Comparison

Countdown Star vs TinySteps Activities

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

Head to head
About

Countdown Star

Easily track upcoming events with customizable countdowns and count-ups. Personalize your experience with custom wallpapers, animations, and widgets. Syncs across devices and offers notifications for important dates.

Highlights
  • iCloud Sync across devices
  • Celebration animations
  • Repeating event support
  • Home screen widgets
  • Customizable wallpapers
  • Notifications for event completion
  • Interactive time unit slider
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 * Compatible with iPhone Duo — Countdown Star fits the outer and inner displays, open or closed, and when partially open like a book * 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

TinySteps Activities

Features
Read full description

TinySteps helps you find fun activities to perform with your baby and/or toddler. You get new activities every day and can persist activities that you've enjoyed. Let the powerful AI engine that backs this app help you and inspire you to make every day special for you and your children.

Screenshots

Countdown Star4 screens
TinySteps Activities3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Countdown Star at Free against TinySteps Activities's $0.99. Countdown Star also leads on device support (3 vs 1). TinySteps Activities's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On 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

Countdown Star is free to download; TinySteps Activities costs $0.99 up front. Countdown Star sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. TinySteps Activities asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown Star ships an update fortnightly, TinySteps Activities every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Countdown Star versus TinySteps Activities: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdown StarTinySteps Activities
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.8 (217K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews59.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings217K — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoseph Merrilldonnywals.com BV

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 more
  • Add option for annual/recurring events

TinySteps Activities

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Countdown Star

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99
None

TinySteps Activities

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Countdown Star free?
Countdown Star is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is TinySteps Activities free?
TinySteps Activities costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Countdown Star or TinySteps Activities have ads?
Countdown Star shows ads; TinySteps Activities does not.
Which is updated more often, Countdown Star or TinySteps Activities?
Countdown Star ships an update fortnightly, and TinySteps Activities every 2 days. Most recently, Countdown Star was updated on November 11, 2026 and TinySteps Activities on November 4, 2026.

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