Comparison

Talking Carl vs Countdown Star (Ad

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Talking Carl

Interact with a funny talking character by talking, tickling, and feeding him. He repeats your words with a silly voice and reacts to your actions with laughs, growls, and more. Features a baby mode for younger children.

Highlights
  • Talk and hear words repeated
  • Feed the character
  • Tickle for laughs
  • Poke for reactions
  • Baby mode for kids
  • Swipe gestures for actions
Features
Read full description

Talking Carl is the very first and still the funniest talking character on the App Store, he invented fun! Talk, sing, and play with him. Tickle him, punch him, feed him, and wait until you hear his laugh, it’s just irresistible. Carl has topped all the charts worldwide and has been featured across the globe. We think about small kids too: Use the Baby mode without any buttons: only Carl and no trouble! --------------- Features -------------- • Talk to him and he'll repeat your words with an hysterical voice. • Feed him with bones • Strike him by lightning • Tickle him and he will laugh out loud. • Poke his eyes and he will shout and yell. • Pinch him to hear him growling. • And if you forget him he will grumble. • Very Polite, he even says Goodbye. + Swipe up and he will fly... and fall + swipe down and hear the thunder + swipe left or right and he'll make a round-turn. Talking Carl is hours of laugh for children of any age. Parents, you'll love him too for the peacefulness it gives you while your kids are playing with him. But don’t try it! you’ll never give it back to them. --------- Our users says --------- "The only talking app that I recommend - There are quite a few of talking apps but Talking Carl is the best! I especially like that I can remove all the buttons so that my daughter will not be confused" "Great app for the kids! - My kids love playing with this app and found it easy to share the videos"

About

Countdown Star (Ad

Track time until or since important events with customizable timers. Set up countdowns for birthdays, holidays, and vacations, or count up from anniversaries and special dates. Share your event timers with friends and family.

Highlights
  • Add custom events
  • Customize event visuals
  • Apple Watch display
  • Today Widget integration
  • Set exact event times
  • Adjust time units
  • Share event timers
Features
Read full description

Countdown Star is the best way to countdown to — and count up from — all of your favorite events. Countdown to birthdays, holidays, an upcoming vacation, a wedding, the New Year, parties, sporting events, concerts and more. Count up from anniversaries, the day you were born, and other special events in the past. * How many seconds until your next birthday? * How many months since you were born? * How many days until you graduate from college? * How many hours until your anniversary? * How much time is left until your vacation starts? * How many days until Christmas? * How many minutes until your party begins? * How much time is left until your baby's due date? Countdown Star is the countdown app that lets you choose which events to add, then keeps them in sync across all of your devices. Features: * iCloud Sync — events and wallpapers sync automatically across all your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch devices * Celebration Animations — choose Confetti, Fireworks, Balloons, Stars, or Lasers when your countdown reaches zero * Repeating Events — annual events automatically advance to the next year so you never have to update them * Home Screen Widgets — Small, Medium, and Large widgets let you glance at your countdowns without opening the app * Apple Watch — view your events right on your wrist * Add Your Own Events — add as many events as you like * Custom Wallpapers — choose from 15+ built-in wallpapers or use your own photos * Time Zone Support — set each event in any time zone with localized city names * Sort and Search — sort by date, title, or your own custom order; events are sectioned into Countdown and Count Up groups * Favorites and Notifications — mark events as favorites to receive a notification when their countdown reaches zero * Interactive Slider — instantly switch between seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years to see your countdown exactly how you want it * Customizable Timer — choose timer position (Top, Middle, or Bottom), show or hide weeks, and toggle the leading zero * Multiple App Icons — personalize the app icon on your Home Screen Note: Countdown Star is available as a free version (with ads and an optional Remove Ads purchase) and as a paid ad-free version.

Screenshots

Talking Carl4 screens
Countdown Star (Ad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Countdown Star (Ad at none against Talking Carl's 1. Countdown Star (Ad also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). Talking Carl's advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 56%) and price ($0.99 vs $1.99). On ads, chart position 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Talking Carl costs $0.99 and Countdown Star (Ad $1.99 up front. Talking Carl sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Countdown Star (Ad asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Countdown Star (Ad holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 765 and 3.7K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Talking Carl's written reviews are positive against 56% of Countdown Star (Ad's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Talking Carl ships an update every 5 weeks, Countdown Star (Ad fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Talking Carl versus Countdown Star (Ad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTalking CarlCountdown Star (Ad
Price$0.99 — better$1.99
Rating4.3 (765 ratings)4.7 (3.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.2% of reviews — better55.9% of reviews
Number of ratings7653.7K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#143 — better#155
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS9.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTayasui.comJoseph Merrill

Customer experience

Talking Carl

All ratings765 ratings
Positive80.5%
Neutral3.5%
Negative15.9%
Written reviews743 reviews
Positive71.2%
Neutral6.6%
Negative22.2%

Countdown Star (Ad

All ratings3,673 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.9%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews404 reviews
Positive55.9%
Neutral15.6%
Negative28.5%

User reviews

Talking Carl

From 765 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 😊 Funny and entertaining
  • 🤩 Brings back childhood memories
  • 👍 Great for kids and adults
  • 💕 Cute and lovable character

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔧 Glitchy and buggy
  • 🕰️ Outdated and not updated
  • 🤖 Unresponsive voice recognition

Countdown Star (Ad

From 3.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 💡 Customizable backgrounds
  • 🚀 Simple and functional
  • 🎨 Nice visual design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Unreliable widget functionality
  • 🔍 Limited event management options
  • 💰 Paid version doesn't import free version data
  • 🔧 Lack of customization options

Bugs and requests

Talking Carl

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Sprites and animations glitch out
  • Voice recording and playback issues
  • Incompatibility with newer devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Update the app to fix bugs and glitches
  • Add more features and interactions
  • Bring back old fan-favorite games and modes
  • Improve voice recognition and responsiveness

Countdown Star (Ad

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Custom wallpapers not saving
  • Countdown not updating correctly
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Notification system not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Recurring event support
  • Ability to exclude weekends/holidays from countdown
  • Multiple event display on main screen
  • Improved widget functionality
  • Sync across devices

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Talking Carl

One-time1
  • Sticker Pack$0.99
None

Countdown Star (Ad

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Talking Carl free?
Talking Carl costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Countdown Star (Ad free?
Countdown Star (Ad costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Talking Carl or Countdown Star (Ad?
Countdown Star (Ad is rated higher. Talking Carl averages 4.3 out of 5 from 765 ratings, while Countdown Star (Ad averages 4.7 from 3.7K ratings.
Do Talking Carl or Countdown Star (Ad have ads?
Neither Talking Carl nor Countdown Star (Ad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Talking Carl or Countdown Star (Ad?
Talking Carl ships an update every 5 weeks, and Countdown Star (Ad fortnightly. Most recently, Talking Carl was updated on October 17, 2026 and Countdown Star (Ad on October 16, 2026.
Which is more popular, Talking Carl or Countdown Star (Ad?
Talking Carl currently peaks at #143 in the App Store charts, and Countdown Star (Ad at #155. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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