Comparison

Up Ahead vs Screens 5

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

Head to head
About

Up Ahead

A visually appealing app to track upcoming events with customizable countdown widgets for your Home and Lock Screens. Create events in seconds and personalize them with unique patterns. Stay organized with reminders and attachments.

Highlights
  • Customizable countdown widgets
  • Event timeline view
  • Unlockable decorative patterns
  • Flexible reminders
  • Event attachments (notes/links)
  • Recurring and multi-day events
  • iCloud backups
Features
Read full description

Up Ahead is a playful, beautiful way to keep track of everything you’re looking forward to. Create events in seconds, and build yourself an eclectic timeline full of birthdays, weddings, holidays, vacations, game releases, sporting events, or anything coming up that brings you joy. As your timeline grows, you’ll unlock themed patterns that can be used to give your events personality. Keep your countdowns top of mind with customizable widgets for all your devices. --- CREATE EVENTS Up Ahead events are quick and simple to create — just give your event a name, a date (with optional time), a category icon, and a color. EVENT TIMELINE View your events in a unique timeline format that gives you visual information about how much time is passing between events, and allows you to easily look back on your entire event history. PATTERNS As you create events, you’ll start to unlock decorative patterns that can be applied to any of your events and appear in both your in-app timeline and your widgets. Patterns are unlocked based on the content of your events, or as weekly gifts. How many can you find? WIDGETS * "Countdown" widgets are simple widgets for counting down to a specific event. * "Coming up" widgets come in multiple sizes and will dynamically count down to whatever event is coming up next. They can be customized with filters and display names, allowing you to create widgets such as “Next Raptors game” or “Upcoming game releases”. * "Timeline grid" widgets give you a colorful high-level overview of all your upcoming events. REMINDERS Schedule flexible reminders to get notified about the events you don't want to miss. MULTI-PLATFORM Up Ahead runs on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, and they all stay in sync seamlessly and privately via iCloud. ATTACHMENTS Keep all your event information in one place by attaching short notes or links to your events. SIRI INTEGRATION Ask Siri to create, edit, delete or tell you about your events using natural language. Deep Shortcuts support for power users. TIMELINE FILTERING Quickly filter your events temporarily so that you can get a clean look at just the film releases you’re looking forward to, or the birthdays you want to remember. RECURRING EVENTS Mark an event as recurring — weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or yearly — to have it automatically replace itself in your timeline when an instance of the event has passed. MULTI-DAY EVENTS Give an event an optional end date to countdown to both an event’s beginning and its end. EVENT SHARING Lightweight event sharing allows you to export and share colorful images of any event. SOUND AND HAPTICS Delightful sound effects and haptics bring the app to life. ...and lots more fun stuff to discover. --- The free version of Up Ahead is free forever, and contains no ads. If you’re looking for the best way to simply pop a few good-looking countdown widgets onto your Home Screen or Lock Screen, downloading Up Ahead for free is a great place to start. With an in-app subscription to Up Ahead Plus, you’ll get all the bells and whistles: unlimited event creation, recurring and multi-day events, the full suite of widget types, and more. --- Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your App Store account settings after purchase. Cancellation of the current active subscription period is not allowed. Privacy policy: https://upaheadapp.com/privacy Terms of service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Screens 5

Access your Mac, Windows, Linux, or Raspberry Pi computers remotely from your Apple devices. Offers fast, secure, and reliable desktop access for work, travel, or helping others. Integrates with modern workflows and system features for seamless control.

Highlights
  • Remote access to Mac, Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi
  • Fast and secure VNC connections
  • Curtain Mode for private sessions
  • SSH connections and key support
  • Clipboard and file transfer
  • Multi-display support
  • Siri and Shortcuts integration
Features
Read full description

Access your computers from anywhere. Screens lets you remotely access your Mac, Windows PC, Linux PC, or Raspberry Pi from your iPhone or iPad. Whether you’re connecting to a remote workstation, a headless Mac mini, or helping friends and family, Screens delivers fast, secure, and reliable remote desktop access wherever you are. REMOTE ACCESS FROM ANYWHERE Remote access is built right into Screens on Mac. For older Macs and Windows PCs, install Screens Connect to easily set up remote access over the internet. Need to connect to Linux or Raspberry Pi? Screens also integrates with Tailscale for secure, hassle-free connections. HIGH PERFORMANCE SCREEN SHARING Experience a new level of remote desktop access on compatible Macs with Apple’s High Performance Screen Sharing technology. • Dynamic desktop resizing that adapts to your iPhone or iPad’s display • Fixed or custom desktop resolutions • Private virtual desktops • Smoother HEVC video streaming with remote audio • Display Privacy that blanks the remote Mac’s physical displays • Built-in connection encryption without requiring SSH High Performance requires a remote Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Smooth video and audio streaming also require a fast, stable connection with low latency. FAST, SECURE REMOTE DESKTOP ACCESS Screens is optimized for responsive remote control with support for: • Curtain Mode and Display Privacy for private remote sessions on Mac • SSH connections and SSH keys • Secure password storage and quick logins • Observe or control remote computers • Adaptive and Full display quality BUILT FOR MODERN REMOTE WORKFLOWS Use Screens to: • Access remote Macs, PCs, Linux systems, and Raspberry Pi devices • Connect to headless Mac mini setups and remote workstations • Monitor long-running tasks from anywhere • Help friends, family, or coworkers remotely • Access your computers while traveling or away from home DO MORE WITH SCREENS Take advantage of powerful system features across iPhone and iPad: • Connect using Siri, Shortcuts, and Spotlight • Quickly connect to saved computers from widgets • Use external keyboards, mice, and trackpads • Use Apple Pencil on iPad • Display your remote computer on an external display with AirPlay POWERFUL FEATURES • Multi-display support • Clipboard sharing • File transfer between iPhone or iPad and Mac • Customizable connection settings for individual computers • Dictation support for remote text input • Session selection on Mac • iCloud synchronization • Full URL Schemes support • Touch ID, Face ID, Apple Watch, and password protection COMPATIBILITY • Connect from iPhone and iPad to Mac, Windows PC, Linux PC, and Raspberry Pi • High Performance requires an Apple silicon Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma or later • HEVC video and remote audio require a fast, stable connection and are unavailable over SSH • Screens Connect is built into Screens for Mac on macOS 14.6 or later • Standalone Screens Connect is available for Macs running macOS 10.13 or later and PCs running Windows 10 or later • Clipboard sharing on Windows and Linux supports text only • Remote audio is available with High Performance on compatible Macs; Standard Screen Sharing does not support audio • Screens does not support connections to iPhone, iPad, or Vision Pro devices Screens gives you secure, reliable access to your computers anytime, anywhere. Privacy Policy: https://screens.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://screens.app/terms

Screenshots

Up Ahead4 screens
Screens 54 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Up Ahead at 83% against Screens 5's 49%. Up Ahead also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5). Screens 5's advantage is update cadence (every 11 days vs every 5 weeks) and chart position (#193 vs unranked). On price, ratings volume, 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

Both are free to download. Up Ahead sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month and Screens 5 sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Up Ahead holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 686 and 620 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Up Ahead's written reviews are positive against 49% of Screens 5's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Up Ahead ships an update every 5 weeks, Screens 5 every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Up Ahead versus Screens 5: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUp AheadScreens 5
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (686 ratings) — better4.5 (620 ratings)
Positive reviews83.2% of reviews — better49.0% of reviews
Number of ratings686 — better620
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#193 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS26.017.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB71 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDaniel GauthierEdovia Inc.

Customer experience

Up Ahead

All ratings686 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.6%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews161 reviews
Positive83.2%
Neutral8.1%
Negative8.7%

Screens 5

All ratings620 ratings
Positive89.0%
Neutral1.5%
Negative9.5%
Written reviews314 reviews
Positive49.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative42.7%

User reviews

Up Ahead

From 686 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app with clean UI
  • 🎨 Simple and joyful design
  • 🕰️ Excellent countdown app
  • 🎨 Beautifully designed
  • 🎨 Lovely and intuitive

Room to improve

  • 💰 Overpriced subscription
  • 💰 Limited free version
  • 🔄 Abandoned by developers
  • 🔄 No updates in a long time
  • 🔄 Development paused?

Screens 5

From 620 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent remote access
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🔒 Secure SSH-based remote control
  • 👍 Native to Apple ecosystem
  • 🚀 High-quality remote desktop rendering

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Unreliable connection and frequent disconnections
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🔒 Requires complex networking setup (port forwarding, Tailscale)
  • 🐛 Issues with full-screen mode and window management
  • 🐛 Telemetry and analytics cannot be disabled

Bugs and requests

Up Ahead

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Widget doesn't update automatically
  • Backup feature doesn't work
  • Sound effects stopped working
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices

Requested features

11 requests
  • Unlock all patterns
  • More color options
  • More icons and customization
  • Calendar integration
  • Siri and reminder integration
Show 6 more
  • iPad app
  • Apple Watch complications
  • Ability to set end dates for recurring events
  • Periodic reminders for past events
  • Family sharing
  • Import events from other calendars

Screens 5

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to delete auto-saved nearby devices
  • Inconsistent behavior when editing device configurations
  • Screens Connect failing to work reliably

Requested features

3 requests
  • Ability to block remote input while keeping remote desktop visible
  • File transfer between Mac and iOS/iPadOS
  • Upgrade pricing for existing users

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Up Ahead

Subscriptions2
  • Up Ahead Plus$1.491 Month
  • Up Ahead Plus$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Up Ahead Plus$29.99
5 purchases

Screens 5

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$29.491 Year
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime Family UpgradeFree
  • Lifetime2 variants$249.99

Questions

Is Up Ahead free?
Up Ahead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Screens 5 free?
Screens 5 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Up Ahead or Screens 5?
Up Ahead is rated higher. Up Ahead averages 4.9 out of 5 from 686 ratings, while Screens 5 averages 4.5 from 620 ratings.
Do Up Ahead or Screens 5 have ads?
Neither Up Ahead nor Screens 5 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Up Ahead or Screens 5?
Up Ahead ships an update every 5 weeks, and Screens 5 every 11 days. Most recently, Up Ahead was updated on November 11, 2026 and Screens 5 on November 12, 2026.

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