Life vs Chrono
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Life
A streamlined life tracker for competitive 1v1 Magic: The Gathering matches. It offers simple controls, game state tracking for common counters, and integrated note-taking for post-game analysis. Supports deck importing and Scryfall integration for quick card lookups.
- 1v1 life tracking
- Game state counter tracking
- Integrated note-taking
- Deck importing and linking
- Scryfall card lookup
- Event history logging
- Match timer
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A life tracker for competitive 1v1 Magic: The Gathering. Clean layout, simple controls, and nothing unnecessary. Most players already know how to track a game. A notepad, two columns, a running tally of life totals. It's simple and it works. Life-Pad follows the same structure. The layout uses two columns like a notepad, adjustments happen with a tap, and the interface requires little explanation. This app has been designed to get out of your way so you can focus on the match. Life tracking here works the way you'd expect: every life change recorded in order. Adjustments can be staged before committing, so a complex combat step doesn't require rushed math. Common game counters (poison, monarch, initiative, night/day, and floating mana) are accessible without needing extra dice or separate tracking. For tournaments that require it: notes can be locked to the main screen so they're visible to players at all times. Recording known card information has been designed from the ground-up to be as quick and simple as possible in game - one tap to enter a card and one tap to dismiss it with customizable 'quick card' buttons available as well. Most other apps just can't provide the utility of pen and paper. Whether it's a Commander-focused app with four-player interfaces and a multitude of sub-menus, or a minimal counter with just plus and minus buttons, most life trackers don't offer match structure, notes, or history. Once the game ends, the information is gone. When at a tournament or FNM simply set up the event by giving it a name and every match and game are automatically tracked while they're happening. After the match, Life-Pad supports notetaking while details are still fresh and reviewing past matches across all saved events. It's a practical way to identify patterns or just to simply remember to add more lands. Import decks and link them to events as a snapshot so that you can always reference what was played on that day. Add your decks and track their history by attaching them to events. Scryfall integration provides quick card lookup in deck view or during a game - perfect for confirming modern printings and for the guy who always plays with foreign language cards. Pin up to 5 cards to the side of your play screen for quick reference during a game. All cards in deck or previously searched are stored on device for fast reference even when cell quality isn't perfect. -- Features include: - Clean two-player life tracking built for 1v1 play - Optional top/bottom simplistic tracking for quick games - Full game life total history - Quick access card-name notes for revealed info at a glance - dismiss with a single tap - Game state tracking for player-counters, monarch, initiative, and day/night - Track floating mana in-game - Scryfall integration for fast card lookup - iOS integration allows for Siri and Quick Action card lookup without opening the app - Calculator for determining the correct amount of each basic land for your Limited deck - Optional ability to lock notes to main screen if required per tournament rules - Event logging and persistent in-game and post-game notes - Deck importing, editing, and linking to events as snapshots. - Sideboard guide per deck with notes - Deck exporting as images or as a formatted PDF for tournament submittal - Event history exporting via JSON for backup, restoring, or additional analysis - Top/Bottom traditional 2-player mode for quick games - Match timer with Dynamic Island and Live Activity support - Pre-Set themes including 6 with the classic Magic: the Gathering card borders - iCloud data backup for added reliability on updates & phone migration
Chrono
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We have all been trapped in that pod. The board is a clogged mess, someone has been staring at their hand for ten minutes trying to sequence a cantrip, your cold brew is empty, and you are aging in real time. Enter Chrono-Tithe. Chrono-Tithe is not just a sleek life counter. It is an automated tax collector for slow play. Instead of a passive chess clock everyone ignores, it enforces an escalating “Tithe Tax.” Overstay your welcome in the think tank and your life total starts draining automatically. It is the perfect way to keep the table moving, or to quietly pressure the pod while you assemble your lock behind a wall of artifacts. CORE FEATURES (always free) THE TITHE ENGINE: An escalating turn timer that ramps through four tiers, from Standard to Accelerated to Punishing to Lethal. Choose the turn the tax starts to tighten and watch it change the way your pod plays. BLIND-TAP LIFE TRACKING: Zero-friction split cards. Tap the right side of a player’s color block to gain life, tap the left to lose it. Press and hold to swing by 5 at a time. You never have to take your eyes off the board. FULL COMMANDER TRACKING: Poison, energy, experience, +1/+1, commander tax, and per-source commander damage, with 21 from a single commander tracked and flagged automatically. Monarch and the Initiative too. BUILT FOR THE TABLE: 2 to 6 players, format presets for Commander, 1v1, Two-Headed Giant, and Brawl, a pre-game lobby to set seating and decide who goes first, plus a dice roller, coin flip, and random-player picker. PLAY TOGETHER, ON EVERY PHONE: Connect the whole pod over local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and everyone plays on their own screen, in sync. Tap your own life, pass your own turn, track your own commander damage, and watch it land on every device instantly. No internet, no accounts, no server. Joining a pod is always free. POST-GAME BREAKDOWN: Average turn length for every pilot and a golden Efficiency Star for the fastest player at the table. Hit Replay Pod to run it back with the same roster in one tap. MINIMALIST AND TACTILE: Deep true blacks, fluid gestures, and subtle haptics, designed to preserve battery and reduce visual fatigue during long matches. Scales cleanly from iPhone to a 12.9-inch iPad, and the screen stays awake during play. CHRONO-TITHE PRO (optional, one-time) The full game is free forever, with every life total, counter, timer, and tool included. A single one-time unlock (no subscription) adds: HOST MULTIPLAYER: Host a synced pod so the whole table plays on their own phones. Joining a pod is always free; hosting one is Pro. THEMES AND ACCENTS: Ten background themes and a full neon accent palette. CLOCK MODES: Alternate ways for the clock to bite. Three are live: Sudden Death (at the Lethal tier, overtime eliminates you outright), Time Bank (unused seconds roll into your next turn), and Chess Clock (one game-long budget per player). Team Clock is on the way, included free. TIMER-ONLY MODE: Switch the Tithe off to time turns with no life loss. COMMANDER ART AND SEAT COLORS: Set any commander’s art as a seat’s background and give each seat its own color. MATCH HISTORY: Every pod saved and synced to your own iCloud, so it survives a reinstall or a new phone with no login. All future Pro features included, free. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No ads. No tracking. Your roster, settings, and history live on your device and in your own iCloud, never on our servers. Multiplayer is a direct device-to-device connection over your local network, not through any server of ours. Chrono-Tithe collects zero data about you. Set your pod. Start the clock. Pay the tithe. Chrono-Tithe is an unofficial fan-made utility. It is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. Magic: The Gathering and Commander are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Life at none against Chrono's 1. Chrono's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs weekly). On price, ads, device support 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
Both are free to download. Chrono sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Life asks for nothing beyond the download.
Life ships an update weekly, Chrono every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Life | Chrono |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joseph Bertolini | NICHOLAS SALVATORE PUYA |
In-app purchases
Life
No in-app purchases
Chrono
- Chrono-Tithe Pro$4.99








