Comparison

HomeWatch vs DS Downld

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

Head to head
About

HomeWatch

Monitor and control your HomeKit devices with a glanceable status display. This app offers customizable views for rooms, scenes, and individual devices across Apple platforms, including widgets and menu bar items.

Highlights
  • Glanceable room status with color-coded indicators
  • Control scenes and devices within rooms
  • View camera feeds, weather, and website content
  • Customizable home and lock-screen widgets
  • Menu bar items for Mac with real-time updates
  • Extensive interface customization options
Features
Read full description

I made an app for my Apple Watch to see a glanceable status of our home and to control our HomeKit devices. It worked so well on the watch, that I expanded it to a dashboard app for all our Apple devices. I have now added a configuration interface to make it compatible with any HomeKit enabled home setup. I hope some of you will find it useful. HOME VIEW The circle / grid with icons on the home view shows a color coded status of the rooms of the home: red when a door is open, yellow when a window is open, orange when the heating is on, cyan when lights are on and green when nothing is on. On the iPhone, iPad, tvOS and Mac the app also shows the time, date, cameras, feeds, events, reminders, a website and weather information. When there is rain, it will show a rain graph. ROOM VIEWS When a room is selected, the circle layout will show the scenes you can control in that room. The grid layout also shows the devices that can be controlled in that room. Additionally the room view has an information section. To the right it can show any characteristics from your devices. Below is a detail view that can show a camera view, a website, a temperature, humidity and climate history graphs. WIDGETS Fully customisable lock-screen and home-screen widgets. Tap / Clicking a widget item to go directly to a room view, execute a scene or launch any url-scheme. Customisable complications on the Watch can have actions to go directly to a room view and execute any scene. MENU BAR ITEMS On the Mac any HomeKit characteristic can be added to the menu bar and is kept up to date. CUSTOMISATION The interface can be fully customised. The user can add their own background images and icons from the photo library. Customise gradient overlays, icons, fonts, colours and more. Make it your own…

About

DS Downld

Features
Read full description

DS Downld is a fast, native companion for Synology Download Station. Connect to your own Synology NAS and manage your downloads from iPhone, iPad, and Mac — without opening the web interface. Built for the people who already run a Synology: add a link, keep an eye on progress, and tidy up your queue from anywhere. WHAT YOU CAN DO • See every task at a glance — live progress, download/upload speeds, and status. • Add downloads by pasting a magnet or HTTP/FTP link, or by opening a .torrent file. • Pause, resume, and remove tasks — one at a time or in bulk. • Open a task for full details: size, destination, transfer stats, and peers. • Search using the search modules you've configured in Download Station, and queue a result in a tap. • Pick a destination folder by browsing your NAS shares. • Adjust BT transfer limits and see system info like model, DSM version, and temperature. GREAT FOR • Linux distributions and other large open-source images. • Public-domain and Creative-Commons media. • Your own backups, software updates, and personal files. Only add content you own or are authorized to download. NATIVE ON EVERY DEVICE • iPhone & iPad: a clean tabbed app with light and dark themes. • Mac: a proper menu-bar app plus a sidebar window — and it can open magnet links and .torrent files straight from your browser and Finder. • Quick "Recent Connections" so you can hop between servers (passwords stored securely in the Keychain). CONNECT YOUR WAY • On your local network by IP or hostname. • Remotely via DDNS or QuickConnect. • Two-factor authentication supported. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account to create. Your server address, credentials, and downloads stay on your NAS and your device — passwords live in the iOS/macOS Keychain. • Only anonymous, aggregate usage analytics are collected to improve the app. No tracking, no advertising identifiers, no personal data. REQUIREMENTS • A Synology NAS running DSM 7 with the Download Station package installed and enabled. • A Download Station user account. DS Downld is an independent, third-party app. It is not made by, affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by Synology Inc. "Synology", "DSM", and "Download Station" are trademarks of Synology Inc., used here only to describe compatibility.

Screenshots

HomeWatch4 screens
DS Downld4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: HomeWatch at Free against DS Downld's $1.99. HomeWatch also leads on device support (6 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On 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

HomeWatch is free to download; DS Downld costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
HomeWatch versus DS Downld: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHomeWatchDS Downld
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.8 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB4 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperPeter VogelsStoprocent

In-app purchases

None

HomeWatch

No in-app purchases

None

DS Downld

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HomeWatch free?
HomeWatch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DS Downld free?
DS Downld costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do HomeWatch or DS Downld have ads?
Neither HomeWatch nor DS Downld shows ads.

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