Comparison

Sideboard vs Xarra

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

Head to head
About

Sideboard

This app displays your upcoming and in-progress meetings, showing the time until your next event or the remaining time in your current meeting. It offers widgets for your home screen and can run in standby mode for continuous visibility of your schedule.

Highlights
  • View upcoming and in-progress meetings
  • Time until next meeting display
  • Current meeting duration tracking
  • Home screen widgets
  • Standby mode for continuous display
Features
Read full description

Sideboard is designed to summarise your upcoming meetings and enhance your productivity See Your Day: Sideboard will quickly show your upcoming or in progress meetings, and show how long until the next meeting (or how long the current meeting has left to run) This lets you see at a glance how your day is looking Put it on your dock: The iOS and iPad app is designed to be run "on the side" - hence the name! Our widgets are even better than the app!: Sideboard has a range of widgets that can be added to your home screen, showing your upcoming meetings, or the current meeting Running in standby mode is perfect for showing you your next meeting!

About

Xarra

Listen to articles, documents, and web content with natural-sounding text-to-speech. Customize playback speed, voices, and reading fonts, with optional synced highlighting. This app prioritizes privacy, working offline without accounts or tracking.

Highlights
  • On-device text-to-speech
  • Supports PDF, EPUB, Markdown, and more
  • Web article sharing
  • Adjustable playback speed and voices
  • Customizable reading fonts
  • Synced line and word highlighting
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Xarra uses on-device text-to-speech with natural voices, so you can listen to pretty much any text, or read along with synced line and optional word highlighting, and stay focused. Featured in Create with Swift, Weekly Newsletter #101 (Indie App of the Week): "The app developed by Daniel is well integrated into the system. (...) Accessibility runs through the whole experience rather than sitting on top of it." Bring your content in: • Import PDF, EPUB, Markdown, DAISY, plain text, RTF, and more, or browse Project Gutenberg in the app. • Share web articles, blog posts, and documents from Safari and other apps. • Paste text or add a URL. Listen your way: • Optional word highlighting in background or underline styles. • Adjust playback speed and pick a voice for each language. • Choose reading fonts including OpenDyslexic, Atkinson Hyperlegible, and Lexend. Accessibility front and center: • VoiceOver-friendly navigation, Dynamic Type as a design principle, Bold Text, and Increase Contrast support, and more. • Respects your device assistive technology voice and speed settings. Private, lightweight, and offline-friendly: no account, no analytics, no tracking. Your documents stay on your device and sync through your private iCloud when enabled. Terms & Conditions for Xarra: https://accessibilityupto11.com/apps/xarra/terms/

Screenshots

Sideboard3 screens
Xarra4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sideboard at none against Xarra's 3. Xarra's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Xarra sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Sideboard asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sideboard ships an update every 2 months, Xarra every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sideboard versus Xarra: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSideboardXarra
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJOHN ANDREW POLLARDDaniel Devesa Derksen-Staats

Customer experience

Sideboard

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Xarra

Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Sideboard

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Xarra

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription14 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$29.99

Questions

Is Sideboard free?
Sideboard is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Xarra free?
Xarra is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sideboard or Xarra have ads?
Neither Sideboard nor Xarra shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sideboard or Xarra?
Sideboard ships an update every 2 months, and Xarra every 3 weeks. Most recently, Sideboard was updated on October 3, 2026 and Xarra on October 9, 2026.

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