Comparison

Plain and Simple Tools vs AppStash

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

Head to head
About

Plain and Simple Tools

Features
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A shelf of small tools, each doing one thing, with nothing attached. This is the one app here that is not about a single thing: a container that gains tools over time. Every tool says what it does, what it will ask you for, and what โ€” if anything โ€” it sends off your phone, before you tap it. Pin the ones you use to the tab bar. A tool you have never opened is never even started, and never asks you for anything. Three ship today. CHARGE โ€” IS THAT CHARGER ANY GOOD? Plug the phone in and leave it a few minutes. Charge times how fast the battery is actually filling and tells you roughly how many watts are arriving, and whether that counts as fast or slow. There is a Lock Screen tile for the last one you tested. It is honest about the figure, which is the part most apps are not. iOS does not tell an app how many watts a charger is delivering โ€” there is no way to ask, and any app showing you an instant number is making it up. Timing the fill is the only method available, it takes a few minutes, and it gets within about a fifth. The app shows that it is still measuring rather than inventing something, and explains the method on the screen. NEGATIVES โ€” FILM, TURNED BACK INTO PHOTOGRAPHS Point the camera at a negative on a lightbox โ€” or let a second phone be the lightbox โ€” or pick one you have already photographed. Colour film, black and white, and slides. A single frame or a whole strip. The conversion happens on your phone, and the result saves straight into your own photo library. STEPS TO HA โ€” YOUR STEP COUNT, ON YOUR OWN DASHBOARD If you run Home Assistant at home, this sends today's step count to it, so you can put it on a dashboard or use it in an automation. It reads your step count from Apple Health, read-only, and never writes anything back. It sends that number to the address you typed in, and nowhere else. There is no account and no server here. Nothing goes to Plain and Simple. Your Home Assistant address and webhook ID are kept in this phone's Keychain, marked device-only, so they are not in iCloud and do not travel to a new phone. If you do not run Home Assistant, this tool has nothing for you โ€” and it stays switched off and silent. PERMISSIONS BELONG TO THE TOOLS, NOT TO THE APP The shell โ€” the shelf, the tab bar, Settings โ€” asks for nothing at all. Health is only requested once you open Steps to HA and choose to connect it. The camera is only ever on while Negatives is the screen you are looking at, or while you are scanning a pairing code, and it explains itself before iPhone asks. Saving a photograph uses the add-only permission, which lets the app put pictures into your library and never lets it see one that is already there. That is the least it could ask for; the cost is that it cannot file its results into an album, and that was accepted rather than asking for more. Tests read the app's own source and fail the build if permission code appears outside a tool, if the app declares a permission that no tool asked for, or if any tool other than Steps to HA gains the ability to reach the network. WHAT IT DOES NOT DO โ€ข No adverts, no purchases, no subscription โ€ข No account, no analytics, no tracking โ€ข One tool sends one number, to one address you chose. Nothing else in the app can reach the network at all, and a test fails the build if that changes โ€ข Nothing downloaded after you install it If none of the three is a job you have, this one has nothing for you yet. The shelf is honest about being short.

About

AppStash

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The App Store is full of apps you downloaded once, forgot, and can't bring yourself to delete โ€” because one day you might need them again. AppStash ends the hesitation. Before you uninstall an app, save it to AppStash with one line of purpose. Your iPhone stays light, and your "maybe later" apps stay findable โ€” not by name (which you'll forget), but by what you need the m for. SAVE IN ONE STEP Share an app's App Store page to AppStash, jot down why you might need it again, done. Icon, link, and metadata are saved automatically. FIND BY PURPOSE, NOT NAME "That app that scans receipts." Search your notes โ€” receipts, trips, moving, tax season โ€” and the app comes right ba ck. Reinstall with one tap. GROUP INTO COLLECTIONS Keep apps in scenes like Business Trips, Moving, or Travel Abroad. One app can live in several collections. YOUR LIBRARY, YOUR DATA Everything stays on your device โ€” no account, no tracking, no servers. Export your archive anytime. Made for spring cleaning your iPhone without the fear of losing track.

Screenshots

Plain and Simple Tools4 screens
AppStash4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Plain and Simple Tools at none against AppStash's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. AppStash sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Plain and Simple Tools asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Plain and Simple Tools ships an update weekly, AppStash every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Plain and Simple Tools versus AppStash: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlain and Simple ToolsAppStash
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size3 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPlain and Simple Solutions LLC้œ‡็ง‘ ็Ž‹

In-app purchases

None

Plain and Simple Tools

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

AppStash

One-time1
  • AppStash Pro$2.99

Questions

Is Plain and Simple Tools free?
Plain and Simple Tools is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AppStash free?
AppStash is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Plain and Simple Tools or AppStash have ads?
Neither Plain and Simple Tools nor AppStash shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Plain and Simple Tools or AppStash?
Plain and Simple Tools ships an update weekly, and AppStash every 4 days. Most recently, Plain and Simple Tools was updated on October 29, 2026 and AppStash on October 26, 2026.

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