Lines! vs XScreenSaver
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lines!
This app creates a mesmerizing visual experience with moving, multi-colored lines that bounce off screen edges. It functions like a dynamic screensaver, perfect for placing your device upright or holding it. Enjoy a visually soothing and colorful display on your iOS device.
- Dynamic line animation
- Multi-color transitions
- Bounces off screen edges
- Mesmerizing visual display
- Works on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and TV
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Lines is like a classic screensaver. Run the app, then place your iPhone or iPad upright on the table. Or just hold it in your hand. Watch as the lines move and bounce off the walls, as they smoothly transition between multiple colors. It's really pretty mesmerizing. Hope you enjoy it! Now available for all iOS devices, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and TV.
XScreenSaver
Explore a vast collection of historic and educational graphics demos originally designed for Linux and Unix systems. This application allows you to interact with hundreds of these visual demonstrations, ported from the classic screen saver collection.
- Historic graphics demos
- Educational visual content
- Interactive demo playback
- Large collection of visuals
- Cross-platform heritage
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The XScreenSaver application is a large collection of historic and educational graphics demos. XScreenSaver is the standard screen saver collection shipped on most Linux and Unix systems. I released the first version in 1992. In 2006, I ported it to MacOS, and in 2012 I ported it to iOS. This application is not a screen saver, of course, since iOS doesn't have those. But it does let you play with the hundreds of graphics demos that are a part of the XScreenSaver collection.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: XScreenSaver at every 6 months against Lines!'s every 36 months. XScreenSaver also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6). Lines!'s advantage is device support (5 vs 2) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.6). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
XScreenSaver holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 58 and 108 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 94% of Lines!'s written reviews are positive against 93% of XScreenSaver's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Lines! ships an update every 36 months, XScreenSaver every 6 months. Both last shipped on October 21, 2026.
| Parameter | Lines! | XScreenSaver |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (58 ratings) | 4.8 (108 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 94.1% of reviews — better | 92.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 58 | 108 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 36 months | Every 6 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Carl Gorringe | Jamie Zawinski |
Customer experience
Lines!
XScreenSaver
Bugs and requests
Lines!
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
XScreenSaver
Reported bugs
5 issues- Photo library screensaver crashes on iOS 13
- GLText reveals password when system info is selected
- Framebuffer loading failures requiring app restart
- Crashes on certain devices or configurations
- Difficult UI for exiting screensavers on larger phones
Requested features
11 requests- Favorites or bookmarking system to save preferred screensavers
- Hide or exclude unwanted screensavers from rotation
- Ability to select specific channels in XAnalogTV screensaver
- Widget support for iOS standby mode
- Prevent auto-lock feature to keep screen on
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- Apple TV version
- Windows port of the application
- Larger hit areas for corner icons
- Faster scrubbing through screensavers
- Donate button for supporting development
- Screensavers featuring pentagons
In-app purchases
Lines!
No in-app purchases
XScreenSaver
No in-app purchases
