Comparison

Preen Display vs Crest Browser

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

Head to head
About

Preen Display

Transform your iPad into a glanceable display for custom widgets created with simple text commands. Control devices, view feeds, or monitor data directly from your iPhone. Offers local network privacy and optional remote access via subscription.

Highlights
  • AI-powered widget creation via text prompts
  • Live display on iPad
  • Control and view widgets on iPhone
  • Customizable HTML, CSS, JavaScript widgets
  • Local network privacy
  • Optional remote access subscription
Features
Read full description

Preen Display turns an iPad on a stand into a live, glance-able display for widgets you ask for in a sentence. Tell your AI coding agent what you want — a TV remote, a revenue ticker, a security-camera feed — and the free Preen hub for Mac publishes it onto your iPhone. No code, no dashboard builder. Just a sentence. HOW IT WORKS 1. Run the free Preen hub on your Mac (preendisplay.com). 2. Ask your agent for a widget ("Make a power button that turns my Samsung TV on and off"). The hub's bundled MCP server and CLI do the rest. 3. The widget opens on your iPhone. Want a change? Ask your agent to publish an update. Widgets are plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — so you can also write and publish them yourself with the Preen command-line tool. IF YOU CAN SAY IT, YOU CAN GLANCE AT IT • A TV remote — on and off • What's playing right now: one big album art • A live security-camera feed • One-tap buttons for your busiest Slack channels • A focus stopwatch to keep your head down • Today's revenue, in numbers too big to ignore PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account required. By default your phone talks directly to your Mac over your own local network — your widgets and their data stay between your devices. TRY IT WITHOUT A MAC Tap "Preview a widget" on the first screen to see a live demo widget right away. PREEN PLUS (optional subscription) Preen Plus adds remote access: an end-to-end encrypted relay that keeps your display live when you and your Mac aren't on the same network. Terms of Use: https://preendisplay.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://preendisplay.com/privacy

About

Crest Browser

Organize your online life with distinct browsing contexts for work, personal use, and private browsing. Each context has its own tabs, history, and data, ensuring a clean separation of your digital activities.

Highlights
  • Isolated browsing contexts (Spaces)
  • Separate tabs, history, and cookies per Space
  • Customizable Space identity
  • Focused sidebar for tabs and history
  • Peek for temporary link previews
  • Optional iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Work, personal life, and everything between deserve their own Space. Crest is a native browser for iPhone and iPad that keeps your accounts separate, your tabs organized, and your browsing distinctly yours. KEEP YOUR ACCOUNTS SEPARATE Each Space has its own tabs, cookies, website data, history, passwords, and site permissions. Stay signed in to different accounts on the same website. Switch from work to personal browsing without carrying the wrong session with you. GIVE EVERY TAB A PLACE Pin the sites you use every day. Save pages in folders. Keep today's tabs close and completed work in the archive. Select and move tabs, folders, and Split View groups together. On iPhone, bring in the sidebar with a gesture; on iPad, keep it beside your page. MAKE IT YOUR OWN Start from Winter, Lion, or another template in Crest Studio, then choose a color for each part of the crest and the sidebar. Choose a crest, emoji, monogram, or symbol. Appearance settings adjust the window border, sidebar material, tab corners, borders, and default page zoom. KEEP RELATED PAGES TOGETHER Group two to four pages in Split View. On iPad, browse them side by side and resize the columns. On iPhone, swipe across the compact toolbar to move between pages in the group. Peek lets you check supported links without losing your place, then keep the page as a tab when you need it. TOOLS FOR EVERYDAY BROWSING Choose one default search for every Space and another for Private Browsing, or pick one for a single Space. Search from a new tab to find the pages and tabs you use most. Translate webpages on device with Apple's Translation framework. Read supported articles in Reader, find text on a page, adjust zoom, share links, and export pages. Content blocking and site permissions give you control over each Space. Language availability varies, and translation may require a language download. PRIVATE WHEN YOU NEED IT Private Browsing uses temporary website storage. Private tabs stay out of saved history, restoration, archive, and sync. Crest does not run an advertising SDK, collect browsing analytics, or require a Crest account. PICK UP ON ANOTHER DEVICE Optional iCloud sync keeps supported Space and tab organization available across your Apple devices through your private iCloud database. Crest is also available for Mac. Crest is free and open source, built with Apple's WebKit. Requires iOS 26.1 or iPadOS 26.1 or later. Some website features and integrations vary by device.

Screenshots

Preen Display4 screens
Crest Browser4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Preen Display at 5.0 against Crest Browser's 3.9. Preen Display also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.1). Crest Browser's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (14 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Preen Display sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Crest Browser asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Preen Display holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Crest Browser has 14 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Preen Display ships an update weekly, Crest Browser every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Preen Display versus Crest Browser: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPreen DisplayCrest Browser
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better3.9 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews—25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings114 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.1
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB73 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperPink Door Multimedia LLCPaul Davis

Customer experience

Preen Display

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Crest Browser

All ratings11 ratings
Positive63.6%
Neutral18.2%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Preen Display

Subscriptions2
  • Preen Plus (Monthly)7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Preen Plus (Yearly)7 Days trial$17.991 Year
None

Crest Browser

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Preen Display free?
Preen Display is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crest Browser free?
Crest Browser is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Preen Display or Crest Browser?
Preen Display is rated higher. Preen Display averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Crest Browser averages 3.9 from 14 ratings.
Do Preen Display or Crest Browser have ads?
Neither Preen Display nor Crest Browser shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Preen Display or Crest Browser?
Preen Display ships an update weekly, and Crest Browser every 2 weeks. Most recently, Preen Display was updated on October 28, 2026 and Crest Browser on October 29, 2026.

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