Comparison

Bark vs iList

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

Head to head
About

Bark

Send custom push notifications to your iPhone via an HTTP API. Supports advanced features like custom icons, grouping, and critical alerts. Offers privacy-protected, end-to-end encrypted pushes with self-deployable server options.

Highlights
  • HTTP API for push notifications
  • Custom icons and grouping
  • Continuous and critical alerts
  • End-to-end push encryption
  • Self-deployable server options
  • Privacy-protected notifications
Features
Read full description

You can send push notifications to your iPhone by simply calling an HTTP API. Bark supports many advanced iOS push features, such as custom icons, notification grouping, custom ringtones, continuous alerts, critical alerts, and encrypted pushes. Bark does not consume device battery, as its core functionality relies on system push services and push extensions, and the app itself does not need to be running. Bark ensures your privacy and security with high reliability. Bark supports self-deploying the server, which can be deployed via Docker, Serverless, or Cloudflare Worker. The bark-server supports most operating systems, and you can also run it manually. The app is compiled and uploaded through Github Action, ensuring that the version you’re using is compiled from open-source code, without any modifications by anyone (including the author). Bark supports end-to-end push encryption with a custom key, ensuring that the push content is not accessed or leaked by the Bark server or Apple’s APNs server during transmission. The notification message history saved locally by Bark is also very secure. Using the NotificationServiceExtension, the push message is only stored on the device when the push is received. Feedback email: to@day.app Privacy Policy: https://api.day.app/privacy User Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

iList

Features
Read full description

Welcome to iList, a third-party client designed specifically for OpenList/AList users. Whether you’re streaming audio and video, browsing cloud photo albums, or managing files of all kinds, iList provides an intuitive, effortless experience. About the App iList lets you add OpenList/AList servers or share links as storage drives. Browse, search, add files to favorites, upload and download files, and perform batch file operations. You can also manage multiple servers, account credentials, and access URLs, and switch between them whenever you like! What Makes iList Stand Out - File Browsing: Display folders and files together. Set and save a different sort order for each folder, so there’s no need to reconfigure it when switching folders. - Favorites: Add files and folders to your favorites for quick access to the content you love. - Photos: Preloading and Scroll View support make browsing smoother. - Video: Supports subtitle effects, bilingual subtitles, gesture controls, and video zoom. iList can automatically select subtitles based on your preferences, save playback progress, and open VLC, Infuse, and other apps for streaming or local playback. - Audio: Supports playlists, line-by-line and word-by-word synced lyrics, sleep timers, and audiobook progress tracking. Audio can also be downloaded in advance for seamless transitions. - PDF: View PDF files directly in the app. - Text and Code Files: View and edit text and source code files. - Servers: Supports multiple servers, multiple users, and even multiple Endpoints. On launch, iList can automatically select the appropriate Endpoint for your internal or external network. You can also add share links as read-only storage drives. - Independent Passcode Lock: Unlike a system-level app lock, iList’s built-in passcode lock provides an extra layer of privacy when sharing a device. Privacy iList contains no advertising or analytics SDKs, and the developer does not actively collect your personal information. Your server addresses, account credentials, access history, favorites, and cache are stored locally on your device. The files you access and related data are processed by the OpenList/AList service you configure. Please note: iList is a third-party client and does not provide OpenList/AList servers. Before using the app, make sure you have permission to access the relevant servers, accounts, files, and share links. For suggestions or questions, feel free to contact me by email: bywenshu2024@gmail.com Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Bark3 screens
iList4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: iList at daily against Bark's every 3 weeks. On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bark sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.69 per year and iList sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bark ships an update every 3 weeks, iList daily. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Bark versus iList: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBarkiList
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (110 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews98.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings110 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB149 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer丰 黄宇翔 陈

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Bark

Subscriptions1
  • Continuous support$2.691 Year
One-time1
  • One-time donation$2.69
3 purchases

iList

Subscriptions2
  • iList PRO Monthly14 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • iList PRO Yearly14 Days trial$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • iList PRO Lifetime$7.99

Questions

Is Bark free?
Bark is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is iList free?
iList is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Bark or iList have ads?
Neither Bark nor iList shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bark or iList?
Bark ships an update every 3 weeks, and iList daily. Most recently, Bark was updated on October 25, 2026 and iList on October 12, 2026.

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