Comparison

Winter Fireplace vs Controller for HomeKit

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

Head to head
About

Winter Fireplace

Transform any space into a cozy haven with a vast library of 4K fireplace, candle, and campfire videos. Enjoy immersive soundscapes and seamless syncing across devices for relaxation, romance, or seasonal cheer.

Highlights
  • Extensive 4K fire video library
  • Diverse fire scene types
  • Immersive soundscapes
  • Favorites and history
  • iCloud syncing
  • AirPlay support
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Winter Fireplace, the premier 4K fireplace, candle and campfire app, creating an inviting fireside atmosphere in any setting. Winter Fireplace offers a diverse library of 4K fireplace and fireside videos, and campfire and candle light scenes, making it perfect for relaxation, romance with soft candle light, or seasonal spirit with a campfire or bonfire. Winter Fireplace Features: • Extensive Fire Video Library: Over 80 premium 4K videos showcasing fireplace, fireside, candle, campfire, and bonfire scenes. • Favorites: Easily bookmark your favorite fire place and fireside moments. • History: Return to recently watched 4K fire & candle light scenes with a tap. • Fire Variety: Winter Fireplace includes not just a traditional wood fire but also a campfire, gas fireplace, outdoor fire pits, and intimate candle settings. • Soundscapes: Choose from 18 immersive audio options to enhance your experience, from crackling fire wood to the sounds of a campfire or bonfire in nature. • Seamless Syncing: With iCloud integration, sync your preferences across all devices effortlessly. • AirPlay Capabilities: Cast fireplace videos, candle arrangements, campfire scenes, and fireside settings to your Apple TV and compatible devices. Fireside Scene Types: • Fire place • Candle arrangement • Campfire • Bonfire • Fire pit • and more fire themed scenes! Whether for fireside chats, adding a fire screensaver backdrop to office lobbies, creating a votive candle display, or enhancing hotel foyers with candle light, Winter Fireplace creates a peaceful ambiance in every environment. It’s also perfect for social gatherings around a bonfire or campfire, and for creating cozy fireside family events. Gain free access to selected tranquil 4K fireplace scenes or opt for the immersive fireside, campfire and candle experiences of our affordable Winter Fireplace Premium subscription. Create a relaxing fire lit ambiance today! Winter Fireplace Terms of Use: http://teleost.net/winter-fireplace/eula/en

About

Controller for HomeKit

Enhance your smart home experience with advanced control and automation. Visualize your home with floor plans, track device performance with charts, and create complex automations tailored to your needs. Organize devices, store setup codes, and monitor your entire smart home ecosystem.

Highlights
  • Floor plan visualization with LiDAR
  • Device performance charts
  • Complex automations and workflows
  • Custom notifications
  • Smart folders and filters
  • Setup code storage
  • Device maintenance and logs
Features
Read full description

Experience and control your Apple Home in a whole new way with Controller for HomeKit. Our app combines all the familiar HomeKit features with numerous additional enhancements, offering you a user-friendly interface, unparalleled control, and flexibility. * CONTROLLER AI: Describe a scene, automation, or workflow in everyday language – Controller builds it for you. * FLOOR PLAN: Create a detailed floor plan of your home using the LiDAR sensor on your iPhone or iPad and control your HomeKit accessories directly through the floor plan. * CHARTS: See how your Apple Home evolves over time. Charts in Controller for HomeKit show how values like temperature, humidity or battery usage change – across all your devices and brands. * COMPLEX AUTOMATIONS: Utilize advanced triggers and conditions for custom automations that are perfectly tailored to your needs. * WORKFLOWS: Optimize your daily routines with workflows that go beyond the capabilities of Apple Home. * NOTIFICATIONS: Create custom notifications to stay informed about important events in your home. * BACKUPS: Secure your setup and restore it easily when needed. * SMART FOLDERS: Organize your devices and automations effortlessly with smart folders and custom filters. * SETUP CODES: Securely store your HomeKit and Matter codes in the app, so they are always at hand and never lost. * MAINTENANCE: Keep track of your setup, quickly identifying which batteries need to be replaced, which devices are unreachable, or which automations are broken. * LOGS: Monitor all activities and changes in your smart home. * WIDGETS: Control your devices faster and easier with convenient widgets or quickly jump into your floor plan. Unlock the full potential of your smart home with Controller for HomeKit. Download the app now and experience how simple and intuitive home automation can be. For more information, visit our website: https://www.controllerforhomekit.com Privacy Policy: https://controllerforhomekit.com/privacy-en/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Winter Fireplace4 screens
Controller for HomeKit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Controller for HomeKit at 2.7K against Winter Fireplace's 206. Controller for HomeKit also leads on device support (5 vs 3). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Winter Fireplace sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Controller for HomeKit sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. 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 — 4.0 for Winter Fireplace against 4.1 for Controller for HomeKit. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Controller for HomeKit has 2.7K ratings behind it against 206, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 31% of Winter Fireplace's written reviews are positive against 26% of Controller for HomeKit's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Winter Fireplace ships an update every 2 weeks, Controller for HomeKit every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Winter Fireplace versus Controller for HomeKit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWinter FireplaceController for HomeKit
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (206 ratings)4.1 (2.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews30.6% of reviews — better26.1% of reviews
Number of ratings2062.7K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TViPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size161 MB212 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHenry Glendeningacasa Software GmbH

Customer experience

Winter Fireplace

All ratings206 ratings
Positive72.8%
Neutral7.3%
Negative19.9%
Written reviews111 reviews
Positive30.6%
Neutral6.3%
Negative63.1%

Controller for HomeKit

All ratings2,726 ratings
Positive75.8%
Neutral4.7%
Negative19.6%
Written reviews456 reviews
Positive26.1%
Neutral9.6%
Negative64.3%

Bugs and requests

Winter Fireplace

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Controller for HomeKit

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Backup and restore issues
  • Disappearing automations and accessories
  • Compatibility problems with iOS 16.2
  • Slow performance and unresponsiveness

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved documentation and tutorials
  • Better integration with Apple Home app
  • Support for more HomeKit device types
  • Ability to customize automation triggers

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Winter Fireplace

Subscriptions2
  • Winter Fireplace Premium$2.991 Month
  • Winter Fireplace Premium$9.991 Year
One-time10
  • Fireplace Pack 2$1.99
  • Fireplace Pack 12$1.99
  • Fireplace Pack 1 - Originals$3.99
Show 7 more
  • Fireplace Pack 4$3.99
  • Fireplace Pack 8 - Frameless$3.99
  • Pack 11$3.99
  • Fireplace Pack 9 - Christmas$5.99
  • Fireplace Pack 10 - Halloween$5.99
  • Mega Bundle$12.99
  • Unlock$19.99
7 purchases

Controller for HomeKit

Subscriptions6
  • Controller Essentials2 variants$4.991 Month
  • Essentials Lifetime - Plus Addon$4.991 Month
  • Controller Plus$8.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Controller Essentials7 Days trial2 variants$39.991 Year
  • Essentials Lifetime - Plus Addon7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Controller Plus7 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time1
  • Controller Essentials Lifetime2 variants$99.99

Questions

Is Winter Fireplace free?
Winter Fireplace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Controller for HomeKit free?
Controller for HomeKit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Winter Fireplace or Controller for HomeKit?
Controller for HomeKit is rated higher. Winter Fireplace averages 4.0 out of 5 from 206 ratings, while Controller for HomeKit averages 4.1 from 2.7K ratings.
Do Winter Fireplace or Controller for HomeKit have ads?
Neither Winter Fireplace nor Controller for HomeKit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Winter Fireplace or Controller for HomeKit?
Winter Fireplace ships an update every 2 weeks, and Controller for HomeKit every 10 days. Most recently, Winter Fireplace was updated on September 21, 2026 and Controller for HomeKit on September 26, 2026.

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