Chess Openings Wizard vs Time Was
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess Openings Wizard
This app helps tournament chess players prepare their openings by designing and testing their knowledge of specific lines. It offers powerful editing and training tools, syncing with desktop versions and providing Stockfish analysis for move validation. Prepare openings quickly with tools refined over decades.
- Design and test chess openings
- Full editing and training power
- Syncs with Mac and Windows versions
- Stockfish analysis via PocketGM server
- Pedigree ribbon shows top player game results
- Fast opening preparation tools
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Chess Openings Wizard is where tournament players go to work on their openings. The app is based on the Bookup program that first came out in 1984. The app has full editing and training power like its brethren apps on Macintosh and Windows. Openings can be moved back and forth to the Macintosh, Windows, and Android versions. Chess Openings Wizard does not play chess, nor does it come with a game collection. It is meant for designing openings for White and defenses for Black, and then testing the player's knowledge of the lines by playing mock games. Sample ebooks include an opening guide (thousands of named and categorized opening positions accessible through any move order), an ECO master framework, and the White and Black repertoires of Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Robert Fischer. It also includes a demo ebook with excerpts from a highly annotated repertoire in the Open Game. Chess Openings Wizard has a dedicated PocketGM server giving you full speed Stockfish analysis. (Internet connection required.) The Pedigree ribbon shows the results of games in each opening position but uses only games between two super GMs. That way you know if the move is trusted by the best players. (And it's important to know if a move has never been played by a super GM when facing another super GM.) This is the same feature found in Chess Openings Wizard Professional for Macintosh and Windows. The short version is: if you are designing an opening with a game database app or with a playing program, you're working too hard. Chess Openings Wizard contains 42 years of refinements, with precisely the tools that a tournament player requires to prepare openings fast.
Time Was
Create and share interactive history timelines with events, dates, descriptions, and images. View your timelines vertically or horizontally, and search for specific historical information. Share your creations publicly or keep them private.
- Create custom history timelines
- Add events with dates, descriptions, and images
- View timelines vertically or horizontally
- Search events within timelines
- Share timelines publicly or privately
- Add public timelines from other users
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Create your own history timelines and share them with others through the Time Was app. Add events to your timeline and include dates, titles, descriptions and images. The app lays out your events in an easy-to-view timeline format. View your timeline as a vertical list of events, or as a traditional horizontal timeline with events placed along a series of years. Search events to find important people, places and happenings in your timeline. Make your timeline public to share with the Time Was user community if you'd like. Or keep it private for your own use. Add public timelines from other people to your library to view and learn what others are publishing about historical events. [:mav: 2.0.2]
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Chess Openings Wizard at 5.0 against Time Was's 3.8. Chess Openings Wizard also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). Time Was's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $6.99). On review sentiment, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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
Chess Openings Wizard costs $6.99 and Time Was $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Chess Openings Wizard holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 5 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of Chess Openings Wizard's written reviews are positive against 60% of Time Was's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Chess Openings Wizard ships an update every 2 months, Time Was every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Openings Wizard | Time Was |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 3.8 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.5% of reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 167 MB | 66 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Bookup Corp. | Hindsight Apps LLC |
Customer experience
Chess Openings Wizard
Time Was
In-app purchases
Chess Openings Wizard
No in-app purchases
Time Was
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Chess Openings Wizard free?
Is Time Was free?
Which has better reviews, Chess Openings Wizard or Time Was?
Do Chess Openings Wizard or Time Was have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chess Openings Wizard or Time Was?
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