Comparison

Span vs Countdown Widget

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

Head to head
About

Span

Track upcoming events with live countdowns or elapsed time since past moments. Log daily habits, discover patterns, and explore historical events with rich media. Organize and share your time-related data seamlessly.

Highlights
  • Live second-by-second countdowns
  • Elapsed time tracking
  • Habit and routine logging
  • Historical 'On This Day' events
  • Customizable widgets
  • Shareable event cards
  • iCloud backup and sync
Features
Read full description

Your relationship with time, all in one place. Count down to birthdays, trips, and deadlines, or see how long it’s been since a milestone. Log recurring events with Trackers and explore history with On This Day. No accounts. No ads. No tracking. SPANS - Live Countdowns — See years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds until or since a date. Date-only spans count calendar days. - Apple Calendar — Choose events to import, review their details, and keep selected events updated or make one-time copies. Span never adds new Calendar events automatically or writes changes back to Calendar. - Smart Emoji Suggestions — Get up to three matching emoji as you type, using on-device Apple Intelligence when available. - Yearly Recurrence — Repeat birthdays and anniversaries, with smart holiday dates that adjust each year. - Holiday Templates — Start with 22 US holidays and cultural events, including Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Chinese New Year. - Weather — Add a US ZIP code for historical weather or a forecast within the next 16 days. - Tags — Give spans and trackers custom tags with optional colors. Read tag names on cards and filter by one or several tags. - Organize — Filter by upcoming, elapsed, or archived; sort by date, name, or custom order. Choose Reorganize to drag rows into place. - Share — Send a styled countdown image or a link that opens in Span. TRACKERS - Log Anything — Tap once to record an event and see the time since your last entry. - Patterns — Frequency statistics show how often you typically do something. - Full History — Add dated entries, edit timestamps, or delete mistakes. - 14 Templates — Workout, Run, Coffee, Meditation, Shower, and more. ON THIS DAY Browse notable historical events for any date, powered by Wikipedia. Open an event to read its description and a related Wikipedia article. Images appear when available. Optional daily notifications bring you a historical event to explore. WIDGETS - Span Widget — Small, medium, or large, plus extra-large portrait on iOS 27. Auto mode follows your Spans tab’s filters, tags, and sort order, or you can choose spans manually. Tap a row to open that span. - On This Day Widget — Daily history on your Home Screen, with an extra-large portrait option on iOS 27. Tap to open the matching event. SIRI & SHORTCUTS Create spans, get countdowns, and log tracker entries with Siri and Shortcuts on iOS 26 and later. NOTIFICATIONS Get notified at a span’s event time or choose an advance reminder in minutes, hours, or days. Enable daily history alerts separately. BACKUP Manually back up and restore your spans and trackers with iCloud Drive. Your backup stays in your own iCloud account. FREE & PRO Track up to 2 spans and 1 tracker for free. Unlock unlimited spans and trackers with a one-time Span Pro purchase. PRIVACY No account, advertising, or analytics. Your spans and trackers stay on your device, with optional backup to your own iCloud Drive.

About

Countdown Widget

Features
Read full description

Countdown Widget - PeekDay Your most anticipated moments, beautifully counted. Life is full of moments worth waiting for. PeekDay transforms the wait into something magical—elegant countdowns that live on your home screen, keeping every special day within sight. Count Down to What Matters Whether it's a dream vacation, wedding day, graduation ceremony, holiday getaway, concert night, or new baby arrival—PeekDay helps you celebrate the build-up to life's biggest moments. Perfect for: -Birthdays & anniversaries -Vacations & trips -Graduations & exams -Holidays & celebrations -Weddings & engagements -Parties & special events Beautiful Widgets, Your Way Add stunning countdown widgets directly to your home screen and lock screen. Choose from elegant designs that match your style—minimal, colorful, or classic. Your countdowns update automatically, so the excitement is always visible. Widget Features: Multiple sizes & styles Live updates Custom backgrounds Event photos Progress visualization Simple & Powerful PeekDay is designed to be effortless. Create a countdown in seconds, customize it to perfection, and let it shine on your screen. No complicated setup—just pure anticipation, beautifully displayed. One-tap countdown creation iCloud sync across devices Why You'll Love It Makes waiting for vacation actually fun! The widget on my home screen keeps me excited every day.

Screenshots

Span4 screens
Countdown Widget3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Countdown Widget at none against Span's 1. On price, update cadence, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Span sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Countdown Widget asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Span versus Countdown Widget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpanCountdown Widget
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShamir WehbeAhmed Abdullah

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Span

One-time1
  • Span Pro$1.99
None

Countdown Widget

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Span free?
Span is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Countdown Widget free?
Countdown Widget is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Span or Countdown Widget have ads?
Neither Span nor Countdown Widget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Span or Countdown Widget?
Span ships an update every 3 weeks, and Countdown Widget every 3 weeks. Most recently, Span was updated on September 30, 2026 and Countdown Widget on September 12, 2026.

Other comparisons