RETRO FORTH vs StatusWidgets
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RETRO FORTH
A compact and adaptable concatenative programming language designed for ease of learning and customization. It features a code editor, interactive listener, and support for Gopher servers, allowing for flexible development.
- Concatenative programming language
- Code editor with Markdown subset
- Literate programming style
- Interactive listener interface
- Gopher server data fetching
- File manager
- Documentation browser
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RETRO FORTH is a concatenative programming language with roots in Forth. Designed to be compact, learnable, and easy to adapt to specific needs, it has been developed and refined through continual use by a small community over more than a decade. Forth is a stack based programming language created in the late 1960's by Chuck Moore. Over the intervening decades it has evolved through use, with many dialects along the way. The Retro dialect was created in the late 1990's, and has been continually developed and supported for over 15 years. It is a structured, imperative stack-based language with modern facilities including quotations and reflection. It features: - latest version of the RETRO language - a code editor using Markdown subset - literate programming style - code is extracted from fenced blocks in Markdown source allowing easy mixing of code and commentary - allows use of unicode & emoji in source & commentary - interactive listener interface for quick interactions - simple console output and text input - editor provides quick access to numbers and symbols - support for fetching textual data from Gopher servers - file manager - documentation browser It also includes documentation and several optional examples.
StatusWidgets
Monitor the real-time performance of your favorite websites directly from your Home Screen. Get instant status updates with clear indicators and detailed timing breakdowns for each site. Integrates with Siri and Shortcuts for easy access.
- Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets
- Real-time response time tracking
- Status indicators (up, slow, down)
- Detailed timing breakdown
- History charts and median uptime
- Siri and Shortcuts integration
- Private by design, no account needed
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StatusWidgets keeps an eye on the websites you care about and tells you how quickly each one responds, right on your Home Screen. Add your sites, and StatusWidgets checks them on a schedule you choose. Every check is measured carefully: a fresh connection each time, a full timing breakdown, and a quick control request so a slow result caused by your own Wi-Fi or cellular signal isn't mistaken for a slow website. WIDGETS EVERYWHERE • Home Screen widgets show a site's latest response time and recent trend • Tap Check Now right from the widget • Lock Screen widgets in three sizes • Looks right on tinted and clear Home Screens, and in StandBy AT A GLANCE • A green check, an orange turtle or a red stop sign tells you instantly whether each site is up, slow or down • Switch between a list and cards with live sparklines • An overall status that sums up all your sites HONEST NUMBERS • Checks taken while your connection was poor are flagged and left out of trends and medians • A history chart shows every check from the last few days • Median, uptime and failures for each site • Clear reasons when a check fails: timed out, host not found, server error and more APPLE INTELLIGENCE • On supported devices, get a plain-language summary of how each site has been doing, generated privately on device • Name suggestions when you add a site SIRI, SHORTCUTS AND CONTROL CENTER • "Are my websites up in StatusWidgets?" • "How is GitHub doing in StatusWidgets?" • A Check Websites control for Control Center, the Lock Screen and the Action button • Find your sites in Spotlight PRIVATE BY DESIGN StatusWidgets has no account and no tracking. Your websites and their history stay on your devices. Works on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: RETRO FORTH at Free against StatusWidgets's $4.99. RETRO FORTH also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 42 months) and ratings volume (5 vs 1). StatusWidgets's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.4). On 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
RETRO FORTH is free to download; StatusWidgets costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
StatusWidgets holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RETRO FORTH has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
RETRO FORTH ships an update monthly, StatusWidgets every 42 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RETRO FORTH | StatusWidgets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 42 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.4 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Charles Childers | Ian Leon |
Customer experience
RETRO FORTH
StatusWidgets
In-app purchases
RETRO FORTH
No in-app purchases
StatusWidgets
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is RETRO FORTH free?
Is StatusWidgets free?
Which has better reviews, RETRO FORTH or StatusWidgets?
Do RETRO FORTH or StatusWidgets have ads?
Which is updated more often, RETRO FORTH or StatusWidgets?
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