iQuarium vs XScreenSaver
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iQuarium
A virtual aquarium app designed for relaxation and stress relief. Watch your fish swim, feed them, and interact with them in a calming environment. Discover new decorations to personalize your tank and develop your fish's unique personality.
- Virtual fish tank simulation
- Interactive fish care (feeding, playing)
- Discover and place decorations
- Develop fish personality
- Relaxing ambient sounds
- Personalizable aquarium space
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****************************************** "Simplicity At It’s Most Beautiful" - touchreviews.net "One of the best looking apps for the iDevice" - touchmyapps.com "10 of the Most Beautiful iPhone & iPod Touch Apps" - cultofmac.com "The entire app interface is top-notch." - appsmile.com "I love everything about iQuarium" - touchmyapps.com "A great, easy to play, relaxing game that will keep you coming back" - appsized.com ****************************************** For everyday stress iQuarium is more than enough to relax. Chill out while watching your Parrot Chichlid fish swimming in its tank, feed it, play with it, interact with it or... do nothing - just listen to your own relaxing music and the air bubbles climbing up slowly to the water surface and let iQuarium soothe you and calm you down. As time passes by you will find new decorative items in your inventory so you can arrange your relaxing space whatever way you like. Just don't forget that your fish is a living creature and it depends entirely on you what kind of personality it will develop! iQuarium provides a sensation of relaxation and calm but still delivers tons of entertainment and fun! *Any in-app purchase removes the adverts in the game and unlock the full version.
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 in-app purchases: XScreenSaver at none against iQuarium's 9. XScreenSaver also leads on review sentiment (93% vs 61%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.3). iQuarium's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.6). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. iQuarium sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. XScreenSaver asks for nothing beyond the download.
XScreenSaver holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 240 and 109 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of iQuarium's written reviews are positive against 93% of XScreenSaver's.
iQuarium ships an update monthly, XScreenSaver every 6 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | iQuarium | XScreenSaver |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (240 ratings) | 4.8 (109 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.4% of reviews | 92.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 240 — better | 109 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 123 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Infinite Dreams Inc. | Jamie Zawinski |
Customer experience
iQuarium
XScreenSaver
User reviews
iQuarium
From 240 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🐟 Realistic fish behavior
- 🌱 Relaxing aquarium experience
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics and animations
- 🕰️ Useful clock feature
Room to improve
- 🕰️ Slow progression and unlocking of new items
- 🐟 Limited number of fish
- 🛑 Lack of updates and new content
- 💤 Boring after initial novelty wears off
XScreenSaver
From 109 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ No ads or data collection
- 🎨 Extensive variety of screensavers
- 📱 Works seamlessly across multiple platforms (iOS, Mac, iPad)
- 🆓 Completely free application
- 🕰️ Nostalgic and retro aesthetic appeal
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes with certain screensavers
- 🎯 Difficult to tap small exit button on larger devices
- 🔋 High battery consumption on some devices
- ⚠️ Photo library screensaver crashes on iOS 13
- 🎪 Limited practical use on iOS devices
Bugs and requests
iQuarium
Reported bugs
3 issues- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Crashing and performance problems
- Inconsistent point tracking and unlocking
Requested features
4 requests- Add more fish species and color variations
- Implement fish breeding and baby fish
- Allow for more customization and decoration of the aquarium
- Introduce new interactive elements and mini-games
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
iQuarium
- 5000 Points$0.99
- 5000 Points + Pirate Theme$0.99
- 5000 Points + Zombie Theme$0.99
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- Pink Theme$0.99
- Military Theme$0.99
- Gangsta Theme$0.99
- Christmas Theme$0.99
- Happy New Year Theme$0.99
- Bundle (4 Themes + 5000 pts)$2.99
XScreenSaver
No in-app purchases
