Countdown Star vs Noise machine
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Countdown Star
Track time until or since important life events. Set custom timers for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and more. Personalize with your own photos and share progress with friends.
- Add custom events
- Customize event visuals
- Apple Watch display
- Today Widget integration
- Set exact event times
- Adjust time units
- Share event progress
Read full descriptionHide 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.
Noise machine
Fall asleep faster and reduce stress with high-quality ambient sounds. This app offers various noise types, a sleep timer, and background playback. It helps mask distractions, improve focus, and soothe headaches.
- High quality sounds
- Multiple noise types (White, Pink, Brown, etc.)
- Background playback
- Sleep timer
- Volume control
- Listen to music simultaneously
Read full descriptionHide full description
Fall asleep easily. Enjoy the highest quality noise the Store has to offer! Features: -High quality sounds -White, Pink, Brown, Blue, Grey, Violet Noise -Continues to play in the background even if you leave the application. -Sleep Timer: turn off noise after specified time. -Allow you to use your phone while you enjoy the soothing sounds of noise -Lets you listen to your favourite music simultaneously -Unlimited time of play -Volume control -Phone call pausing -Supports Tablets and Phones -Timer: switch off noise after specified time (up to 2 hrs delay - free version limitation). Paid version offer 24 hrs. How it works? • Relaxes and reduces stress • Increases focus while enhancing privacy • Helps you sleep by blocking distractions • Soothes headaches and migraines • Masks tinnitus (ringing of the ears) • Pacifies crying babies Explanation? Sound masking can be explained by analogy with light. Imagine a dark room where someone is turning a flash light on and off. The light is very obvious and distracting. Now imagine that the room lights are turned on. The flash light is still being turned on and off, but is no longer noticeable because it has been "masked". Sound masking is a similar process of covering a distracting sound with a more soothing or less intrusive sound. The masking must reduce the difference between the steady background level and the transient levels associated with both speech and other sounds. Motivation and productivity are improved when this is accomplished. The masking sound itself must not change rapidly and should be as meaningless as possible. Sound masking reduces or eliminates awareness of pre-existing sounds in a given area and can make a work environment more comfortable, while creating speech privacy so workers can better concentrate and be more productive. Sound masking can also be used in the outdoors to restore a more natural ambient environment. White noise is a common synthetic noise source used for sound masking by a tinnitus masker. This is add-supported version of NOISE. Some functions are available in full version. Please upgrade.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Countdown Star at 4.8 against Noise machine's 4.0. Countdown Star also leads on ratings volume (216K vs 8) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Noise machine's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On price, review sentiment 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. Countdown Star sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Noise machine asks for nothing beyond the download.
Countdown Star holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown Star has 216K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 59% of Countdown Star's written reviews are positive against 67% of Noise machine's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Countdown Star ships an update fortnightly, Noise machine every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Countdown Star | Noise machine |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (216K ratings) — better | 4.0 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 59.4% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 216K — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joseph Merrill | andrzej kar |
Customer experience
Countdown Star
Noise machine
Bugs and requests
Countdown Star
Reported bugs
5 issues- Widget not displaying events
- Wallpaper not saving
- Countdown off by one day
- Notifications not working as expected
- Crashes and glitches after updates
Requested features
6 requests- Add weeks option
- Allow multiple countdowns on one screen
- Provide Apple Watch complications
- Add ability to export/backup data
- Improve wallpaper customization
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Add option for annual/recurring events
Noise machine
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Countdown Star
- Remove Ads$1.99
Noise machine
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Countdown Star free?
Is Noise machine free?
Which has better reviews, Countdown Star or Noise machine?
Do Countdown Star or Noise machine have ads?
Which is updated more often, Countdown Star or Noise machine?
Other comparisons















