Comparison

PocketPal vs Screen Pet

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

Head to head
About

PocketPal

Adopt and care for a virtual pixel art pet that lives on your device's Home Screen. Keep your companion happy, healthy, and fed through interactive widgets, and customize their appearance with unlockable outfits and backgrounds.

Highlights
  • Virtual pixel pet companion
  • Home Screen widget integration
  • Interactive pet care
  • Customizable outfits and backgrounds
  • Unlockable content
  • Multiple animal choices
Features
Read full description

PocketPal is a cozy pixel pet that lives on your iPhone, iPad, and Home Screen. Choose from 18 fully animated pals—from foxes and bunnies to pandas, tigers, penguins, and more. Feed, play, and clean your companion as their hunger, happiness, and health change over time. MEET YOUR PAL • Pick from 18 expressive pixel pets • Enjoy original idle, feeding, play, and cleaning animations • Switch pets anytime MAKE IT YOURS • Dress your pal in hoodies, crewnecks, sweaters, and dresses • Unlock outfits and nine illustrated backgrounds • Earn coins naturally by caring for your pet CARE YOUR WAY • Feed, play, and clean with a tap • Keep an eye on three simple care stats • Care for your pal from the interactive Home Screen widget • Keep your pal with you on iPhone, iPad, and Mac No ads. No subscriptions. Just you and your pal.

About

Screen Pet

Care for a virtual companion that lives on your phone screen. Feed, clean, and play with your digital pet as it grows from baby to adult, responding to your interactions with unique animations and sounds. Enjoy a full simulation experience offline, with no ads or accounts required.

Highlights
  • Virtual pet care simulation
  • Interactive animations and sounds
  • Pet growth from baby to adult
  • Offline play with no ads
  • Customizable pet appearance and environment
  • Daily missions and rewards
Features
Read full description

A virtual pet that lives on your phone screen. Adopt a tiny buddy, name it, feed it, clean it, play with it, and watch it grow from baby to teen to adult while it answers every tap, swipe and shake with a face of its own. Screen Pet is a real care simulator, not a static cartoon. Four needs — mood, energy, hunger and cleanliness — drift with the hours you are away, so your buddy genuinely notices when you show up. Fifteen care, play, item and emotion actions each move those bars differently, run on their own cooldowns, and shape the 12 expressions your pet pulls back at you. Everything runs offline on your device: no account, no ads, no internet required. WHAT YOU GET - A buddy that answers back — tap, swipe or shake and get an instant animated reaction with sound and haptics - Needs you can actually read — mood, energy, hunger and cleanliness bars that drain over time and recover from the right action - Real growth to work toward — Baby to Teen to Adult evolution driven by the days you keep showing up - 15 distinct actions — feed, bathe, brush, heal, massage, fetch, hide and seek, teach tricks, hug, dance, sing and more - A pet that looks like yours — 8 colors, 6 accessories, 6 sky themes and 4 room scenes to settle into - A reason to come back tomorrow — three fresh daily missions, a reward-chest track, streaks, coins, care levels, six achievements and two 30-second mini-games PERFECT FOR - Anyone who wants a pet but cannot keep one at home - Fans of 90s pocket-pet toys and cosy care simulators - Fidgety hands that want a calm 30-second break, not another shooter - Anyone who likes a small daily ritual with a streak worth protecting WHY NOT JUST TAP A FREE IDLE CLICKER? Because a clicker wants your thumbs, not your attention. Screen Pet has no ad breaks between taps, no timers begging for gems and no leaderboard grind. Your buddy's needs move slowly and honestly, the mini-games are short on purpose, and one visit a day is enough to keep it thriving. PRIVACY No account, no sign-up, no ads, no tracking, no analytics. Your pet, its stats, streak and every setting stay in your device's local storage and are never uploaded anywhere. FULL ACCESS Full access unlocks all 15 care, play, item and emotion actions, all 8 pet colors, all 6 accessories, and all 10 backgrounds and room scenes. Choose a weekly subscription, a yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and can be managed in your App Store account settings. Adopt your buddy tonight, give it a name, and feed it its first snack. Terms of Use (EULA): https://web-levi.web.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://web-levi.web.app/privacy-policy Questions? tphuc.work@gmail.com

Screenshots

PocketPal4 screens
Screen Pet4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PocketPal at 50% against Screen Pet's 0%. PocketPal also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. PocketPal sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Screen Pet sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PocketPal holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of PocketPal's written reviews are positive against 0% of Screen Pet's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PocketPal ships an update every 2 weeks, Screen Pet monthly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
PocketPal versus Screen Pet: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocketPalScreen Pet
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (4 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size285 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJUSTIN WEI SUNPhuc Pham

Customer experience

PocketPal

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Screen Pet

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

PocketPal

One-time4
  • 100 Coins$2.99
  • 250 Coins$5.99
  • 1000 Coins$19.99
Show 1 more
  • 2000 Coins$29.99
3 purchases

Screen Pet

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly Premium$3.997 Days
  • Annual Premium$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$39.99

Questions

Is PocketPal free?
PocketPal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Screen Pet free?
Screen Pet is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PocketPal or Screen Pet?
PocketPal is rated higher. PocketPal averages 4.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Screen Pet averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do PocketPal or Screen Pet have ads?
Neither PocketPal nor Screen Pet shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PocketPal or Screen Pet?
PocketPal ships an update every 2 weeks, and Screen Pet monthly. Most recently, PocketPal was updated on October 31, 2026 and Screen Pet on October 31, 2026.

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