SmallFish Chess for Stockfish vs Last Layer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
This app leverages the powerful Stockfish chess engine to help you analyze your games, study strategic thinking, and track your progress. It offers features like blunder checking, graphical evaluations, and opening books without any ads or in-app purchases.
- Stockfish chess engine integration
- Game analysis with comments
- Study Stockfish's thinking
- Progress tracking
- Blunder checking
- Graphical game evaluation
- Opening books
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SmallFish is a project based on the Stockfish chess engine. It uses the latest Stockfish chess engine (Stockfish 19), rated about Elo 3600+ and is the strongest chess app on the App Store. SmallFish offers you three distinct ways to improve your game. You can review your game with comments, or study how Stockfish thinks, or track your progress. No in-app purchase, no ads, no data tracking. SmallFish is simply amazing. It's small but powerful, you'll be surprised. Features --------- - Blunder checking - Multiple line analysis - Graphical evaluation of your game - Game previews - Dark mode support - Endgame tablebase - Opening books - Import from Chess.com and Lichess Why not just download and try it yourself?
Last Layer
This app provides a comprehensive reference for practicing CFOP algorithms used in speedcubing. It includes tools for learning and testing patterns, a scramble generator, and a timer with note-taking capabilities. Enjoy seamless syncing across devices and automatic dark mode.
- CFOP algorithm reference
- OLL and PLL patterns
- Pattern editing
- Favorite patterns
- 25 move scramble generator
- Solve timer with notes
- iCloud sync
- Automatic dark mode
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Clean and simple reference app for practicing CFOP patterns for solving your speed cube. Easily and quickly access the prime tools needed when practicing and learning new patterns. Features include: • Test your knowledge and practice the moves you know • Full OLL and PLL patterns • Pattern editing! Change the pattern text to anything you want. • Favorite the patterns you are currently learning. • Randomly generated 25 move scramble • Timer results include the scramble and the ability to add notes. • Native iPad support • iCloud support. Favorites, pattern edits, and solve times will sync between devices • Automatic dark mode. Amazing tool to learn the OLL and PLL patterns of the CFOP method. We take privacy very seriously, we do not collect any Personably Identifiable Information, not even location. All our metrics are anonymous and only track feature usage so we can determine which features are popular(or not), so we can spend more time focusing on the right areas.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SmallFish Chess for Stockfish at 79% against Last Layer's 0%. SmallFish Chess for Stockfish also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (4.5K vs 4). Last Layer's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On ads, 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
Last Layer is free to download; SmallFish Chess for Stockfish costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Last Layer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmallFish Chess for Stockfish has 4.5K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 79% of SmallFish Chess for Stockfish's written reviews are positive against 0% of Last Layer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish ships an update every 3 days, Last Layer every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SmallFish Chess for Stockfish | Last Layer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (4.5K ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.1% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4.5K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #15 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 27.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 195 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ted Wong | Brandon Harris |
Customer experience
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
Last Layer
Bugs and requests
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when setting up positions
- Incorrect move suggestions and engine evaluations
- Freezing and unresponsiveness during gameplay
- Issues with board and coordinate display alignment
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for variations and multiple analysis lines
- Implement a two-player mode with piece flipping
- Add PGN file sorting, searching, and folder support
- Provide an option to hide the board and show captured pieces
- Integrate with chess.com and other platforms
Last Layer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish
No in-app purchases
Last Layer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SmallFish Chess for Stockfish free?
Is Last Layer free?
Which has better reviews, SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Last Layer?
Do SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Last Layer have ads?
Which is updated more often, SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Last Layer?
Other comparisons
