ShortFlow vs Shelf
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShortFlow
Access your favorite apps, websites, and custom shortcuts directly from your iPhone's Lock Screen. Create personalized widget buttons with a vast icon library for quick launching. Supports Always-On display and offers advanced customization options.
- Launch apps from Lock Screen
- Open URLs from Lock Screen
- Access Shortcuts app actions
- Customizable widget buttons
- Over 4,000 icons available
- Supports Always-On display
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Open any apps, shortcuts, URLs from the Lock Screen. Place custom widget buttons on your Lock Screen, with your choice of over 4,000 icons. Each can be configured to launch your favorite app, website, or any shortcut from the Shortcuts app. Other Features: • Display custom title on a widget • Built-in presets for quick configuration • Supports iPhone 14 Pro's Always-On display • Easily change widgets through the app Pro Features: • Transparent widget backgrounds • Create up to 20 different widgets • Place an inline widget above time
Shelf
Pin photos, text, or app shortcuts to your iPhone's Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Customize the appearance with themes, colors, and fonts. Access content with a tap or use Siri and App Shortcuts for automatic launching.
- Pin photos, text, and app shortcuts
- Dynamic Island and Home Screen support
- Customizable themes, colors, and fonts
- Always-on display integration
- App Shortcuts and Siri integration
- Quick access with a tap
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Shelf lets you pin content to the Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, and Home Screen! Create shelves that display a photo, text, or quick links to open apps, shortcuts, or websites. Each are visually customisable; apply themes or manually change colours and fonts. Thanks to the iPhone 14 Pro’s always-on-display, shelves can be viewed at a glance - with actions a simple tap away. Automatically launch shelves with App Shortcuts support, such as when a Focus is turned on, or ask Siri "Create a Text Shelf" to quickly pin a spoken comment to your Lock Screen. More types of shelves will be coming soon, such as; a Timer, Checklist, and Weather. If you have any questions, please reach out to shelf@michaeltigas.com.au Privacy Policy: https://michaeltigas.notion.site/Shelf-Privacy-Policy-d1eee01d6bc845b29052d1d75de8968f Terms of Use: https://michaeltigas.notion.site/Shelf-Terms-of-Use-0f7815e773e3420db9a5e6b1cdddbd54
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Shelf at every 2 days against ShortFlow's every 8 days. ShortFlow's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (68% vs 58%). 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
Both are free to download. ShortFlow sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Shelf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
ShortFlow holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 196 and 280 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of ShortFlow's written reviews are positive against 58% of Shelf's.
ShortFlow ships an update every 8 days, Shelf every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShortFlow | Shelf |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (196 ratings) — better | 4.5 (280 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 67.7% of reviews — better | 57.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 196 | 280 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 16.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kenneth Kao | Michael Tigas |
Customer experience
ShortFlow
Shelf
In-app purchases
ShortFlow
- ShortFlow Pro$2.99
Shelf
- Shelf Pro - Monthly$1.991 Month
- Shelf Pro - Yearly3 Days trial$12.991 Year
