Comparison

Phantom Countdown vs Sandypad

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

Head to head
About

Phantom Countdown

This free utility app helps fans of a popular JRPG series track upcoming events. Create and customize multiple countdowns, display them on your home screen with widgets, and choose from built-in or custom themes. Countdowns update daily, offering flexible tracking by date, number of days, or unknown dates.

Highlights
  • Multiple countdown creation
  • Home screen widgets
  • Customizable themes
  • Automatic daily updates
  • Flexible date tracking
Features
Read full description

Wake up, get up, get out there! For all the Phantom Thieves, Investigation Team members, and SEES fighters, prepare for your next event with Phantom Countdown! Phantom Countdown is a free app themed after everyone's favorite JRPG series, Persona. Features include: - Create and manage multiple Countdowns! - Display the Countdowns on your Home Screen with Widgets! - Style your Countdowns using baked in themes or your own themes! - Countdowns automatically update in the list and on your Widgets every new Calendar day! - Track Countdowns using a specific Date, a number of days until the event occurs, or an unknown date! Download today and begin counting down with style! Persona and all associated trademarks are properties of ATLUS and not of my own creation.

About

Sandypad

This app is a specialized timer designed for speedrunning. It allows users to set up multiple games and categories, customize timer precision, and display key run statistics. Sync times across devices and analyze past runs with an intuitive interface.

Highlights
  • Multiple game and category setup
  • Adjustable timer precision
  • Countdown start option
  • Display run statistics (sum of best, best possible)
  • Segment time tracking
  • iCloud synchronization
  • Home screen widgets
  • Past run analysis
Features
Read full description

Sandypad is a speedrun timer. The app was made for iOS, taking advantage of the platform technologies. Add one or more games, and for each of them, add as many categories as you’d like. Adjust the timer by defining the precision (seconds, tenths, hundreths or thousandths). It is also possible to set a countdown to adjust the start of the run. Set which information are displayed during a run like the sum of best or the best possible time. For each category, show the segments and their time, and modify them with an intuitive user interface. Sync your times on all your devices using iCloud. Take advantage of widgets which allow you to quickly access the last runned games and open them right from the home screen. The app saves all you runs times, allowing you to come back to and analyse any previous run. On iPad, take advantage of keyboard shortcuts to manage your run without even touching the screen.

Screenshots

Phantom Countdown4 screens
Sandypad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Phantom Countdown at every 2 months against Sandypad's every 5 months. Phantom Countdown also leads on ratings volume (278 vs 24). Sandypad's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Phantom Countdown sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Sandypad sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Phantom Countdown against 4.6 for Sandypad. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Phantom Countdown has 278 ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of Phantom Countdown's written reviews are positive against 88% of Sandypad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Phantom Countdown ships an update every 2 months, Sandypad every 5 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Phantom Countdown versus Sandypad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhantom CountdownSandypad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (278 ratings)4.6 (24 ratings) — better
Positive reviews82.8% of reviews87.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings278 — better24
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMatthew SinexVivien BERNARD

Customer experience

Phantom Countdown

All ratings276 ratings
Positive89.1%
Neutral5.4%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews174 reviews
Positive82.8%
Neutral7.5%
Negative9.8%

Sandypad

All ratings18 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%

Bugs and requests

Phantom Countdown

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Countdowns disappearing or not saving
  • Widgets not displaying properly
  • App freezing when changing notification settings
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add countdown to lock screen
  • Integrate with calendar app
  • Ability to set custom countdown sounds
  • Automatic countdown rotation
  • More detailed Persona-themed design

Sandypad

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Phantom Countdown

One-time5
  • Level 1 Tip$0.99
  • Level 5 Tip$2.99
  • Level 25 Tip$9.99
Show 2 more
  • Level 50 Tip$24.99
  • Level 99 Tip$49.99
1 purchases

Sandypad

One-time1
  • Gift Lootbox™$1.99

Questions

Is Phantom Countdown free?
Phantom Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sandypad free?
Sandypad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Phantom Countdown or Sandypad?
Sandypad is rated higher. Phantom Countdown averages 4.6 out of 5 from 278 ratings, while Sandypad averages 4.6 from 24 ratings.
Do Phantom Countdown or Sandypad have ads?
Neither Phantom Countdown nor Sandypad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Phantom Countdown or Sandypad?
Phantom Countdown ships an update every 2 months, and Sandypad every 5 months. Most recently, Phantom Countdown was updated on November 3, 2026 and Sandypad on November 3, 2026.

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