Simmer vs Virtual
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Simmer
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Tired of scrolling through life stories, pop-ups, and ads just to find a recipe? Simmer extracts the recipe from any website and saves it to your personal, clutter-free library. SAVE RECIPES IN SECONDS Paste a recipe URL or share it directly from Safari β Simmer automatically extracts the title, ingredients, steps, cook times, and photo. No account needed, no sign-up required. HANDS-FREE COOKING MODE Enter full-screen cooking mode with large, easy-to-read step cards. Swipe through steps while your hands are covered in flour. Turn on auto-speak and let your phone read each step aloud using natural-sounding iOS voices. SMART QUANTITY ADJUSTMENT Cooking for more or fewer people? Tap a multiplier and every ingredient quantity updates instantly. Fractions stay clean and readable β "1 Β½ cups" not "1.5 cups." READ STEPS ALOUD Tap the speaker icon on any step to hear it read aloud. Simmer intelligently pronounces fractions, temperatures, and abbreviations so "Β½ tsp" becomes "one half teaspoon" and "350Β°F" becomes "350 degrees Fahrenheit." YOUR RECIPES, YOUR DEVICE All recipes are stored locally on your device. No cloud accounts, no tracking, no data collection. Your recipes stay private. ADD FAMILY RECIPES BY HAND Not every great recipe lives on a website. Use manual entry to type in grandma's secret recipe with ingredients, steps, and cook times. FEATURES β’ Extract recipes from any website with one tap β’ Share directly from Safari, Chrome, or any browser β’ Full-screen cooking mode with swipe navigation β’ Text-to-speech with natural iOS voices β’ Auto-speak mode for truly hands-free cooking β’ Adjust servings β all quantities scale instantly β’ Search your recipe library β’ Favorite your best recipes β’ Dark mode support β’ Works on iPhone and iPad β’ No account required
Virtual
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VirtualFridge helps you keep track of the food you already have, see what needs using soon, and turn expiring ingredients into simple meal ideas. Add items to your fridge, freezer, or pantry, track expiry dates, and quickly see what is fresh, due soon, or expired. Use it for everyday groceries, leftovers, pantry staples, freezer items, and ingredients you want to use before they expire.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Simmer at none against Virtual's 3. Simmer also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Virtual sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Simmer asks for nothing beyond the download.
Simmer ships an update every 5 days, Virtual fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Simmer | Virtual |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days β better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No β better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod β better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 β better | 18.6 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 82 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Parent-AI LLC | Thomas Richardson |
In-app purchases
Simmer
No in-app purchases
Virtual
- Premium Monthly$1.991 Month
- Premium Yearly$9.991 Year
- Bring Your Own OpenAI KeyFree









