REF! vs Halfline
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
REF!
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REF! is the ultimate app for football referees. Create the match, invite your trio, run it from your watch and fill in the match report on your federation's intranet without leaving the app. No paper, no hassle. BEFORE THE MATCH - Create the match with teams, category, pitch, date and time. - Save your teams with crest, colours and short name, and your usual pitches. - Match and travel fees by category, editable for each match. - Choose whether you're the referee or an assistant. - History for each team: how often you've refereed them and how it went. - Countdown to your next match in the widget, the Live Activity and on your watch face. - A calendar event, created automatically. ON THE PITCH, FROM YOUR APPLE WATCH - Timer by periods: set how many, how long and how long the break is. - Haptic alert when time is up and when the break runs over. - Added time: enter the minutes announced and the watch tells you when they run out. - Choose who kicks off at the start of each period. - Goals with one gesture and the scorer's number; stoppage time is logged like a match report: 45+2. - Yellow and red cards to players and team officials, with second yellows handled for you. - The reason for each card: reckless, promising attack, serious foul play, violent conduct… - Substitutions in the order you write them down, at half-time too. - Substitution windows: how many stoppages each team has used to make changes. - Events view for each team: you choose whether to see goals, cards or substitutions. - Match summary on your wrist at the final whistle. - Tournament mode: create and run matches on the watch itself, with their own times and fees. - If the app closes, the match picks up where you left it. AFTER THE MATCH - Fill in the match report: one tap takes you to your reports on the RFEF or regional federation intranet. - The full report in the app: goals, cards with their reason and substitutions, each with its minute. - Distance covered, per half too, sprints, top speed, heart rate, calories and steps. - Heat map of your position over the real image of the pitch, in satellite or pitch view. - Effort zones calculated from your real maximum heart rate, read from Apple Health. - The match is saved to Apple Health like any other workout. YOUR SEASON - Statistics by season or date range, as referee and as assistant. - History of teams, categories and pitches. FEES - Paid and pending for the season, by category and by month, with match and travel fees kept separate. - Annual PDF and CSV report, for your committee or your tax return. - Mark matches as paid one by one or all at once. WITH YOUR TRIO - Add other referees as friends by name or @alias and invite them to your matches. - The match syncs in real time between the three of you. - Combined heat map and statistics for the whole refereeing team. - Profile with avatar and alias, plus blocking and reporting. AND ALSO - Your federation's intranet one tap away from Home; your password never goes through REF!. - Everything synced with iCloud between iPhone and Apple Watch. - Exportable and importable backup. - Works without signal: whatever you record on the pitch is sent as soon as you're back online. - Match reminders, tutorials and a suggestion box. REF! PRO Refereeing with REF! is free, with no match limit: timer, goals, cards and substitutions from the watch, match metrics and effort zones. REF! PRO unlocks the heat map, statistics across all seasons and by date range, fee reports, friends and shared matches, tournament mode, substitution windows and card reasons. €2.99/month or €16.99/year, with the first month free on the annual plan. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. You can manage it in your Apple ID settings. Terms of use (EULA): https://therefapp.es/en/terms.html Privacy policy: https://therefapp.es/en/privacy.html
Halfline
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Referee the match from your wrist. Halfline runs the whole game on your Apple Watch — the clock, the score, the cards, the substitutions — and your iPhone writes it all up afterwards. Leave the phone in your bag. The watch doesn't need it. ON THE PITCH — YOUR APPLE WATCH • A clock that never stops. Tap once to count a stoppage; the match clock keeps running, the way the Laws intend. • Score in one tap. Press and hold a score button to take a goal back. • Yellow, red and second yellow, each with the official USSF send-off codes. Team officials too. • Substitutions, penalties and own goals in a couple of taps. • Undo anything. The match log keeps every decision and puts it back if you change your mind. • Buzzes you can feel through gloves: five minutes left, one minute left, time up, half-time. • Added time on the Digital Crown. • Rain mode locks the screen so the weather can't referee for you. • Everything is saved on the watch as it happens. Your iPhone can stay in the car. AFTER THE WHISTLE — YOUR IPHONE • The full match written up: score, cards, substitutions, minute by minute. • A match report as a PDF or CSV, ready to send to your assignor. • Your season in numbers: matches, cards, distance, fees. • Assignr: import your assignments, accept or decline them, see the crew and your licences. • Distance, heart rate and calories from every match. • Back up and restore everything, so a new phone never costs you a match. SEE WHERE YOU RAN Your watch already knows where you were. Halfline turns it into the picture of your own game: • A heat map of the ground you actually covered • Route, zones and a satellite map of the pitch • Sprints over 20 km/h, top speed, and your first half against your second • For every match you have refereed APPLE HEALTH With your permission, Halfline saves each match as a workout in the Health app and reads your heart rate, active energy and distance to put them on your match report. It is optional, and the data stays on your own devices. WHAT YOU NEED An iPhone and an Apple Watch. The watch app runs on its own — it doesn't need your iPhone nearby, and it doesn't need a signal. Terms of Use: https://halfline.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://halfline.app/privacy halfline.app · hello@halfline.app
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Halfline at none against REF!'s 2. Halfline also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). 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. REF! sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Halfline asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | REF! | Halfline |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Weekly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 70 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Rodrigo Vicente Valmorisco | Can Garip |
In-app purchases
REF!
- REF! PRO Monthly$2.991 Month
- REF! PRO Yearly$14.991 Year
Halfline
No in-app purchases









