By vs Any Text · Widgets
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
By
Control your home automation system remotely. Manage lighting, climate, and security from your smartphone or tablet, whether you're at home or away. Requires specific hardware for Vimar By-me or KNX systems.
- Remote system supervision
- Control via LAN/Wi-Fi
- Control via 3G/Internet
- User-friendly icons
- Optimized access speed
- iOS 13+ localization settings
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By-web - Enables supervising the Vimar By-me home automation system (requiring art. 01945 or art. 01946) or KNX systems (requiring art. 01545), via smartphones and tablets. User-friendly icons let you take full control of the system via LAN or Wi-Fi networks when you are at home or via a 3G/Internet network when you are away from home. Since version 2.0 the By-web app replaces the KNX By-web app for accessing the Vimar KNX web server (art. 01545) for mobile devices with iOS versions compatible with the installation of By-web 2.0. Access speed optimized for Vimar web server versions (art. 01945 or art. 01946) 1.20 and later. Access speed partially optimized for Vimar web server versions (art. 01945 or art. 01946) between 1.10 and 1.19. Access speed not optimized for Vimar web server versions (art. 01945 or art. 01946) 1.9 and earlier. Recommended upgrading the Vimar web server (art. 01945, art. 01946)/Vimar KNX web server (art. 01545) to the latest available version.” Note: To use the By-web app on devices with iOS 13 or later versions, according to the modifications set by Apple to access information, on the part of Apps, about the connection of the mobile device to wi-fi networks, the following are required: - localisation must be enabled on the mobile device; - the By-web app must have permission to access the localisation information. The By-web app, from version 2.2, includes a guided procedure to make these settings (only for mobile devices with iOS 13 or later versions). Vimar positive energy: products for electrical and home automation systems in residential and service industry locations. https://www.vimar.com
Any Text · Widgets
Display any text on your Lock or Home Screen to keep important notes, goals, or tasks visible. Customize text with Markdown and utilize 20 different widgets. Integrates with Shortcuts for powerful automations and syncs across devices via iCloud.
- Customizable text widgets
- Lock Screen and Home Screen support
- Markdown styling (bold, italic, strikethrough)
- Live Activity and StandBy support
- iCloud device syncing
- Shortcuts app integration
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Put any kind of text on your Lock Screen or Home Screen so you won't miss it. It could be an important note, your goal, a list of tasks, etc. It also supports Live Activity and StandBy. The app includes 20 widgets that lets you put different text on different Lock Screen configurations or Home Screen. You can style parts of the text bold, italic, or strikethrough using Markdown. Syncs seamlessly across your devices with iCloud. Simply tap the widget to open the app to edit the text. ■ Shortcuts The app is scriptable through the Shortcuts app, enabling a lot of powerful use-cases. For example, you could use an automation to change the text at a certain point in the day or at certain places. The only limit is your creativity. ■ Support You can contact me through the feedback button in the app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Any Text · Widgets at 82% against By's 0%. Any Text · Widgets also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months) and chart position (#56 vs unranked). By's advantage is price (Free vs $4.00) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
By is free to download; Any Text · Widgets costs $4.00 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
By ships an update every 4 months, Any Text · Widgets every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 11, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | By | Any Text · Widgets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.00 |
| Rating | — | 4.6 (450 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 81.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 450 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #56 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | VIMAR Spa | Sindre Sorhus |
Customer experience
By
Any Text · Widgets
Bugs and requests
By
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Any Text · Widgets
Reported bugs
3 issues- Widget not showing on Lock Screen
- Text not updating in a timely manner
- Force show when locked doesn't work
Requested features
6 requests- Allow alternating/rotating text
- Add custom font support
- Provide full-width widget options
- Add custom widget background colors
- Enable editing widgets directly
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- Add Apple Watch widget support
In-app purchases
By
No in-app purchases
Any Text · Widgets
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is By free?
Is Any Text · Widgets free?
Do By or Any Text · Widgets have ads?
Which is updated more often, By or Any Text · Widgets?
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