# Gengou Free vs Widget Now

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Gengou Free at 84% against Widget Now's 50%. Gengou Free also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Widget Now's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 44 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Gengou Free ships an update every 44 months, Widget Now every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Gengou Free | Widget Now |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[2.5 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gengou-free/id284830543/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **2** | — |
| Positive reviews | **84.5% of reviews** | 50.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 44 months | **Every 4 days** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Ad-supported |
| Size | 6 MB | 56 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 16.4 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Masayuki Akamatsu](https://appshunter.io/developer/284722836) | [Naoto Tazawa](https://appshunter.io/developer/1866843317) |

## What reviewers say

### Gengou Free

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gengou-free/id284830543)

Quickly convert between Japanese era names and Christian era years. Features include era and year searching, period and era pickers, and the ability to display the current year in either system. Texts can be shown in Japanese or English.

**Highlights:** Era and year search, Period picker, Era picker, Christian era year picker, Japanese era year picker, Show this year button, Multi-language text display

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Widget Now

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/widget-now/id6757424091)

This app displays Japanese calendar information, including Japanese era dates, lunar calendar details, and daily historical facts, directly on your iPhone's lock screen. It offers customizable widgets for precise timekeeping and quick access to traditional Japanese calendar elements.

**Highlights:** Real-time Japanese era date display on lock screen, Daily historical facts, anniversaries, and birthdays, Second-level accurate time updates, Comprehensive traditional Japanese calendar data (Rokuyo, lunar, etc.), 17 types of calendar information available, 10 customizable widget styles, Age and date calculation tools

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Gengou Free free?

Gengou Free is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Widget Now free?

Widget Now is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Gengou Free or Widget Now have ads?

Both Gengou Free and Widget Now show ads.

### Which is updated more often, Gengou Free or Widget Now?

Gengou Free ships an update every 44 months, and Widget Now every 4 days. Most recently, Gengou Free was updated on October 31, 2026 and Widget Now on November 5, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*