Timecrest vs Qento
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Timecrest
Embark on an epic fantasy adventure where your choices shape the narrative. As a young mage, you'll explore a magical world, uncover plot twists, and make decisions that determine the fate of a realm threatened by destruction. Experience a rich story with an emotional soundtrack.
- Interactive chat story
- Branching narrative choices
- Fantasy adventure
- Explore a magical world
- Emotional custom soundtrack
- Unlockable music tracks
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*** Best Game & Developer of the Year, AppleVis Golden Apples *** *** Featured in Apple's App Store Best Of *** “An interesting story... Simple fun.” - The New York Times Timecrest is a young adult fantasy where you are the main character. A young mage named Ash contacts you frantically through a pocket watch connecting to your iPhone asking for your help. Ash’s world, Alyncia, is about to be destroyed by falling meteors, but you demonstrate the ability to save Ash’s world by turning back time. There isn’t long to celebrate as Ash is suddenly being hunted by someone who informs you that you’ve done the impossible–your use of time magic has broken the rules of magic. Whether you save the world or do something else, your journey will take you through wondrous places where you’ll meet people that will either become your friends or your enemies. The decision to experience this game is yours, but if you do adventure in Alyncia, it will be the journey of a lifetime. - MAKE YOUR CHOICE. Timecrest is a story where no path is the wrong one. Walk your own road and experience a satisfying story no matter what. - EXPLORE A MAGICAL WORLD. Timecrest pulls no punches with big emotional moments and plot twists across over 640,000 words. - EXPERIENCE FANTASY AND WONDER. Timecrest features an emotional custom soundtrack with 34 musical tracks to unlock. What people are saying about Timecrest: “The characters really do draw you in.” - Jamie Pauls “It's not just a survival, yes/no–binary choice thing. It's like you're watching actual characters, actual people, living actual lives.” - Alex Hall “Timecrest stands out.” - AFB, AccessWorld Magazine “Worth a look–even if you’re not a fan of interactive fiction–as this is the best one so far.” - RNIB Connect Radio
Qento
Experience interactive narratives where you are the protagonist, shaping your character and the world around you. Your choices have lasting consequences, even impacting future stories. Engage in deep character connection and explore diverse genres with a consistent literary style.
- Become the protagonist with unique traits
- World remembers and reacts to your choices
- Death carries consequences into new stories
- Directly communicate with your character
- Explore any genre with consistent prose
- Stories saved and accessible in your library
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Your story. You're the protagonist. Qento writes a novel around you, one paragraph at a time, and holds every sentence to a standard. Pick a genre and choose who you are, or write a single line and let the story read the rest from your words. Seven genres. Three of them are whole worlds: fantasy, science fiction and horror each carry their own peoples, paths, creatures, lands and ways of power, with sixty-seven illustrated lineage cards to choose from. Romance, mystery thriller, contemporary and adventure each read like themselves. ————— YOU BECOME SOMEONE Every protagonist carries a wound, an armor, a drive. In a world with peoples, you carry a lineage too: what your blood gives you, and what it costs. Your choices crack the armor, shift the drive, and reshape who you become. START FROM ONE LINE Write a sentence in the writing room. Qento reads the genre from it, and who you said you are, and opens the story there. THE WORLD MOVES WITHOUT YOU Characters pursue their own wants. Trouble arrives on its own schedule, and sometimes breaks in unannounced from what the story has been building while you read. Between your turns, the story isn't waiting. It's plotting. YOUR WORD IS NOT A COMMAND Steer the story and it listens. But a proud man pushed too hard digs in. A locked door opens at a cost. What you can't force, you can earn, and the earning is the story. STORIES HAVE A SHAPE Chapters gather into acts. An ending is offered when the story reaches it, and you can take it or keep reading. No story trails off. Every one is heading somewhere. THE WORLD REMEMBERS The stranger you trusted in Chapter 1 resurfaces in Chapter 4 and remembers what you did. Characters hold grudges, keep secrets, and speak only to what they've seen. Name your dragon in passing and she is Nuva from that page forward. A name you have used never returns on someone new. THE STORY SHOWS YOU ITS MEMORY When a beat brings someone new into your world, a quiet line beneath it tells you what the story will remember. Tap it to open their page: every character, place, and open thread, kept. DEATH IS REAL Your character can die. That scar carries forward into future worlds, a debt the next story remembers. TALK TO YOUR CHARACTER Between beats, speak to the protagonist directly. First person. Their voice. Their memory. What you discuss bleeds back into the next paragraph. YOUR WORLDS, ALWAYS WAITING Every story lives in your library, on iPhone and iPad. Pick up exactly where you left off. The home screen widget keeps the line you left on in sight. YOUR WORDS STAY YOURS Usage counts are counts: stories begun, chapters read, and when something fails. Never your words. You can turn them off in Settings. ————— FREE: YOUR FIRST STORY Five chapters of your first story. The real thing, at no cost. No timers, no meters. STORYTELLER: FOR THE OBSESSED Unlimited stories. A custom cover rendered for every world. For the reader who can't stop at one. ————— Your first story is free up to Chapter 5. Unlimited stories require Storyteller ($9.99/mo or $79.99/yr) or a one-time Story Pass ($2.99 per story). Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Timecrest at 858 against Qento's 8. Timecrest also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.2 vs 18.6). Qento's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and rating (4.9 vs 4.7). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Timecrest sells 12 one-off in-app purchases and Qento sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Qento holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Timecrest has 858 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Timecrest's written reviews are positive against 100% of Qento's.
Timecrest ships an update monthly, Qento every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Timecrest | Qento |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (858 ratings) | 4.9 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 858 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.2 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 308 MB | 171 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Sneaky Crab, Inc. | KARYLL JAY CATUBIG |
Customer experience
Timecrest
Qento
Bugs and requests
Timecrest
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inconsistent save data across devices
- Text overlapping/glitching issues
- Relationship points not tracking properly
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to earn more time crystals in-game
- More control and customization options
- Expanded story and content updates
- Improved save/load functionality
Qento
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Timecrest
- 300 Time Crystals$0.99
- 636 Time Crystals$1.99
- Memory Oracle Starter Pack$2.99
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- 1296 Time Crystals$3.99
- One Time Welcome Pack$5.99
- 2310 Time Crystals$6.99
- 3330 Time Crystals$9.99
- 6,330 Time Crystals$18.99
- 6900 Time Crystals$19.99
- 13,330 Time Crystals$39.99
- 19,997 Time Crystals$59.99
- 34479 Time Crystals$99.99
Qento
- Storyteller7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Storyteller7 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Story Pass$2.99









