Comparison

NCS+ vs poly

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

Head to head
About

NCS+

Discover and select the perfect colors for your design projects. Explore vast color collections, match existing surfaces with advanced scanning, and create harmonious color combinations. Save, share, and get inspired by your favorite palettes.

Highlights
  • Explore standardized NCS colors
  • Search colors by notation or properties
  • Scan surfaces to match NCS colors
  • Navigate NCS color space intuitively
  • Combine colors based on similarity
  • Save and share color mood boards
Features
Read full description

Find the right colour for your next project. NCS+ helps you to succeed in any colour design. With NCS - Natural Colour System®©, developed by world-renowned colour experts, it has never been easier to find the right colour for your project. EXPLORE COLOUR THEMES In NCS+, you have access to all of the standardized NCS colours, and can explore all of the NCS Colour products, including Trend collections, the NCS Index, NCS Exterior and NCS Inspire. FIND YOUR COLOUR Search for colours in the new and innovative search panel, either through an NCS Notation (or parts of it) or filter for colours based on their hue and/or nuance. MATCH A SURFACE Using the built-in support for the Colourpin II / SE / PRO colour readers, you can easily scan any surface and find the closest matching NCS colour with the click of a button. You can also see how much the scanned surface differs from the closest matching colours with the built-in rating function and its corresponding delta E 2000 value. NAVIGATE THE NCS COLOUR SPACE The new and improved NCS Navigator brings unparallelled ease of navigating in the NCS System, through the NCS Circle selecting the prefered hue, and the NCS Triangle to select the correct nuance. The innovative beehive allows you to fine-tune your selection by modifying the selected colour in either chromaticness, blackness or whiteness, giving you exactly the colour you want. COMBINE COLOURS Through the smartness of the NCS System, you can combine colours of your choice based on colour similarities such as nuance-, hue-, blackness-, chromaticness-, whiteness and NCS lightness similarity. Basing your combination colours on these properties are one of the most certain ways of creating colour combinations that harmonize. COLOUR SAMPLE REFERENCES With unprecedented on-screen colour accuracy, you can now bring up any standard NCS colour on your mobile device. On each colour, you can also find out in which collections they are available, buy a physical sample in different sizes from the NCS Colour web shop or any NCS reseller as well as find translation values into other systems such as RGB, HEX, CMYK and Lab values. SAVE, SHARE AND INSPIRE Save your favourite colours into mood boards, upload images or take photos of your project to provide addional context to the board. You can then share the boards with friends or colleagues to inspire and collaborate.

About

poly

Features
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Time is more than just a sequence of numbers. It is an art form that constantly changes, has shape, and transforms fluidly. "PolyMorph Timer" is a completely new style of clock and timer application that beautifully visualizes the inorganic flow of time through "cyberpunk-style neon effects." Free yourself from static and boring clock screens and redesign your time with beautiful, pulsing geometric animations that transform (morph) over time. Whether you are studying, working, meditating, or simply want to relax while gazing at beautiful geometric patterns. This ASMR-like soothing visual experience will push your concentration and creativity to the limit, transforming your smartphone into a cutting-edge piece of digital art. Main Features and Characteristics \[1. Algorithmic Clock\] You no longer need a clock just to check the time. The current "hour," "minute," and "second" are represented three-dimensionally by three overlapping polygons. Furthermore, every 5 seconds out of 60, the polygon shapes change dynamically, repeating a cycle of expansion and contraction forever. The animation of geometric data sorting, pulsing and breathing like a living creature, is a sight to behold. With intuitive swipe and drag operations, you can freely observe the shape of "time" from any angle. \[2. Matrix Digital Rain Stopwatch\] An overwhelmingly cool stopwatch function that pursues the cyberpunk aesthetic to the extreme. It is not just for measuring time; it employs a unique animation visual effect where digital rain (a rain of characters) pours down even during measurement. The cyber effect, which ticks rapidly in milliseconds, is a design that tickles the hearts of hackers, engineers, and creators. Recording lap times is also intuitive and stylish. \[3. 3D Algorithm Pomodoro Timer\] You can practice the "Pomodoro Technique," which repeats 25 minutes of concentration and 5 minutes of rest, along with the visualization of a sorting algorithm (shell sort) in 3D space. During concentration time (Work Mode), 100 3D bars arranged in a circle emit cyan neon light while being beautifully sorted in ascending order. During rest time, they are sorted in descending order with a calming green glow. The movement of the algorithm, perfectly synchronized with the passage of time, visually optimizes your work rhythm. \[4. 2D Sort Grid Custom Timer\] A general-purpose countdown timer that is useful in all situations, such as cooking, training, and presentation practice. As the timer progresses, a grid consisting of 10x10 (100 total) color cells is gradually sorted, and you can enjoy watching the scattered colors align into a beautiful gradient. The set time can be freely customized. Experience time management that goes beyond simple numerical countdowns and is visually pleasing. \[5. Platonic Solid (Regular Polyhedron) Interactive Viewer\] A special feature (polygon tool) that allows you to immerse yourself in the world of pure geometry between periods of time management. You can call up "Platonic solids," said to be the basic building blocks of the universe, into 3D space and freely rotate, enlarge, or reduce them with a single fingertip. The solids drawn with neon lines are as beautiful as holograms, and simply looking at their complex structures brings a meditative and deep refreshing effect.

Screenshots

NCS+4 screens
poly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NCS+ at none against poly's 1. NCS+ also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 months). poly's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. poly sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. NCS+ asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NCS+ ships an update every 8 days, poly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
NCS+ versus poly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNCS+poly
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNCS Colour ABTATSUO NAKANO

In-app purchases

None

NCS+

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

poly

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$4.99

Questions

Is NCS+ free?
NCS+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is poly free?
poly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do NCS+ or poly have ads?
NCS+ shows ads; poly does not.
Which is updated more often, NCS+ or poly?
NCS+ ships an update every 8 days, and poly every 3 months. Most recently, NCS+ was updated on October 6, 2026 and poly on October 7, 2026.

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