Comparison

Highlights vs Big Day

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

Head to head
About

Highlights

Features
Read full description

Highlights is a minimalist tool that brings together timing, recording, and smart reminders. It keeps only the essentialsβ€”clean design and a smooth experienceβ€”so you can easily record every important moment. Use cases: Love and wedding anniversaries, exam and certification countdowns, birthday and holiday reminders, retirement countdowns, habit building, baby growth tracking, yearly progress and school-year progress tracking... Core features: β€’ Time cards: Supports countdowns, countups, and anniversaries, presenting the passage of time in the most intuitive way. β€’ Smart reminders: Automatically remind you based on key event milestones, so you never miss an important moment. β€’ Journal: Add multiple time entries for each event, turning scattered moments into a complete memory line. β€’ Home screen widgets: Offers multiple sizes of minimalist widgets, so important events are visible at a glance without opening the app. β€’ Personalization: Freely change card backgrounds to create a more atmospheric recording experience. β€’ Cross-device sync: Supports iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with data automatically synced through your personal iCloud for a consistent experience. β€’ Privacy protection: No separate data servers. Everything stays on your device and in your personal iCloud space. Terms of Service: https://smartsilly.com/highlights/ios/terms Privacy Policy: https://smartsilly.com/highlights/ios/privacy

About

Big Day

Features
Read full description

Big Day turns the dates you're excited about into bright, glanceable countdowns you can pin anywhere β€” your Home Screen, Lock Screen, and StandBy. Holidays, birthdays, trips, paydays, due dates, anniversaries β€” add a countdown, give it a colour and an icon, and watch the days tick down (or up) every time you glance at your phone. WHY BIG DAY β€’ Start free β€” create your first countdown and pin it as a widget, no account needed. β€’ Beautiful, brightly-coloured cards that look great on any screen. β€’ The little details other countdown apps get wrong: it says "Today" at zero, handles "1 day" correctly, and uses your local time zone β€” never UTC. WIDGETS, EVERYWHERE β€’ Home Screen widgets in small, medium, and large. β€’ Lock Screen widgets β€” rectangular, circular, and inline. β€’ StandBy support for your nightstand. β€’ Configurable: pick exactly which countdown each widget shows. MAKE IT YOURS β€’ Curated colour palette for every countdown. β€’ Icon and emoji picker. β€’ Widget styles: number, progress ring, progress bar, or photo background. β€’ Adjustable text size and legibility. COUNT DOWN β€” OR UP β€’ Countdowns to future dates, and "days since" counters for the past. β€’ Repeating events β€” annual, monthly, or weekly. β€’ Local reminders as your big day approaches, plus a day-of nudge. TEMPLATES & SHARING β€’ Seasonal and holiday template gallery β€” browse and add in a tap. β€’ Export a shareable countdown card for any event. PRIVATE BY DESIGN β€’ No account, no sign-up, no tracking, no ads. β€’ Your countdowns sync automatically through your own iCloud β€” free, login-less, and only you can see them. We never receive your data. BIG DAY PLUS Unlock the full colour library, photo-background widgets, shareable countdown cards, and unlimited countdowns with a yearly subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Your free countdown and widgets keep working either way. Questions or feedback? Email coraliadigital@icloud.com β€” we read everything. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://katinkia.github.io/big-day/privacy.html

Screenshots

Highlights4 screens
Big Day4 screens

Verdict

The call

Highlights and Big Day are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters β€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them β€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Highlights sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Big Day sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Highlights versus Big Day: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHighlightsBig Day
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeeklyβ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac β€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size13 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmartSilly Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.Coral Rose Page

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Highlights

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Membership$1.991 Month
  • Annual Membership$9.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime Membership$14.99
  • Premium$29.99
2 purchases

Big Day

Subscriptions1
  • Big Day Plus Yearly7 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time1
  • Big Day Plus Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Highlights free?
Highlights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Big Day free?
Big Day is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Highlights or Big Day have ads?
Neither Highlights nor Big Day shows ads.

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