Minimalist vs Pebbles
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Minimalist
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Walk more. Think less. Minimalist is a quiet companion for your daily walks and runs. Tap Start, put your phone in your pocket, and enjoy the walk. When you're done, your route is waiting on the map with everything you want to know — and nothing you don't. ONE TAP TO START Choose walk or run and tap Start. A short countdown and you're off. No setup, no menus, no account. EVERY ROUTE, DRAWN Each activity is saved with its route on the map, plus distance, moving time, average pace and speed. A GENTLE MONTHLY GOAL Set a monthly distance that feels right. Minimalist shows how far you've come and how much is left — about how much a day — without pressure. YOUR WEEK AT A GLANCE A simple weekly chart, monthly totals and a clean history, grouped by month. WORKS IN YOUR POCKET Lock your screen and keep going. Pause for a coffee and resume when you're ready. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts, no ads, no analytics. Your activities are stored only on your iPhone. CALM, DAY AND NIGHT A soft, natural design with a beautiful dark mode. Kilometers or miles — your choice. Questions or ideas? Write to madalin@istack.ro — we read every message.
Pebbles
Visualize your progress towards fitness and personal goals with a dynamic widget. It syncs with Apple Health to fill virtual pebbles, showing your standing against set targets without pressure.
- Visualize goals as filling pebbles
- Syncs with Apple Health
- Home and Lock Screen widgets
- Pace line for progress tracking
- Customizable goal lengths and types
- Private by design, no account needed
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Set a goal. Watch it fill up. Pebbles turns any sports goal into a pebble you fill. 1,000 km of running in a year. 10,000 steps a day. 12 workouts a month. 500 km up to race day. Apple Health fills your pebble on its own, and the widget on your Home Screen shows where you stand. THE PACE LINE A dashed line shows where you should be today. Above it, you're ahead. Under it, Pebbles calmly shows where you're heading. No red, no streaks, no guilt. ANY GOAL, ANY LENGTH • A year, a month, or your own dates, like a marathon block or a summer • Running, walking + running distance, steps a day, workouts, cycling, swimming, hiking and exercise minutes, straight from Apple Health • Goals that start again every year or every month • Count anything else with +1: books, trips, concerts THE WIDGET IS THE APP • Home Screen widgets with one, two or four pebbles • Lock Screen widgets • StandBy Glance at your phone, see the number, get on with your day. NUMBERS THAT HELP • What fills it from here: "16.5 km a week fills it" • This week, every month, your best day and your longest run • A forecast whenever you're under the line • Compare with last time • A look back when a pebble ends, to save and share PRIVATE BY DESIGN Pebbles only reads Apple Health and never writes to it. No account, no server. Nothing you track leaves your iPhone. TWO LITTLE NOTES A Sunday check-in and a note when a pebble fills. That's all. FREE AND PRO Free: one Apple Health pebble of any length, the small widget and the Lock Screen widgets. Pebbles Pro is a single payment, no subscription: unlimited pebbles, counters, repeating pebbles, every widget size and style, compare with last time, and look-back cards to share. Health Pulse is now Pebbles.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Minimalist at none against Pebbles's 1. Pebbles's advantage is update cadence (every 8 months vs every 33 months). On price, ads, device support and 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
Both are free to download. Pebbles sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Minimalist asks for nothing beyond the download.
Minimalist ships an update every 33 months, Pebbles every 8 months. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.
| Parameter | Minimalist | Pebbles |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 33 months | Every 8 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ISTACK DEVELOPMENT | Leon Grimmeisen |
In-app purchases
Minimalist
No in-app purchases
Pebbles
- Pebbles Pro$3.99









