Shelf vs Aivi
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shelf
Pin photos, text, or app shortcuts to your iPhone's Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Customize the appearance with themes, colors, and fonts. Access content with a tap or use Siri and App Shortcuts for automatic launching.
- Pin photos, text, and app shortcuts
- Dynamic Island and Home Screen support
- Customizable themes, colors, and fonts
- Always-on display integration
- App Shortcuts and Siri integration
- Quick access with a tap
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Shelf lets you pin content to the Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, and Home Screen! Create shelves that display a photo, text, or quick links to open apps, shortcuts, or websites. Each are visually customisable; apply themes or manually change colours and fonts. Thanks to the iPhone 14 Pro’s always-on-display, shelves can be viewed at a glance - with actions a simple tap away. Automatically launch shelves with App Shortcuts support, such as when a Focus is turned on, or ask Siri "Create a Text Shelf" to quickly pin a spoken comment to your Lock Screen. More types of shelves will be coming soon, such as; a Timer, Checklist, and Weather. If you have any questions, please reach out to shelf@michaeltigas.com.au Privacy Policy: https://michaeltigas.notion.site/Shelf-Privacy-Policy-d1eee01d6bc845b29052d1d75de8968f Terms of Use: https://michaeltigas.notion.site/Shelf-Terms-of-Use-0f7815e773e3420db9a5e6b1cdddbd54
Aivi
Display smart home device status on your iPhone's lock screen and Dynamic Island. Track appliances, EV charging, and more with a simple API integration. Share real-time updates with family.
- Persistent lock screen display
- Dynamic Island integration
- Universal device compatibility
- Simple REST API
- Family sharing of activities
- Home Assistant integration
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Your dishwasher, your 3D printer, your EV charger, live on your Lock Screen. And now your whole home at your fingertips on the Home Screen. Aivi turns one HTTP request into a Live Activity or a widget on iPhone, Apple Watch and CarPlay. If Home Assistant, a script, or anything else in your stack can make an HTTP call, Aivi can display it. No app to build, no push certificates, no SDK. NEW: SWITCHBOARD - Up to eight tappable tiles on your Home Screen: scenes, lights, the garage door, the cat feeder - Tap a toggle and watch it confirm the moment your home answers. If nothing answers, the tile tells you - Pictures, colour gradients and your own words for every state, like "Open" and "Closed" - Presses arrive as events over a live stream or a webhook, so any automation can act on them WIDGETS - Eleven templates: switchboard, progress, gauge, trend charts, battery levels, electricity prices, countdown, budget, energy flow, list and status - Every size, including the extra-large portrait size in iOS 27 - Widget Board, watch face complications and Smart Stack - Looks native everywhere: the tinted Home Screen, StandBy on the nightstand LIVE ACTIVITIES - Dishwasher and washing machine cycles with live countdowns - 3D prints with progress and time remaining - EV charging with charge level and completion estimate - Always visible on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island until they're done KEY FEATURES - Family sharing: set up once, send an invite link, and everyone's devices stay in step. Subscribers never pay - Simple REST API: integrate in minutes with curl, a script or any HTTP client - Push, not poll: updates go out only when something changes - Home Assistant ready: quick-start blueprints, or the Aivi integration Start with a free 7-day trial. Only the owner needs a subscription; everyone you share with rides along free. ¹ Live Activities on Mac require macOS Sequoia or later and are not available in the EU. Widgets require iOS 26 or later; Live Activities work from iOS 18. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Shelf at 4.5 against Aivi's 3.0. Shelf also leads on ratings volume (295 vs 2) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks). Aivi's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Shelf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Aivi sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Shelf holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shelf has 295 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Shelf ships an update every 2 days, Aivi every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.
| Parameter | Shelf | Aivi |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (295 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 57.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 295 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.1 — better | 18.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Michael Tigas | Krzysztof Jagiello |
Customer experience
Shelf
Aivi
In-app purchases
Shelf
- Shelf Pro - Monthly$1.991 Month
- Shelf Pro - Yearly3 Days trial$12.991 Year
Aivi
- Monthly subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Yearly subscription7 Days trial$23.991 Year









