Comparison

Control vs Place That Thought

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

Head to head
About

Control

Consolidate your daily trackers, planners, and reminders into a single, elegant app. Monitor habits, budgets, fitness, and more directly from your Home Screen, Lock Screen, or Live Activities. Enjoy a private experience with all data stored locally and synced via iCloud.

Highlights
  • 20+ customizable iOS widgets
  • Track habits, budget, fitness, and more
  • Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Live Activities support
  • Private data storage on device
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • No sign-ups or dark patterns
Features
Read full description

Your Home Screen, redesigned. Control is a library of 20+ beautifully crafted iOS widgets - every tracker, planner, and reminder you actually use, gathered in one app. Habits, budget, fitness, medication, birthdays, travel, and much more, all glanceable from your Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Live Activities. No more juggling ten single-purpose apps. No sign-ups, no dark patterns. - TRACK EVERYTHING - • Habits - daily routines, streaks, goals • Budget - spending, savings, monthly limits • Subscriptions - see exactly what's recurring and when • Portfolio - track your investments • Debt - loans and credit cards, payoff progress • Currency - live exchange rates between any two currencies • Fitness - steps, workouts, calories burned via Apple Health • Calories - daily intake, weight goals • Period - cycle tracking with predictions • Medication - dose reminders for every prescription • Birthdays - pulled from Contacts, never forget another one • Books - what you're reading, with auto-fetched covers • Movies - your watchlist with poster art • Pets - feeding, walks, vet visits • Vehicle - mileage, services, fuel logs • Hotel & Travel - live check-out countdowns and trip dashboards • Past Trips - a souvenir of where you've been • Food Expiration - what's in your fridge and when it spoils • Game Tracker - leaderboards plus a multi-touch player picker • Speedometer - live drive sessions • Clipboard - quick-paste from history • To-do - checklists that sync across devices • Quit Tracker - sober days, money saved, life regained - PRIVATE BY DEFAULT - Everything is stored on your device and synced privately through your own iCloud account. No external servers. No tracking. No analytics SDKs. Your habits, finances, and reminders are yours. Control is built for people who want their Home Screen to do something useful. - Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Place That Thought

Never forget a task again with persistent reminders that appear on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. This app uses emojis to help you remember, with optional voice input for creating new reminders.

Highlights
  • Lock Screen reminders
  • Dynamic Island integration
  • Emoji prompts
  • Voice-activated nudges (Pro)
  • Customizable nudge grid
  • Stats and streaks
  • Daily nudges and routines (Pro)
Features
Read full description

A note-to-self you can't miss. Think of it as a string around your finger for the things you keep forgetting: change the light bulb, make that call, pick up a new roll of… paper towels. Pick an emoji to jog your memory. Place That Thought puts it on your Lock Screen and in your Dynamic Island, so every glance at your phone reminds you until you do the thing. HOW IT WORKS • The app opens to a grid of your go-to nudges. One tap starts one. • Close the app. The nudge stays on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island until you're done. • Just in case, you'll get a notification two minutes later to help it stick. • When you're done, tap Done. No need to open the app again. NUDGE FROM ANYWHERE Start a nudge without opening the app, from a Lock Screen widget, Control Center, the Action Button or Siri. MAKE IT YOURS • Make your first nudge right away, then use Edit grid to swap the starter nudges for your own, with any emoji, even the weird ones. • Pick a theme to recolor the whole app. DAILY NUDGES Pick a nudge and a time, and it starts on its own every day. Free. STATS See how long your nudges take, plus any streaks. SAY IT (PRO) If a nudge isn't on your grid, say it out loud ("take the lasagna out of the oven") and the app picks the emoji and label for you. It works on every device, and Apple Intelligence makes the pick even better where it's available. PRO • All 9 grid slots. • Say It. • Every theme. • ROUTINES: Save a list of nudges, like your morning, and do them one after another. Schedule one to start at the same time every day. • UP NEXT: Start a new nudge without losing the current one. Pro is a one-time purchase. No subscription. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account and no ads. Your nudges stay on your device. A reminder app shouldn't need your email.

Screenshots

Control4 screens
Place That Thought4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Place That Thought at 5.0 against Control's 4.5. Place That Thought also leads on iOS requirement (18.2 vs 26.2). Control's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Control sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Place That Thought sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Place That Thought holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Control ships an update every 6 days, Place That Thought every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Control versus Place That Thought: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterControlPlace That Thought
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS26.218.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlex Patrick PalaceanUp One Story

Customer experience

Control

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Place That Thought

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Control

One-time1
  • Control Lifetime$9.99
1 purchases

Place That Thought

One-time1
  • Place That Though Pro: Lifetime$2.99

Questions

Is Control free?
Control is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Place That Thought free?
Place That Thought is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Control or Place That Thought?
Place That Thought is rated higher. Control averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Place That Thought averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Control or Place That Thought have ads?
Neither Control nor Place That Thought shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Control or Place That Thought?
Control ships an update every 6 days, and Place That Thought every 5 days. Most recently, Control was updated on October 24, 2026 and Place That Thought on October 28, 2026.

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