StandBy Hub vs ShellMan
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
StandBy Hub
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StandBy Hub turns your iPhone's StandBy mode into a real nightstand display. Clocks, calendar, weather, countdowns and more — on their own or combined into a custom dashboard. For StandBy (iPhone on its side while charging), the Home Screen and the Lock Screen. In small, medium and large. ELEVEN WIDGETS • Clock — digital, analog, pixel art, flip clock, binary • Calendar — your next events, in five views • Weather — temperature with the daily high and low • Battery — charge level as percent, ring, glyph or segments • Moon Phase — the current phase, in real time • Countdown — the days until, or the days since • Water — tap the glasses right in the widget • Mood — one tap a day, with history and streak • Year Progress — bar, ring, dots, months or percent • Photo — your own images • Dashboard — several of the above in a single widget CLOCKS Pick the style that fits you: • Digital — Clean, modern, easy to read • Analog — Timeless round clock face • Pixel Art — 5 playful scenes, free • Flip Clock — Retro split-flap charm (Pro) • Binary — For the geeks among us (Pro) CALENDAR — FIVE VIEWS • Date Block — tear-off date on the left, agenda on the right (free) • Agenda — time column and titles, grouped by day (free) • Timeline — vertical time axis with a colored dot per event (Pro) • Up Next — the next event up front, plus relative time (Pro) • Cards — each event as a card in its calendar color (Pro) COUNTDOWN Count down the days to the big moment — or count up the days since. • Events with date and time • "Days since" mode for anniversaries • Yearly repeat for birthdays & holidays • Live timer on the final day, down to the second • Styles: number and units (d/h/min) free — ring, tally, dots (Pro) • Multiple events with their own background and color (Pro) SMART DASHBOARD Why settle for one widget? Combine clock, calendar, weather, battery, moon phase, photo, countdown, year progress, water and mood into a single one — up to 6 tiles, up to 8 on iPad. • Live builder with drag-and-drop reordering • Save your favorite layouts • Custom design per slot (Pro) • Water and mood stay tappable as tiles (Pro) EIGHT FONTS System and Space Grotesk are free. Pro adds Orbitron, Cinzel, Fraunces, Silkscreen, DotGothic16 and Monoton — from travel-clock dot matrix to neon tube. The font is set per widget, not app-wide. STANDBY PREVIEW Try any widget right inside the app in a landscape nightstand preview — including night mode. MAKE IT YOURS • Eleven backgrounds: Aurora, Lava and Ocean are free — Sunset, Forest, Nebula and five animated effects (Champagne Rise, Bokeh Orbs, Lava Bubbles, Particle Dots, Frosted Bokeh) come with Pro, plus a custom color and your own image • Per-widget accent colors • Colors that shift with the time of day (Pro) • Light & dark theme • English, German & Spanish • Celsius or Fahrenheit PRO — ONE-TIME PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION One purchase unlocks everything: every clock style, every countdown style, the three Pro calendar views, the six Pro fonts, all backgrounds, the battery styles, custom slot designs, time-of-day colors and as many widgets per type as you like. Pay once, keep it forever. No subscription, no renewal. YOUR DATA STAYS WITH YOU No account, no sign-up, no tracking. All data stays on your device. Requires iOS 17 or later.
ShellMan
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ShellMan is the most powerful local-network controller for your Shelly Gen 2, Gen 3, and Gen 4 smart home devices. No cloud. No subscription. Pure local control. Disclaimer: This app is an independent, unofficial third-party tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or in any way connected to Allterco Robotics Ltd. or its subsidiaries. "Shelly®" is a registered trademark of Allterco Robotics Ltd. All product names, logos, and brands mentioned are property of their respective owners and are used solely for identification purposes. This app communicates with devices using their publicly documented, open JSON-RPC 2.0 API. DISCOVER YOUR DEVICES • Auto-discover devices instantly via mDNS — no IP addresses needed • Scan your entire subnet to find every Shelly on your network • Add devices manually by entering their IP address CONTROL EVERYTHING • Turn switches on/off with a single tap • Dim lights to the perfect level • Adjust colour temperature and RGB colour for smart bulbs • Open, close, and position covers and blinds with precision REAL-TIME MONITORING • Live status updates via WebSocket — see your devices react in real time • Energy dashboard with power, voltage, current, and consumption data • Sensor readings: temperature, humidity, flood, smoke, motion, and illuminance MANAGE YOUR DEVICES • View firmware versions and update devices over the air • Batch-update multiple devices at once • Create and manage schedules directly on each device • Reboot or factory-reset devices when needed WORKS WITH YOUR HOME • Full support for password-protected devices (SHA-256 Digest authentication) • Automatic reconnection if a device drops off the network • Dark mode, light mode, and system theme support • Available in English, Deutsch, Français, Español, 䏿–‡, and 日本語 Compatible with all Shelly Gen 2, Gen 3, and Gen 4 devices. Gen 1 devices are not supported.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ShellMan at none against StandBy Hub's 1. ShellMan also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). StandBy Hub's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On price, 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
Both are free to download. StandBy Hub sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ShellMan asks for nothing beyond the download.
StandBy Hub ships an update every 4 days, ShellMan fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 11, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | StandBy Hub | ShellMan |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tom Maier | Lars Roth |
In-app purchases
StandBy Hub
- StandBy Hub Pro$2.99
ShellMan
No in-app purchases









