Spark vs ShiftWave
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spark
This app simplifies shift work for professionals like first responders and healthcare workers. It offers full customization, secure cloud syncing, and streamlined shift trading. Plan your life and stay organized with instant visual cues and reliable support.
- Full shift customization
- Secure cloud sync
- Streamlined shift trades
- Instant visual cues
- Comprehensive shift coverage
- User-friendly interface
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Spark: Your Ultimate Shift Calendar App For over 15 years, Spark has been the go-to app for simplifying shift work. Loaded with powerful, user-friendly features, Spark helps you balance work and personal life in one place—trusted daily by fire, police, EMS, healthcare professionals, and shift workers worldwide. With Spark’s unique "Cloud Connect" system, you can sync and share your schedule across all devices, keeping you and your loved ones in the loop anytime, anywhere. Why Spark? Here’s why your colleagues love it: Full Customization Spark is designed for you. Track and log anything you need—vacation, sick time, comp time, overtime, trades, and more. Can’t find something? Add it with ease! Spark’s sleek, intuitive design lets you personalize everything to suit your work style. Secure & Reliable Your data is safe with us. Spark’s "Cloud Connect" syncs your encrypted calendar across devices, linked to your email. Lose or upgrade your phone? Just log back in, and it’s like you never left. Comprehensive Shift Coverage From pre-loaded schedules to custom department setups, Spark supports thousands of shift calendars. Don’t see yours? Easily create it, and it’s saved for you and your team. Streamlined Shift Trades & Swaps Manage and track all your trades and swaps down to the individual. Spark’s “Trade Board” lets you request and confirm trades within the app, automatically updating your calendar and stats—no extra steps. Instant Visual Cues Color-code shifts, events, and stats for at-a-glance planning. With Spark, you’ll know exactly what’s on the agenda without extra clicks. Unmatched Customer Support Our app thrives on user feedback. We’re committed to fast, helpful support, with most emails resolved in under two hours. Spark evolves with your input, making it the app you can rely on for years to come. Try Spark free for 30 days, and experience the app that’s helping shift workers around the world stay organized. Visit www.LeakyNozzle.com to learn more!
ShiftWave
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Shift Calendar - ShiftWave, the new CopApp! - Throw away your paper schedule! Simple Calendar App for Repeating Shift Schedules & adding notes/highlight colors for any day. Choose from color themes, and customize to your schedule. Export to other calendars, like Google Calendar and/or Apple Calendar. View Pitman Schedule, 4 On / 2 Off, 5 On / 3 Off or any custom schedule. Throw away your paper schedule! Upgrade for Pro Features like adding notes, highlight colors for any day, override a day's text on the calendar, share schedule, and more! For anyone that has a rotating/repeating shift schedule -- Calendar/Schedule app, for example if police officers wish to view which squads work together and which squads have days off. Tap Settings-->Set Rotation Days to change schedules - supports any combination of custom text.. For instance, supports 3 squads, with repeating schedules of: • 5 days on, 2 days off, then 5 days on, 3 days off • 4 days on, then 2 days off • ... or make your own schedule, like: On, On, On, Off, Off, Off or AA, BB, CC, DD Tap on Edit button for any day to view the screen and Add Notes for any day or highlight it a color for important dates. Tap on Set Rotation Days to customize the days to rotate (add, remove, move days around) to make the schedule exactly match your own. Load quick setup codes to download a predefined schedules so you don't need to enter it manually. You can enter a 4 digit code to instantly set up your schedule. ** If your schedule is similar to one of the quick setup codes, you can edit it to make it like your own. If you want to add your schedule to the list, just email support with your schedule name and the text (ie: On,On,On,On,Off,Off -- or A,A,B,B,C,C -- or D,D,D,-,-,-,N,N,N,N, etc...) ** Please contact support before leaving any negative reviews, we can almost always help. Automatically highlight a color for text string for the calendar by setting it one time in settings. Choose up to 3 different colors/string combos. * Subscription provides access to premium features including ad removal, note editing, and quick setup codes for the duration of the subscription. * Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime with your iTunes account settings. For standard Terms of Use, please visit: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Feel free to contact support if you have any other questions or issues: myprojectxinc@gmail.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Spark at none against ShiftWave's shown. ShiftWave's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 5 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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. Spark sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and ShiftWave sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Spark ships an update every 5 weeks, ShiftWave every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Spark | ShiftWave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (7.5K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 74.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 7.5K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 76 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | E.L.K. Equities LLC | MyProjectX, Inc. |
Bugs and requests
Spark
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login and authentication problems
- Data loss and sync issues after updates
- Unreliable performance on some devices
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to sync with more calendar services
- More customization options
- Improved user interface and design
- Ability to view past schedules and events
ShiftWave
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Spark
- Annual Subscription Renewal$0.99
- Initial Annual Subscription$5.99
ShiftWave
- ShiftWave Premium - Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
- ShiftWave Premium - Annual7 Days trial$9.991 Year
- ShiftWave Premium - Lifetime$24.99
Questions
Is Spark free?
Is ShiftWave free?
Do Spark or ShiftWave have ads?
Which is updated more often, Spark or ShiftWave?
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