ShiftWave vs First Responders Cal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShiftWave
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Shift Calendar - ShiftWave, the new CopApp! - Throw away your paper schedule! Simple Calendar App for Repeating Shift Schedules & adding notes/highlight colors for any day. Choose from color themes, and customize to your schedule. Export to other calendars, like Google Calendar and/or Apple Calendar. View Pitman Schedule, 4 On / 2 Off, 5 On / 3 Off or any custom schedule. Throw away your paper schedule! Upgrade for Pro Features like adding notes, highlight colors for any day, override a day's text on the calendar, share schedule, and more! For anyone that has a rotating/repeating shift schedule -- Calendar/Schedule app, for example if police officers wish to view which squads work together and which squads have days off. Tap Settings-->Set Rotation Days to change schedules - supports any combination of custom text.. For instance, supports 3 squads, with repeating schedules of: • 5 days on, 2 days off, then 5 days on, 3 days off • 4 days on, then 2 days off • ... or make your own schedule, like: On, On, On, Off, Off, Off or AA, BB, CC, DD Tap on Edit button for any day to view the screen and Add Notes for any day or highlight it a color for important dates. Tap on Set Rotation Days to customize the days to rotate (add, remove, move days around) to make the schedule exactly match your own. Load quick setup codes to download a predefined schedules so you don't need to enter it manually. You can enter a 4 digit code to instantly set up your schedule. ** If your schedule is similar to one of the quick setup codes, you can edit it to make it like your own. If you want to add your schedule to the list, just email support with your schedule name and the text (ie: On,On,On,On,Off,Off -- or A,A,B,B,C,C -- or D,D,D,-,-,-,N,N,N,N, etc...) ** Please contact support before leaving any negative reviews, we can almost always help. Automatically highlight a color for text string for the calendar by setting it one time in settings. Choose up to 3 different colors/string combos. * Subscription provides access to premium features including ad removal, note editing, and quick setup codes for the duration of the subscription. * Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime with your iTunes account settings. For standard Terms of Use, please visit: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Feel free to contact support if you have any other questions or issues: myprojectxinc@gmail.com
First Responders Cal
Manage your work schedule and time off with a calendar designed for first responders. Create custom shift patterns, track leave balances, and sync with your device's calendar. Get reminders and view your schedule at a glance with customizable widgets.
- Custom shift pattern creation
- Time off and balance tracking
- Overnight shift display
- iOS Calendar sync
- Customizable stat cards
- Home screen widgets
- Unlimited custom event types
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Working today—or is it a day off? See the shifts, court dates, and details you’ve added to First Responders Cal with Next Work widgets. Plan your rotation, manage time off, track shift trades, and keep up with extra-work pay in one place. Built for fire, EMS, law enforcement, corrections, and dispatch. FREE TRIAL & FULL ACCESS Free to download and use with full access for 14 days. After the trial, a one-time $4.99 in-app purchase is required to continue using the app (U.S. price; pricing may vary by country or region). No subscription or recurring charges. One Full Access purchase covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Restore using the same purchasing Apple Account. SHIFT SCHEDULING Choose or create a rotation, such as 24/48, 48/96, or a custom working and off-day cycle. Set the date your cycle starts, then apply the pattern to generate your shifts without duplicates. Overnight shifts appear across both days, and vacations or extended leave can be added in one step. YOUR SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE Choose Month, Week, List, or Agenda, or open the yearly overview to plan ahead. See shifts, court dates, details, leave, and all-day events together. Agenda lets you browse consecutive days with month headings, move through dates with a date strip, and return to Today. NEXT WORK & HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Check whether you’re working today and see what’s next from the events recorded in the app. Small and medium Next Work widgets show your event names and colors. You can also use a month calendar, today’s event list, or a date card. SHIFT TRADES Keep a personal record of hours you owe and hours owed to you. Link return shifts and record partial repayments until a trade is settled. Your coworker doesn’t need the app. EXTRA WORK & PAY TRACKING Record overtime and off-duty hours, rates, pay multipliers, and expected pay dates. Track full or partial payments, outstanding balances, and overdue pay. Review entries by month or year and print reports. Use Repeat job to create another entry with a new date while keeping previous payments with the original job. TIME OFF & LEAVE BALANCES Track vacation, sick leave, personal days, and custom leave types. See starting balances, earned time, usage, and remaining leave. Choose yearly, quarterly, or custom tracking periods, with accruals, optional caps, and carryover. Link related leave types to a shared balance—for example, Family Sick can draw from Sick. REMINDERS THAT FIT YOUR SCHEDULE Set notifications globally or by event type. Choose how many days ahead to be reminded and at what time. Turn on Tomorrow’s Work for an optional reminder of the next day’s selected event types. APPLE CALENDAR & REMINDERS Sync with your chosen iOS Calendar using two-way or one-way sync. Display Calendar events and Reminders alongside your app schedule for a fuller view of your day. MAKE IT YOUR OWN Create custom event types with names, icons, and colors. Rename built-in types to match your department’s terminology and personalize dashboard stat cards. Choose light, dark, or automatic appearance. LOCAL STORAGE, ICLOUD & BACKUP App data is stored locally. Enable optional iCloud sync to keep app events, patterns, time-off balances, Extra Work pay records, and shift trades in your private iCloud database across iPhone, iPad, and Mac using the same iCloud account. Calendar and Reminders sync through their connected provider accounts. Appearance, permissions, and notification delivery preferences stay local. Use Export All Data for a manual CSV backup, then import a saved export to restore or transfer data. Export and import are available during the trial and with Full Access. Built for those who serve.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: First Responders Cal at none against ShiftWave's shown. ShiftWave's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support 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. ShiftWave sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and First Responders Cal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
ShiftWave ships an update every 5 days, First Responders Cal every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShiftWave | First Responders Cal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | — | 0.0% of reviews |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 76 MB | 20 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MyProjectX, Inc. | PEDRO NIEVES |
In-app purchases
ShiftWave
- ShiftWave Premium - Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
- ShiftWave Premium - Annual7 Days trial$9.991 Year
- ShiftWave Premium - Lifetime$24.99
First Responders Cal
- Full Access$4.99
Questions
Is ShiftWave free?
Is First Responders Cal free?
Do ShiftWave or First Responders Cal have ads?
Which is updated more often, ShiftWave or First Responders Cal?
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