Comparison

Countdown Star (Ad vs Atomic Letters

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

Head to head
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.

About

Atomic Letters

Create unique visual representations of names and phrases using elements from the Periodic Table. Personalize your creations with custom fonts, colors, and backgrounds. The app generates high-quality PNG files perfect for various design projects.

Highlights
  • Spell names and phrases with Periodic Table elements
  • Customize fonts, colors, and backgrounds
  • Generate PNG files for various uses
  • Unique name spellings
  • Personalized design options
Read full description

This app uses elements of the Periodic Table to spell out your name, or just about any other phrase you’d like. First select your spelling (The name "Corey" can start out with Carbon and Oxygen, or the the simpler Cobalt). Then customize it by choosing fonts, colors, background images, and shading. The Atomic Letters app will generate a PNG file suitable for everything from email signatures to t-shirt designs. If your name is Bacon or Beer, there are already several places on the interwebs to find your name spelled out with items from the Periodic Table. This app is for the rest of us.

Screenshots

Countdown Star (Ad4 screens
Atomic Letters3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Atomic Letters at Free against Countdown Star (Ad's $1.99. Atomic Letters also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 56%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Countdown Star (Ad's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 61 months) and ratings volume (3.7K vs 2). On ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Atomic Letters is free to download; Countdown Star (Ad costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Atomic Letters holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown Star (Ad has 3.7K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Countdown Star (Ad's written reviews are positive against 100% of Atomic Letters's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown Star (Ad ships an update every 2 weeks, Atomic Letters every 61 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Countdown Star (Ad versus Atomic Letters: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdown Star (AdAtomic Letters
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (3.7K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews55.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.7K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 61 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#54 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoseph MerrillPost River Software

Customer experience

Countdown Star (Ad

All ratings3,702 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral3.0%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews405 reviews
Positive55.8%
Neutral15.6%
Negative28.6%

Atomic Letters

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

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

Atomic Letters

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Countdown Star (Ad

No in-app purchases

None

Atomic Letters

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Countdown Star (Ad free?
Countdown Star (Ad costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Atomic Letters free?
Atomic Letters is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Countdown Star (Ad or Atomic Letters?
Atomic Letters is rated higher. Countdown Star (Ad averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3.7K ratings, while Atomic Letters averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Countdown Star (Ad or Atomic Letters have ads?
Neither Countdown Star (Ad nor Atomic Letters shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Countdown Star (Ad or Atomic Letters?
Countdown Star (Ad ships an update every 2 weeks, and Atomic Letters every 61 months. Most recently, Countdown Star (Ad was updated on November 1, 2026 and Atomic Letters on November 1, 2026.

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