Comparison

The Fireplace App vs Christmas Countdown & Widget

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

Head to head
About

The Fireplace App

Create a cozy holiday atmosphere with a virtual fireplace and festive music. Perfect for family gatherings and enjoying the Christmas spirit indoors.

Highlights
  • Virtual roaring fireplace
  • Stream holiday music
  • Cozy atmosphere creation
  • Family-friendly entertainment
  • Indoor holiday spirit
Features
Read full description

The Holiday Fireplace is your app to get all cozy and warm with family and friends around the Christmas holidays. Stream holiday music while watching the roaring flames in the comfort of your own home!

About

Christmas Countdown & Widget

Track the exact days, hours, and sleeps until Christmas Eve with a live home screen widget. Customize with festive themes and enjoy snowfall animations to bring the holiday spirit to life.

Highlights
  • Live home screen widget
  • Real-time countdown (days, hours, sleeps)
  • Customizable themes (red, green, blue)
  • Snowfall animations
  • Compact size (under 1MB)
Features
Read full description

How many sleeps until Christmas? Christmas Countdown puts the countdown right on your home screen and lock screen, so the whole family can see how close Christmas is, every time they pick up the iPhone. Rated 4.8 stars by more than 2,400 people. Free, no ads, no account. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Add the widget once and the days (or sleeps) left are always in sight. No need to open the app: the widget updates by itself every day, all season long. LOCK SCREEN WIDGETS See the countdown without even unlocking your phone. Pick the round widget with its progress ring, which fills up as Christmas gets closer, or the one-line widget above the clock. SLEEPS, NOT JUST DAYS Kids don't count days, they count sleeps. Switch to sleeps mode and the app answers the question you hear every evening in December: "How many more nights until Santa comes?" LIVE COUNTDOWN IN THE APP Open the app for the full countdown: days, hours, minutes and seconds ticking down in real time, under gently falling snow. Prefer a calm screen? Turn the snow off in one tap. DEC 24 OR DEC 25 Celebrate on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day? Choose the date you count down to, and every widget follows. In Sweden, the app counts to December 24 by default. FESTIVE THEMES Classic red, pine green or ice blue. Your colour applies to the app and to the widgets, so your home screen matches your mood. ALL YEAR LONG Christmas is over? The countdown starts again for next year, and we say Merry Christmas on the way. IN YOUR LANGUAGE Available in 16 languages, from French and German to Japanese and Korean. PREMIUM: SNOWY SCENE WIDGETS A one-time purchase unlocks exclusive widgets: a snowy landscape with a cabin, a snowman and fir trees, in small and medium sizes, painted in your theme colour. Premium also removes the FREE badge from the classic widget and supports an independent developer. No subscription, ever. Already bought it? Restore your purchase in one tap from Settings. HOW TO ADD THE WIDGET 1. Download Christmas Countdown, it's free 2. Long-press an empty area of your home screen and tap Edit 3. Tap Add Widget and search for Christmas Countdown 4. Choose a size and tap Add Widget For the lock screen, long-press the lock screen, tap Customize, then add the widget under the clock. MADE BY ONE PERSON Christmas Countdown is built by an independent developer who loves Christmas as much as you do. Ideas, bugs or just a hello? Write from the Settings screen: every message gets read. Christmas only comes once a year. Start counting.

Screenshots

The Fireplace App3 screens
Christmas Countdown & Widget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Christmas Countdown & Widget at 93% against The Fireplace App's 50%. Christmas Countdown & Widget also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 11 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. The Fireplace App sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Christmas Countdown & Widget sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Christmas Countdown & Widget holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Christmas Countdown & Widget has 2.5K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of The Fireplace App's written reviews are positive against 93% of Christmas Countdown & Widget's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Fireplace App ships an update every 11 months, Christmas Countdown & Widget every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
The Fireplace App versus Christmas Countdown & Widget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Fireplace AppChristmas Countdown & Widget
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (1 ratings)4.8 (2.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews93.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings12.5K — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size195 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNWIC Inc.Benoit Deguine

Customer experience

The Fireplace App

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

Christmas Countdown & Widget

All ratings2,437 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews163 reviews
Positive93.3%
Neutral2.5%
Negative4.3%

Bugs and requests

The Fireplace App

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Christmas Countdown & Widget

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Countdown not always accurate
  • Widget not working on some devices
  • App freezing or crashing

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add Apple Watch support
  • Include more countdown details in widget
  • Implement Christmas mini-games
  • Provide notification options
  • Add more customization options

In-app purchases

3 purchases

The Fireplace App

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
  • 1 Month$7.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription$89.991 Year
3 purchases

Christmas Countdown & Widget

One-time3
  • 1 Gift$1.99
  • Premium$2.99
  • 3 Gifts (or 1 big!)$4.99

Questions

Is The Fireplace App free?
The Fireplace App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Christmas Countdown & Widget free?
Christmas Countdown & Widget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, The Fireplace App or Christmas Countdown & Widget?
Christmas Countdown & Widget is rated higher. The Fireplace App averages 3.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Christmas Countdown & Widget averages 4.8 from 2.5K ratings.
Do The Fireplace App or Christmas Countdown & Widget have ads?
Neither The Fireplace App nor Christmas Countdown & Widget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Fireplace App or Christmas Countdown & Widget?
The Fireplace App ships an update every 11 months, and Christmas Countdown & Widget every 3 weeks. Most recently, The Fireplace App was updated on November 3, 2026 and Christmas Countdown & Widget on November 3, 2026.

Other comparisons