Comparison

popcorn time° vs ntfy

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

Head to head
About

popcorn time°

This app uses machine learning to detect when your microwave popcorn is ready, preventing burnt popcorn and waste. Simply place your phone near the microwave while it's running to get an alert when your snack is perfectly popped.

Highlights
  • Machine learning popcorn detection
  • Alerts when popcorn is ready
  • Prevents burnt popcorn
  • Reduces waste
  • Works with microwaves
Features
Read full description

Have you ever burned microwave popcorn? Yes, you do. As all of us. The smell, the garbage, the wasted time, things you’ll never forget. There are rule of thumbs, best practices and on the end of the day, you can still talk out yourself. But what if science could save you from all the hassle? Let machine learning do this for you. Let thousands of scientist and millions of dollars do the legwork for you. Let your phone standing next to the microwave while the kernels are popping. Let your phone let you know when your popcorn is ready. Use this app and you’ll know that the thing in your microwave is popcorn or not. Last but not least, my mom thinks it was a good idea to make this app. Don’t let her be wrong.

About

ntfy

This app allows you to send push notifications to your phone from scripts or other applications using simple HTTP requests. It acts as a client for a free, open-source pub-sub service, enabling you to receive alerts and updates directly on your device.

Highlights
  • Send notifications via REST API
  • Subscribe to topics
  • Publish messages via HTTP
  • Integrates with Bash/PowerShell
  • Free and open source client
Features
Read full description

Send push notifications to your phone from any Bash or PowerShell script, or from your own app using PUT/POST requests, e.g. via curl on Linux or Invoke-WebRequest. ntfy is a client for https://ntfy.sh, a free and open source HTTP-based pub-sub service. You can subscribe to topics in this app, and then publish messages via a simple HTTP API. Uses: * Notify yourself when a long-running process is done * Ping your phone when a backup has failed * Alerts when someone logs into your server Example: $ curl -d "Your backup is done" ntfy.sh/mytopic Find more examples and usage instructions here: https://ntfy.sh/docs

Screenshots

popcorn time°4 screens
ntfy2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ntfy at 79% against popcorn time°'s 40%. ntfy also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). popcorn time°'s advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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. popcorn time° sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days. ntfy asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ntfy holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ntfy has 442 ratings behind it against 59, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of popcorn time°'s written reviews are positive against 79% of ntfy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

popcorn time° ships an update every 3 weeks, ntfy fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on July 5, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
popcorn time° versus ntfy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterpopcorn time°ntfy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (59 ratings)4.8 (442 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews78.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings59442 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCsaba HuszarPhilipp Heckel

Customer experience

popcorn time°

All ratings59 ratings
Positive83.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative11.9%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative40.0%

ntfy

All ratings442 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral1.6%
Negative4.5%
Written reviews164 reviews
Positive78.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative15.2%

Bugs and requests

popcorn time°

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

ntfy

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Notifications not working on iOS
  • Broken click URLs in notifications
  • Compatibility issues with iOS notification summarizing

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to change notification sounds
  • Support for Apple Watch
  • Customizable topic names/aliases
  • Improved iOS notification handling
  • All topics view and read/unread indicators

In-app purchases

3 purchases

popcorn time°

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly subscription3 Days trial$5.997 Days
  • Monthly subscription7 Days trial$9.991 Month
One-time1
  • Premium access$2.99
None

ntfy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is popcorn time° free?
popcorn time° is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ntfy free?
ntfy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, popcorn time° or ntfy?
ntfy is rated higher. popcorn time° averages 4.4 out of 5 from 59 ratings, while ntfy averages 4.8 from 442 ratings.
Do popcorn time° or ntfy have ads?
Neither popcorn time° nor ntfy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, popcorn time° or ntfy?
popcorn time° ships an update every 3 weeks, and ntfy fortnightly. Most recently, popcorn time° was updated on July 5, 2026 and ntfy on September 27, 2026.

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