Comparison

Howbout vs Bubble Play

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

Head to head
About

Howbout

Effortlessly coordinate plans with friends, family, and partners. This app simplifies scheduling by showing everyone's availability, centralizing event details, and providing real-time updates. It aims to reduce communication overhead and help you connect with the people who matter most.

Highlights
  • See everyone's availability
  • Centralize plan details
  • Share calendars or availability
  • Real-time notifications
  • Sync multiple calendars
  • Home screen widgets
Read full description

The shared calendar for friends, couples, and family This is the app you’ve seen all over TikTok. 10M downloads, 200M+ plans made, and 1B+ views across social media. Howbout is how millions of people actually see each other more. Planning shouldn't take a hundred messages and a "when works for you?" thread that goes nowhere. Howbout fixes that. Find the gap, lock in the plan, actually see the people who matter to you. … WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH HOWBOUT SEE WHEN EVERYONE'S FREE No guessing, it's right there on the calendar. MAKE PLANS Add events, add details, and keep everything together, so plans don't fall apart. SHARE YOUR CALENDAR OR AVAILABILITY Choose what people see. Stay private or share with friends. KEEP ALL THE DETAILS IN ONE PLACE Plans, chats, locations, notes, photos… no switching apps or losing the details. REAL TIME NOTIFICATIONS Get updates when plans change or when your friends are up to something fun. MAKE YOUR CALENDAR YOURS Color-code and customize your calendar how you like. SYNC YOUR CALENDARS & TIMELINES Work, school, personal, social… it's all in one place, so nothing clashes. UP NEXT WIDGETS Stay on top of your upcoming plans and see what your friends are up to from your home screen. … BUILT FOR REAL LIFE For friend groups: check availability, lock in plans, actually see each other more. For couples: stay in sync, plan dates faster, stop double-booking each other. For families: track school runs, appointments, and weekends, all in one place. … HOWBOUT+ Unlock more customization like colors and app themes, smarter planning tools, and get an all around better experience. Your subscription will automatically renew unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription in your App Store settings. … Contact us: support@howbout.app · Follow @howbout_app Privacy: howbout.app/privacy · Terms: howbout.app/terms

About

Bubble Play

Connect with friends and family for classic board game fun, no matter the distance. Enjoy multiplayer games with integrated video chat, playable across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Create free account
  • Invite friends
  • Group chats
  • In-game video chat
  • Play on multiple devices
  • Ad-free games
Features
Read full description

Don’t let distance get in the way of game night! We’ve got you covered. We’re bringing you all the classic board game fun you could ever want, and helping you to connect with your friends and family in new ways! With Bubble Play you can: - Create your free account - Invite your friends - Start group chats - Start games directly from those chats - Move seamlessly to video chat while you play It’s simple multiplayer fun with your favourite people, via in-game video chat. With Bubble Play you can play Marmalade games on screens of every size. Connect with your TV, mobile or tablet and play digital board games together wherever you are! About Marmalade Game Studio Marmalade Game Studio makes quality multiplayer board games. Play anywhere on your mobile! Enjoy the best tabletop games with your friends and family. It doesn’t matter of you’re together or apart. You can find the fun with people you know or players around the world. Our games are ad-free, family friendly fun. For quality time, look for the Marmalade Game Studio logo.

Screenshots

Howbout4 screens
Bubble Play3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Howbout at 4.8 against Bubble Play's 1.4. Howbout also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (52K vs 9). Bubble Play's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and device support (3 vs 1). On price 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Howbout sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Bubble Play asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Howbout holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Howbout has 52K ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 42% of Howbout's written reviews are positive against 20% of Bubble Play's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Howbout ships an update weekly, Bubble Play every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Howbout versus Bubble Play: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHowboutBubble Play
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (52K ratings) — better1.4 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews42.0% of reviews — better20.0% of reviews
Number of ratings52K — better9
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumAd-supported — better
Best chart rank#61 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size159 MB162 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperHowbout Ltd.Marmalade Game Studio Limited

Customer experience

Howbout

All ratings51,641 ratings
Positive96.5%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews1,255 reviews
Positive42.0%
Neutral7.1%
Negative50.9%

Bubble Play

All ratings8 ratings
Positive12.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative87.5%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive20.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative80.0%

Bugs and requests

Howbout

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Calendar sync issues causing duplicate events
  • Notifications not working as expected
  • App crashing or freezing
  • Inability to edit events without resending invites

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add widget support
  • Allow customization of event colors
  • Improve recurring event handling
  • Add option to only share with specific people

Bubble Play

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Howbout

Subscriptions6
  • Howbout+ Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Howbout+ Monthly7 Days trial2 variants$4.991 Month
  • Howbout+ Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Howbout+ Annual1 Year trial$39.991 Year
  • Howbout+ Annual7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Howbout+ Annual$39.991 Year
None

Bubble Play

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Howbout free?
Howbout is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bubble Play free?
Bubble Play is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Howbout or Bubble Play?
Howbout is rated higher. Howbout averages 4.8 out of 5 from 52K ratings, while Bubble Play averages 1.4 from 9 ratings.
Do Howbout or Bubble Play have ads?
Neither Howbout nor Bubble Play shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Howbout or Bubble Play?
Howbout ships an update weekly, and Bubble Play every 3 months. Most recently, Howbout was updated on November 10, 2026 and Bubble Play on November 3, 2026.

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