Comparison

Simple Refresh for Safari vs xEngine for Safari

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

Head to head
About

Simple Refresh for Safari

Automate webpage refreshing in Safari across iOS and macOS. Set custom intervals from 1 second to 10 minutes for individual tabs. Monitor live updates without manual intervention.

Highlights
  • Automatic page refresh
  • Customizable refresh intervals
  • Independent settings per tab
  • Live countdown timer
  • Efficient battery usage
  • Persists settings across sessions
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Simple Refresh brings automatic webpage refresh functionality to Safari on iOS and macOS. Stop manually refreshing pages—let Simple Refresh do it for you. With an intuitive slider interface or direct input, set your preferred refresh interval from 1 second to 10 minutes and let the extension handle the rest. Each Safari tab maintains its own refresh settings, so you can monitor multiple pages simultaneously with different refresh rates. Key Features: - Automatic page refresh at customizable intervals (1s, 5s, 15s, 30s, 1m, 2m, 5m, 10m, or any custom interval between 1s and 10m) - Live countdown timer shows time remaining until next refresh - Slider control or click-to-edit display for flexible input - Independent refresh settings for each tab - Visual "On" badge shows active refresh status - Settings persist across browser sessions - Efficient battery usage with smart refresh engine - Available in 27 languages - Works on both iPhone, iPad, and Mac Perfect for: - Monitoring live scores, stock tickers, and weather updates - Watching for content changes without manual refreshing - Development and testing workflows - Any webpage that updates frequently Simple Refresh focuses on doing one thing well: refreshing webpages automatically. No complex setup, no unnecessary features—just reliable, automatic refresh when you need it.

About

xEngine for Safari

This utility app allows users to customize their default search engine within Safari. It supports a wide variety of popular and AI-powered search engines, and enables users to add their own custom options while prioritizing privacy through local processing.

Highlights
  • Customize Safari's default search engine
  • Support for popular search engines
  • Add custom AI search engines
  • Local data processing for privacy
  • Manage your own search engines
Features
Read full description

xEngine — Customize Your Safari's Default Search Engine Tired of Safari's limited search options? xEngine gives you control. Switch between a wide range of search engines — or add your own, including AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity — all without sacrificing privacy. Key Features: - Choose from popular engines like Brave, Yandex, Startpage, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and more - Add and manage your own custom search engines - Local processing only — xEngine never collects your data Simple. Private. Yours. Download xEngine and search the web your way.

Screenshots

Simple Refresh for Safari3 screens
xEngine for Safari3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Simple Refresh for Safari at free against xEngine for Safari's paid. Simple Refresh for Safari also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 6 months) and rating (3.5 vs 3.3). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

Simple Refresh for Safari costs $1.99 and xEngine for Safari $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simple Refresh for Safari holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 24 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of Simple Refresh for Safari's written reviews are positive against 50% of xEngine for Safari's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simple Refresh for Safari ships an update every 6 weeks, xEngine for Safari every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Simple Refresh for Safari versus xEngine for Safari: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple Refresh for SafarixEngine for Safari
Price$1.99$1.99
Rating3.5 (24 ratings) — better3.3 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews52.3% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings24 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#123 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB6 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperWilliam Walker磊 汪

Customer experience

Simple Refresh for Safari

All ratings24 ratings
Positive58.3%
Neutral4.2%
Negative37.5%
Written reviews88 reviews
Positive52.3%
Neutral8.0%
Negative39.8%

xEngine for Safari

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

Simple Refresh for Safari

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • Latest update breaks functionality on iPad
  • Start button unresponsive after update
  • Extension stops working after a few hours
  • Extension stops working on iOS 17
  • Extension stops working after Safari updates
Show 12 more
  • Extension turns itself off randomly
  • Extension stops remembering scroll position
  • Extension automatically disables after first refresh
  • Extension resets to 60-second interval after disabling
  • Extension not working on M1 Mac with Safari 15
  • Extension disconnects when changing tabs
  • Extension stops working after OS reinstall
  • Extension not compatible with Safari 14 (initially)
  • Auto-refresh sometimes stops working
  • Extension disappears from Safari extension list
  • Extension logs user out of OWA
  • Extension not working on Big Sur

Requested features

15 requests
  • Add countdown timer display
  • Allow typing custom interval
  • Longer timer duration (up to 30 mins)
  • Keyboard shortcut to start/stop
  • Toggle to disable refresh when tab focused
Show 10 more
  • Beep when change is noted
  • Clear tab cache on reload
  • Refresh by URL instead of tab
  • Countdown tracker for next refresh
  • Option for 3-second intervals
  • Utilize on multiple windows simultaneously
  • Remember settings after Safari restart
  • Sound alert for page changes
  • Ability to set different timers for different tabs
  • Remember scroll position after refresh

xEngine for Safari

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Simple Refresh for Safari

No in-app purchases

None

xEngine for Safari

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Simple Refresh for Safari free?
Simple Refresh for Safari costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is xEngine for Safari free?
xEngine for Safari costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Simple Refresh for Safari or xEngine for Safari?
Simple Refresh for Safari is rated higher. Simple Refresh for Safari averages 3.5 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while xEngine for Safari averages 3.3 from 6 ratings.
Do Simple Refresh for Safari or xEngine for Safari have ads?
Neither Simple Refresh for Safari nor xEngine for Safari shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simple Refresh for Safari or xEngine for Safari?
Simple Refresh for Safari ships an update every 6 weeks, and xEngine for Safari every 6 months. Most recently, Simple Refresh for Safari was updated on September 20, 2026 and xEngine for Safari on September 4, 2026.

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