Brilliant Display vs Couchside
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Brilliant Display
Manage your card collection, create shopping lists, and build decks for your favorite card game. Access a community deck library and use it as an on-table reference. Track your game statistics with opt-in data contribution.
- Track card collection
- Create shopping lists
- Build and save decks
- View community decks
- On-table turn reference
- Track game statistics
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Welcome to Brilliant Display! This app was written to give you an easy on-the-go way to think about your next games of Ashes! * Track your collection! * Send your loved ones a shopping list of the parts you are missing! * See all the cards! * Build a deck and save it to Ashes.live! * See the latest community decks! * Keep it handy as an on-table turn reference guide! * Track your games, and contribute sanitized data to the global stat tracker! At Earth-Luna, we strive to make our apps in a way that respects your humanity, so we require you to opt in for global statistics, we do not track you from the app if you do not manually opt in, and any data we do recieve is sanitized - I cannot tell who you are from the data you send. I cannot even see the name of the deck you played. We also test our apps with VoiceOver, to make them as accessible as possible.
Couchside
Transform your iPhone into a remote console, game launcher, and controller for your Linux gaming PC. Monitor system health, fix issues without a keyboard, and launch games directly from your couch.
- Live system monitoring dashboard
- One-tap runbook actions for troubleshooting
- Browse system logs remotely
- Launch Steam games and custom applications
- Virtual Xbox 360 game controller
- Trackpad and swipe control modes
- Easy QR code pairing
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Couchside turns your iPhone into a dashboard, remote, game launcher and controller for your living-room Linux gaming PC: SteamOS, Bazzite, a docked Steam Deck, or another supported systemd Linux box. WHAT TO PLAY NEXT Find your next game with suggestions from your box’s game history. See what is running, choose another suggestion, and launch after confirming. The Play tab keeps recent content ready as you move between tabs. Optional demo mode lets you explore sample games away from your box. YOUR STEAM COMPANION Connect Steam on your box for profile and library stats, playtime trends, achievement progress, wishlist discounts and price-drop alerts. Add an optional IsThereAnyDeal integration for historical-low price comparisons. These opt-in features contact Steam and IsThereAnyDeal. Background wishlist notifications are best-effort and need your phone to reach the box. LIVE CONSOLE Check CPU temperature, load, memory, storage, uptime and service health. Supported handhelds also show battery and power information. See what is playing and manage multiple boxes from unified cards with live vitals and connection controls. When the TV is black, inspect the box from your phone. FIX IT FROM THE COUCH Read recent service logs, restart the display session, switch between Desktop and Game Mode, or reboot and shut down with confirmation. Available actions depend on your box’s capabilities and permissions. GAMES, STREAMING AND CONTROLS Browse installed games with cover art, search and filters. Launch a game on the TV or start Steam Remote Play from another PC. Use a virtual gamepad, swipe navigation, trackpad with two-finger gestures, or keyboard input. Landscape controls give you more room when you need it. TV AND LIGHTING Control power, volume and input on supported TVs, including compatible LG and Google TV models. Compatible HDMI-CEC hardware lets the box control the TV. On supported lighting hardware, adjust strip effects, reactive meters and artwork-inspired Game Aura presets. Create custom sequences with frame-by-frame timing and true on/off strobe effects. EASY PAIRING A welcome guide introduces Couchside and optional integrations. Install the free Couchside service on your box, then scan its QR code or enter its pairing PIN. Refined animations can be turned off in Preferences and respect Reduce Motion. Your phone and box must be on the same local network. WAKE FROM THE COUCH Wake supported Ethernet-connected boxes with progress and reconnection confirmation. On iPhone, waking may require another awake Couchside box on the same network to relay the request. Hardware, firmware and network settings must support Wake-on-LAN. PRIVATE LOCAL CONTROL Remote-control traffic stays on your local network, with no cloud relay or Couchside account. Pairing supports an encrypted, pinned connection. Optional online features, store purchases and update checks contact their respective services. No analytics. The Linux service is open source and the app is source-available. TRY FREE FOR 7 DAYS, PAY ONCE Download free and try the full app for 7 days. A one-time purchase unlocks continued use; there is no subscription. Existing unlocks carry forward. REQUIREMENTS • A supported Linux gaming box on your home network • The free Couchside service installed on that box • Your iPhone and box on the same LAN • Optional integrations and hardware for Steam account features, TV control and lighting
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Brilliant Display at none against Couchside's 1. Couchside's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly) and ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, rating, ads 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
Both are free to download. Couchside sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Brilliant Display asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Brilliant Display against 5.0 for Couchside. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Couchside has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Brilliant Display ships an update weekly, Couchside every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Brilliant Display | Couchside |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 8 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 57 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nabil Alanbar | Taylor Emery |
In-app purchases
Brilliant Display
No in-app purchases
Couchside
- Couchside Forever Unlock$4.99
Questions
Is Brilliant Display free?
Is Couchside free?
Which has better reviews, Brilliant Display or Couchside?
Do Brilliant Display or Couchside have ads?
Which is updated more often, Brilliant Display or Couchside?
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