Comparison

Hold Down the Button vs Supernova

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

Head to head
About

Hold Down the Button

Features
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One button. How long can you hold? Keep your finger inside the circle. Release to finish, see your time, and try to beat your personal best. Hold Down the Button turns a simple action into a quick challenge you can make your own. KEEP HOLDING. CATCH THE NEXT SCORE. A compact leaderboard follows your hold, showing nearby Game Center scores and exactly how long until you pass the next one. Watch your highlighted row move up as you beat each score. No rival scores available? Chase your own personal best. SMALL GOALS. LASTING PROGRESS. Complete three short daily goals to earn bonus coins and work toward your next button style. Your first set starts with a five-second hold. Unlock Daybreak, Ember, Tide, and Prism after completing goals on 1, 3, 7, and 14 days. Those days do not need to be consecutive: your collection progress stays with you. SET YOUR TIME. CHALLENGE A FRIEND. Share a result card featuring your actual time and selected button style. Send it through your favorite sharing app and invite a friend to beat it. BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BEST. See your hold time, league, and next milestone after each run. Connect Game Center to compare leaderboard scores. Keep playing locally without a separate app account, and sync your profile through iCloud when available. YOUR BUTTON, ALIVE. Explore eight animated hold effects: Pulse, Kinetic Sand, Bubble Pop, Starfall, Voltage, Solar Flare, Aurora, and Singularity. Sculpted sand, iridescent bubbles, orbiting stars, electric arcs, and swirling light evolve at 5, 15, and 30 seconds. Touch any shop preview to try its feel for free. Each effect has its own clicks and texture, with custom haptics on supported iPhones. Subtle tilt reflections bring the surface to life. Preview every stage and mix any effect with any skin. Pulse is free; more effects unlock permanently with coins earned by playing or bought in the coin store. All Skins owners and active Premium subscribers also have access. Effects change the look and feel: the button, timing, and score rules stay the same. MAKE THE BUTTON YOURS. Choose colorful skins and optional power-ups. Sound, haptics, texture beats, tilt reflections, and animated effects have separate controls, with support for larger text, dark appearance, and reduced motion. OPTIONAL PURCHASES The app includes ads and optional coin packs, power-up packs, and one-time unlocks. Weekly, monthly, and yearly Premium subscriptions provide the benefits displayed in the store, including ad removal, skin and effect access, and daily coin rewards while subscribed. Purchases are optional; daily goals and collection rewards can be earned through play. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel subscriptions in your Apple account settings. Privacy policy: https://startling-dasik-72d26c.netlify.app Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Supernova

An idle space tycoon game where you fuse hydrogen to grow and detonate stars. Earn permanent power-ups with each supernova to accelerate future runs. Features offline progress and a visually evolving star.

Highlights
  • Fuse hydrogen to create and grow stars
  • Offline progress and production
  • Visually evolving star stages
  • Prestige system with supernova cinematics
  • Deep multiplier stacking and research upgrades
  • Daily missions and streaks
  • Fully offline gameplay
Read full description

Fuse hydrogen into a living star. Grow it. Then blow it up — on purpose. SUPERNOVA is a premium-feel idle game about running a cosmic forge. Tap to spark fusion, build 12 generators from Hydrogen Wisp to Singularity Seed, and watch your star physically evolve — protostar, blue giant, red supergiant — until it is ready to collapse. Detonating it is the point: every supernova grants Neutron Cores, permanent power that makes each new universe faster than the last. WHY YOU'LL STAY • Real progress while you're away — production continues offline (extend the cap up to 24 hours with research), and a welcome-back doubler greets your return • A star that actually changes — five visual stages, rendered live, no canned art • Prestige that feels like a finale — a hand-built supernova cinematic, then a stronger start • Numbers that get gloriously big — Million, Septillion, and far beyond • Milestones every few minutes early on, deep multiplier stacking later • Daily missions and streaks that respect your time • 20 research upgrades that shape every run FAIR BY DESIGN • No ads. None. • No energy bars, no forced waits, no progress walls • Fully offline — no account, no sign-in, no internet required • Nothing collected, nothing tracked • Optional purchases exist (time warps, photons, a one-time Supporter Pack), and the entire game is balanced to be completed without spending anything THE LOOP 1. Tap your star and let generators forge Stardust 2. Hit ownership milestones — each one doubles a generator's output 3. Buy research, stack a Photon Surge boost, fill your Piggy Bank 4. Reach collapse readiness... and go SUPERNOVA 5. Keep your Neutron Cores forever. Start again, faster. Built by a solo developer in SwiftUI and SpriteKit. Every pixel is procedural — no asset packs, no stock art. Dark theme, tuned haptics, Reduce Motion respected. Your first universe is waiting. It starts with one atom.

Screenshots

Hold Down the Button4 screens
Supernova4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Supernova at every 2 days against Hold Down the Button's every 8 days. Supernova also leads on device support (5 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Hold Down the Button sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Supernova sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hold Down the Button ships an update every 8 days, Supernova every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Hold Down the Button versus Supernova: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHold Down the ButtonSupernova
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.5 (79 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—76.3% of reviews
Number of ratings—79 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB15 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperAndrew MarcHUGO ANATOLE PAUL MORICEAU

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Hold Down the Button

Subscriptions3
  • Premium Access Weekly$2.997 Days
  • Premium Access Monthly$7.991 Month
  • Premium Access Yearly$39.991 Year
One-time7
  • Starter Bundle$1.99
  • 500 coins$2.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99
Show 4 more
  • Pro Bundle$4.99
  • VIP Pass$9.99
  • Elite Bundle$9.99
  • Starter Pack$14.99
10 purchases

Supernova

One-time10
  • 50 Photons$0.99
  • Time Warp: 4 Hours$1.99
  • Break the Piggy Bank$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Automation Core$3.99
  • Supporter Pack$4.99
  • Time Warp: 24 Hours$4.99
  • 300 Photons$4.99
  • 700 Photons$9.99
  • Time Warp: 7 Days$14.99
  • 1600 Photons$19.99

Questions

Is Hold Down the Button free?
Hold Down the Button is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Supernova free?
Supernova is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Hold Down the Button or Supernova have ads?
Neither Hold Down the Button nor Supernova shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hold Down the Button or Supernova?
Hold Down the Button ships an update every 8 days, and Supernova every 2 days. Most recently, Hold Down the Button was updated on November 2, 2026 and Supernova on November 3, 2026.

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