Comparison

Visual Countdown Timer vs Compass Family

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

Head to head
About

Visual Countdown Timer

This app uses a visual countdown to help children understand time and complete tasks. A picture is revealed as time elapses, and an exciting animation and sound reward completion. It aims to turn daily struggles into fun and encourage quicker task completion.

Highlights
  • Visual countdown from green to red
  • Picture revealed as time elapses
  • Exciting sound and animation reward
  • Customizable background images
  • User-selected reveal images
  • Adaptable for various tasks
Features
Read full description

Is it a battle to get your child to do something quickly? This visual countdown App was designed for my 2 year old son to help him get his reward chart star for getting dressed quickly. Getting him dressed used to take forever with many stalling strategies being deployed. Now he runs upstairs asking for the "Countdown". Watch as the timer runs from green to amber to red, helping the child understand that time is running out. A fun picture is slowly revealed as the time runs down and when the time is up the child is rewarded with an exciting sound and the picture spins. Background image changes to match the time of day, so that your child is given subtle hints as to what time of day the task they are being asked relates to. Choose your own image to reveal from your iPhones photo library to really surprise your child. Endless possible uses: * Getting dressed * Getting out the door (shoes and coats on) * Tidying * Brushing teeth * Sharing toys Turns daily struggles into fun time!

About

Compass Family

This app provides parents with a direct line to their child's educational institution, offering updates on daily activities, events, and media. It facilitates communication, scheduling, and attendance tracking, ensuring parents stay informed about their child's day.

Highlights
  • News feed with diaries and bulletins
  • Integrated calendar for events
  • Photo and video gallery
  • Direct communication with daycare
  • Attendance tracking
  • Playdate invitations
Features
Read full description

Compass Family gives you access to information of your child's day. In the News Feed you can view relevant diaries, bulletins, activities, and current images and videos. It is also possible to reply to invitations, activities, conferences and much more. For a better overview of it all, access the App's own Calendar. In the Calendar you can easily access all relevant events sorted by day, week or month. Some more features are: - Gallery with images and videos of your child. - Communicate with your child's daycare centre. - Maintain your contact information. - Add profile images of yourself and your child. - Send playdate invitations to other families. - Register holiday and sick days. - Log in with touch/ face ID. - Check your child in and out of the institution.

Screenshots

Visual Countdown Timer4 screens
Compass Family4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Visual Countdown Timer at 80% against Compass Family's 0%. Visual Countdown Timer also leads on rating (4.6 vs 2.5) and ratings volume (40K vs 2). Compass Family's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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

Both are free to download. Visual Countdown Timer sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Compass Family asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Visual Countdown Timer holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Visual Countdown Timer has 40K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Visual Countdown Timer's written reviews are positive against 0% of Compass Family's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Visual Countdown Timer ships an update monthly, Compass Family fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Visual Countdown Timer versus Compass Family: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVisual Countdown TimerCompass Family
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (40K ratings) — better2.5 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews80.3% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings40K — better2
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.5 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size185 MB61 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFehners Software LLPCompass Child Care

Customer experience

Visual Countdown Timer

All ratings40,434 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral5.6%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews290 reviews
Positive80.3%
Neutral6.2%
Negative13.4%

Compass Family

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Visual Countdown Timer

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Custom pictures load rotated
  • Timer stops working when app is in background

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to set timer to countdown to a specific time
  • Ability to adjust timer in smaller increments
  • Option to keep picture displayed after timer ends
  • Background timer functionality
  • Custom sound/music options

Compass Family

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Visual Countdown Timer

One-time7
  • Ocean Pack$0.99
  • Transport Pack$0.99
  • Animal Pack$0.99
Show 4 more
  • Cartoon Pack$0.99
  • Mask Maker$0.99
  • Remove Ads$1.99
  • Premium Upgrade$3.99
None

Compass Family

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Visual Countdown Timer free?
Visual Countdown Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Compass Family free?
Compass Family is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Visual Countdown Timer or Compass Family?
Visual Countdown Timer is rated higher. Visual Countdown Timer averages 4.6 out of 5 from 40K ratings, while Compass Family averages 2.5 from 2 ratings.
Do Visual Countdown Timer or Compass Family have ads?
Visual Countdown Timer shows ads; Compass Family does not.
Which is updated more often, Visual Countdown Timer or Compass Family?
Visual Countdown Timer ships an update monthly, and Compass Family fortnightly. Most recently, Visual Countdown Timer was updated on October 13, 2026 and Compass Family on October 9, 2026.

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