Spiral vs Fridge
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spiral
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Smart screen time limits that actually work. You meant to check one thing. Forty minutes later, you're still scrolling. That's the spiral, and willpower alone rarely breaks it. Spiral does it for you. Most screen time apps fail for the same reasons: they block everything all for hours, they're trivial to bypass, or they nag you with reminders you swipe away. Spiral is built differently, it works with you not against to help limit your doomscrolling. Set zones across your day Instead of rigid all-day blocks, Spiral works in zones. Give yourself a 30-minute budget for social apps in the morning. Hard-block everything after 10pm. Leave the afternoon free. Your limits flex around your real life - work, downtime, sleep - instead of fighting it. Pick the apps that pull you in Choose exactly which apps to limit - Instagram, TikTok, X, whatever you find most distracting. Everything else stays untouched. Get a heads-up before you hit the wall Spiral warns you with notifications as you approach your limit, so nothing comes out of nowhere. You stay aware of your time without having to think about it. A real lock, not a speed bump When you hit your limit, Spiral's shield steps in and actually locks the app until your zone ends. No "are you sure?" that you tap straight through. No five-minute snooze that turns into an hour. A limit that holds. Build a streak worth keeping Every day you keep Spiral active builds your streak. The longer it grows, the more you have to lose by turning it off, a simple, powerful reason to stick with it. See how long you can keep Spiral active. Private by design Spiral runs entirely on Apple's Screen Time framework. Your app usage never leaves your phone. No VPN. No proxy. No servers collecting your data. No account required. What you do on your phone stays on your phone. Why Spiral works when others didn't – Zones that match your day instead of blocking everything – Enforcement that actually holds at your limit – 60-second setup, no complicated shortcuts or profiles – Built natively on Apple Screen Time - no hacky workarounds – Designed to step in, not to shame you If you've tried screen time apps before and given up, Spiral is the one built to hold you to it. Download Spiral and break the cycle. Terms of Use: https://spiralapp.io/legal/terms Privacy Policy: https://spiralapp.io/legal/privacy-policy
Fridge
This app places your notes and to-do lists directly on your phone's lock screen, ensuring you never miss important reminders. You can even check off tasks without unlocking your device, and customize the appearance with various designs and pens.
- Lock screen notes
- Checklist functionality
- Customizable designs
- Home screen widgets
- Live Activity integration
- Privacy-focused design
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Put your shopping list or today's to-dos on your lock screen, and tick items off without unlocking your phone. You write things down and still forget them. Fridge puts the note where you cannot miss it: the first thing you see, every single time you pick up your phone. No app to open, no widget to go hunting for. YOUR LOCK SCREEN IS A FRIDGE DOOR That is the surface households already use for the note that must not be missed. Shopping list. Gym bag. Call the dentist. Stick it there and it does its job on its own. TICK THINGS OFF WITHOUT UNLOCKING Tap a checkbox straight from the lock screen. No Face ID, no app launch, and no losing five minutes to social media on the way in. IT DOES NOT DISAPPEAR The big note is a Live Activity, and iOS ends those after about eight hours. Every app in this category runs into that limit. Fridge ships a lock screen widget that never expires. Add it under your clock (setup shows you how, and checks it is there) and your note is always there. Fridge also re-arms the big note every time you open the app, tick a box or edit a line. In the worst case your note gets smaller. It does not vanish. SHARE A LIST WITH FAMILY Share a note through iCloud and the people you invite can add items and tick them off. Every phone shows the same list, lock screen included. Sharing is free; each person needs Fridge and an iCloud account. Drawings and photos stay on your phone. YOU DECIDE WHAT APPEARS WHERE • Live note, Widget only, or Off, in one tap • Hide it in the Dynamic Island, so taps meant for other apps stop landing here • Widget-only mode keeps it off your Apple Watch entirely • Fridge never sends you a notification. Not one. 264 DESIGNS, BUILT FROM THREE CHOICES Pick a paper, pick a sheet, pick a pen. 24 papers (legal pad yellow, kraft, chalkboard, blueprint, ivory, midnight, espresso) times 11 sheet types (plain, ruled, grid, dotted, legal, taped, magnet, pinned, photo corners, bulldog clip, till roll). That is 264 designs, and with 10 pens over the top, 2,640 looks. Three designs are free; Plus unlocks the rest. IT LOOKS HANDWRITTEN, BECAUSE IT IS DRAWN Checkboxes are inked boxes with a real tick through them, not a system glyph. Finished lines get a struck-through stroke that wobbles the way a pen does. Five of the ten pens are genuine handwriting faces, and every line sits on its own slightly uneven baseline. The same note always draws the same way, on the lock screen, in the widget and in the app. DRAW, AND STICK THINGS ON Pen, marker, pencil, and a proper eraser. Drop in a photo and Fridge lifts the subject out of its background automatically, on your phone. Photos stay pinned where you put them, so drawing on top never drags them around. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN TOO Small, medium and large widgets. The medium and large ones are tickable. PRIVATE BY CONSTRUCTION No account. No sign-in. No ads, no tracking: anonymous usage analytics only, and you can switch them off in Settings. Background removal runs on your device. Notes leave your phone only when you share them: a shared note goes through iCloud to the people you invite, and nowhere else. FRIDGE PLUS Try everything free for 7 days with the yearly plan, and cancel before the week ends to pay nothing. Or pay once for lifetime, or subscribe monthly. Plus unlocks all 264 designs, unlimited notes, and removes the small Fridge mark. Everything that makes Fridge work stays free: the lock screen note, the checkboxes, the widgets, sharing, and full control over what appears where. Requires iOS 18. iPhone only. Fridge Plus subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sushilkumar.me/fridge/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Spiral at 16.6 against Fridge's 18.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Spiral sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Fridge sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Spiral | Fridge |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Harry O'Brien | Sushil Kumar |
In-app purchases
Spiral
- Spiral Weekly3 Days trial$4.997 Days
- Spiral Monthly3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Spiral Annual3 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Restore Streak$0.99
Fridge
- Fridge Plus Monthly$4.991 Month
- Fridge Plus Yearly$24.991 Year
- Fridge Plus Lifetime$49.99









