of the list (long press in event)
- Show countdown as days or combination of days, weeks and months (configurable in settings)
- Added new background colours (configurable in settings)
- Use small emojis in some widgets (configurable in settings)

### 1.7.1 — 2023-01-24

- Updated UI

### 1.7.0 — 2022-09-28

- Updated to iOS 16
- Added lockscreen widgets

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## More apps by Ernesto Fernández Calles

- [Shortcuts for WhatsApp](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shortcuts-for-whatsapp/id910568063)
- [Study!](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/study/id927984321)
- [Apps Wishlist](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/apps-wishlist/id1458212928)

All apps by Ernesto Fernández Calles: https://appshunter.io/developer/548312732

## Related topics

[special dates](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/special-dates)

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*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 2026-08-16.*