# Christmas Countdown vs Daylight Drift

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Daylight Drift at none against Christmas Countdown's 1. Christmas Countdown's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 9 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Christmas Countdown sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per year. Daylight Drift asks for nothing beyond the download.

Christmas Countdown ships an update every 3 weeks, Daylight Drift every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Christmas Countdown | Daylight Drift |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (868 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-countdown/id325476623/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **868** | — |
| Positive reviews | 88.1% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Every 9 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Size | 124 MB | 1 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Nicole Hankinson](https://appshunter.io/developer/502305137) | [Kristopher Linquist](https://appshunter.io/developer/921302972) |

## What reviewers say

### Christmas Countdown

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-countdown/id325476623)

This app provides a real-time countdown to Christmas, displaying hours, minutes, and seconds. Enjoy festive music, customizable backgrounds, and interactive snowflake effects. Stay updated with daily badge notifications and access the countdown from your watch or home screen.

**Highlights:** Real-time countdown (hours, minutes, seconds), Customizable backgrounds (including own photos), Festive background music selection, Interactive snowflake effects, Daily badge updates, Watch app and home screen widgets

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Christmas Countdown Premium | $3.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great app for Christmas countdown
- 🎄 Customizable features (music, snowflakes, background)
- ⏱️ Detailed countdown (days, hours, minutes, seconds)
- 🕰️ Accurate and reliable countdown
- 🎅 Fun and festive design

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 Premium features locked behind paywall (e.g., widgets)
- 🐛 Bugs with badge/notification functionality
- 🔧 Lack of updates to keep up with OS changes
- 📱 Compatibility issues with newer devices

**Reported bugs**

- Countdown not updating correctly with time changes
- Inability to use custom photos as background
- Music playback issues after app updates

**Requested features**

- Allow custom font and text customization
- Add support for other holidays/events
- Improve social sharing capabilities
- Introduce more background/theme options


### Daylight Drift

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/daylight-drift/id6737231179)

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Christmas Countdown free?

Christmas Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Daylight Drift free?

Daylight Drift is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Christmas Countdown or Daylight Drift have ads?

Neither Christmas Countdown nor Daylight Drift shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Christmas Countdown or Daylight Drift?

Christmas Countdown ships an update every 3 weeks, and Daylight Drift every 9 months. Most recently, Christmas Countdown was updated on October 16, 2026 and Daylight Drift on October 15, 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.*