Countdown Star vs Swift Alert
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
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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.
Swift Alert
Stay updated with all things related to a popular artist's tour and music. Get news, concert dates, real-time alerts for livestreams, track surprise songs, and test your knowledge with trivia.
- Fan newsfeed
- Concert dates
- Real-time livestream alerts
- Surprise Song Tracker
- Trivia quizzes
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The ultimate app for Swifties! Swift Alert will keep you connected to the shows and the music with a newsfeed of key fan accounts, concert dates in your time zone, and real-time alerts so you can check out livestreams. The Surprise Song Tracker will ensure you always know the latest surprise songs, and trivia quizzes will give you a chance to test your knowledge and show off your Swiftie status to your friends. Swift Alert is THE go-to source for Swifties! Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Swift Alert at none against Countdown Star's shown. Swift Alert also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 59%) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Countdown Star's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (217K vs 40K). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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 and Swift Alert sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Countdown Star against 4.9 for Swift Alert. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown Star has 217K ratings behind it against 40K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 59% of Countdown Star's written reviews are positive against 81% of Swift Alert's.
Countdown Star ships an update fortnightly, Swift Alert every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Countdown Star | Swift Alert |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (217K ratings) | 4.9 (40K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.2% of reviews | 81.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 217K — better | 40K |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 118 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joseph Merrill | Swift Alert LLC |
Customer experience
Countdown Star
Swift Alert
User reviews
Countdown Star
From 217K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great app
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 💡 Customizable backgrounds
- 👍 Helpful for tracking events
- 👍 Useful for long-distance relationships
Room to improve
- 🐛 Widget not working
- 🐛 Wallpaper feature not working
- 🐛 Countdown inaccuracies
- 🐛 Notifications not working
- 🐛 Crashes and bugs
Swift Alert
From 40K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💗 Amazing app for Swifties
- 🤩 Incredibly fun and engaging
- 🎉 Excellent way to stay updated on Eras Tour
- 🎮 Enjoyable games and quizzes
- 🔔 Helpful notifications and alerts
Room to improve
- 💸 Some features locked behind paywall
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 📱 Layout issues on certain devices
- 🔔 Inconsistent notification reliability
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
Swift Alert
Reported bugs
3 issues- Mastermind scores not tracking correctly
- Trivia questions not loading properly
- Calendar events not clearing after shows
Requested features
4 requests- More interactive features (outfit history, song rankings, etc.)
- Ability to edit Mastermind submissions
- Merch/announcement notifications
- Syncing progress across devices
In-app purchases
Countdown Star
- Remove Ads$1.99
Swift Alert
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$0.991 Month
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$1.991 Month
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$2.991 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$3.991 Month
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$5.991 Month
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$9.991 Year
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$12.991 Year
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$14.991 Year
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$17.991 Year
- Swift Alert Games Subscription$19.991 Year
- Become a Swiftie$0.99
- Become a Swiftie$1.99
Questions
Is Countdown Star free?
Is Swift Alert free?
Which has better reviews, Countdown Star or Swift Alert?
Do Countdown Star or Swift Alert have ads?
Which is updated more often, Countdown Star or Swift Alert?
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