CDC's Milestone Tracker vs PatchPal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CDC's Milestone Tracker
Monitor your child's developmental progress from 2 months to 5 years with interactive checklists. Includes tips, videos, and guidance on when to seek professional advice. Easily share milestone summaries with healthcare providers.
- Add multiple children
- Interactive milestone checklists
- Milestone photos and videos
- Developmental tips and activities
- Guidance on early developmental concerns
- Track doctor's appointments
- Share milestone summaries
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Milestones matter! Track your child’s milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC’s easy-to-use checklists; get tips from CDC to support your child’s development; and find out what to do if you ever have concerns about your child's development. From birth to age 5, your child should reach milestones in how he or she plays, learns, speaks, acts and moves. Photos and videos in this app illustrate each milestone and make tracking them for your child easy and fun! Spanish photos and videos are coming soon! Features: • Add a Child – enter personalized information about your child or multiple children • Milestone Tracker – track your child’s development by looking for important milestones using an interactive checklist • Milestone Photos and Videos – know what each milestone looks like so that you can better identify them in your own child. • Tips and Activities – support your child’s development at every age • When to Act Early – know when it’s time to “act early” and talk with your child’s doctor about developmental concerns • Appointments – keep track of your child’s doctors’ appointments and get reminders about recommended developmental screenings • Milestone Summary – get a summary of your child’s milestones to view, and share with or email to your child’s doctor and other important care providers For more information and free tools to help you track your child’s milestones, visit www.cdc.gov/ActEarly. *This milestone checklist is not a substitute for a standardized, validated developmental screening tool. These developmental milestones show what most children (75% or more) can do by each age. Subject matter experts selected these milestones based on available data and expert consensus. CDC does not collect or share any personal information that can be used to identify you or your child.
PatchPal
This app helps parents track and make eye patching for children with lazy eye more engaging. It features a timer, mini-games, rewards, and progress tracking to motivate kids. Data can be synced and exported for doctor visits.
- Eye patching timer with progress tracking
- Engaging mini-games for kids
- Achievement system and rewards
- Detailed progress charts and statistics
- Cloud sync across devices
- Reminder notifications
- Data export to CSV
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PatchPal helps families track eye patching time for children with amblyopia (lazy eye). Make patching fun and engaging! KEY FEATURES: • Simple timer with colorful progress tracking • Fun mini-games to keep kids engaged during patching • Achievement system and rewards to motivate children • Detailed progress charts and statistics • Cloud sync across all your devices • Reminder notifications to never miss a session • Export data as CSV for doctor visits • Beautiful, kid-friendly design Perfect for parents managing their child's eye patching treatment. All features are completely free to use, with optional support options available. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: PatchPal offers optional auto-renewable subscriptions to support ongoing development. Subscriptions are managed through your Apple ID settings and can be canceled at any time. IMPORTANT MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: This app is for informational and tracking purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or qualified health provider with any questions regarding a medical condition. Do not use this app to diagnose or treat medical conditions. Privacy Policy: https://sushantwason.github.io/patchpal-legal/privacy_policy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://sushantwason.github.io/patchpal-legal/terms_of_service.html Download PatchPal today and make patching time easier and more fun!
Screenshots
Verdict
CDC's Milestone Tracker and PatchPal both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of PatchPal's written reviews are positive against 62% of CDC's Milestone Tracker's. PatchPal also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 months). CDC's Milestone Tracker's advantage is ratings volume (10K vs 4). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for CDC's Milestone Tracker against 5.0 for PatchPal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CDC's Milestone Tracker has 10K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 62% of CDC's Milestone Tracker's written reviews are positive against 100% of PatchPal's.
CDC's Milestone Tracker ships an update every 6 months, PatchPal every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CDC's Milestone Tracker | PatchPal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (10K ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Centers For Disease Control and Prevention | SUSHANT WASON |
Customer experience
CDC's Milestone Tracker
PatchPal
Bugs and requests
CDC's Milestone Tracker
Reported bugs
4 issues- Incorrect age display for children
- Milestone checklist reset after app updates
- Reference videos not working as expected
- Inability to input child's exact age or prematurity details
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to sync data between multiple devices
- Option to track milestones beyond early childhood
- Integration with other child health and development apps
- More customization options for milestone tracking
- Improved data visualization and reporting
PatchPal
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
CDC's Milestone Tracker
No in-app purchases
PatchPal
No in-app purchases







