Comparison

HCA vs Any Text · Widgets

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

Head to head
About

HCA

Control your home's lighting, thermostat, and automation devices remotely. Monitor sensors, trigger programs, and manage keypads. Uses geofencing for automated actions when entering or leaving areas.

Highlights
  • Remote device control
  • Sensor status monitoring
  • Program execution
  • Keypad control
  • Geofencing automation
  • Log viewing and filtering
  • Custom icon synchronization
Features
Read full description

HCA is a companion app for the Home Control Assistant Server desktop application. It is a client that connects to your HCA Server home automation system over WiFi or Cell network. I have no affiliation with the makers of HCA Server - I'm just a user providing this app for free to people who already own HCA Server. With this app, you can: - Control your home lighting, thermostat and other automation devices remotely. - Check on the status of motion and door/window sensors and your alarm system. - Trigger the execution of HCA programs to expand your remote automation capability. - Control the keypads throughout your home. - Use GeoFences to cause an HCA program to execute when entering/leaving an area. - View the HCA log and filters - Synchronize your custom icons from the HCA server to the app. - View your custom HTML pages generated by the HCA Server - Much, Much more! NOTE: For geofences, the users location is NEVER transmitted to the server or anywhere else outside of the app. It is used only by iOS to track the geofence. The app only sends the user-supplied name of the geofence to the server. For a video showing how to setup and use the app, see here: Part 1: https://youtu.be/IRWOgmouC_c Part 2: https://youtu.be/-On3jNJHW6M Please provide feedback on what features you would like to see implemented next! *** Please give us a rating in the app store ***

About

Any Text · Widgets

Display any text on your Lock or Home Screen to keep important notes, goals, or tasks visible. Customize text with Markdown and utilize 20 different widgets. Integrates with Shortcuts for powerful automations and syncs across devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Customizable text widgets
  • Lock Screen and Home Screen support
  • Markdown styling (bold, italic, strikethrough)
  • Live Activity and StandBy support
  • iCloud device syncing
  • Shortcuts app integration
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Put any kind of text on your Lock Screen or Home Screen so you won't miss it. It could be an important note, your goal, a list of tasks, etc. It also supports Live Activity and StandBy. The app includes 20 widgets that lets you put different text on different Lock Screen configurations or Home Screen. You can style parts of the text bold, italic, or strikethrough using Markdown. Syncs seamlessly across your devices with iCloud. Simply tap the widget to open the app to edit the text. ■ Shortcuts The app is scriptable through the Shortcuts app, enabling a lot of powerful use-cases. For example, you could use an automation to change the text at a certain point in the day or at certain places. The only limit is your creativity. ■ Support You can contact me through the feedback button in the app.

Screenshots

HCA3 screens
Any Text · Widgets3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: HCA at Free against Any Text · Widgets's $4.00. HCA also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). Any Text · Widgets's advantage is ratings volume (450 vs 6) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

HCA is free to download; Any Text · Widgets costs $4.00 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for HCA against 4.6 for Any Text · Widgets. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Any Text · Widgets has 450 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of HCA's written reviews are positive against 82% of Any Text · Widgets's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HCA ships an update every 4 months, Any Text · Widgets every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 8, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
HCA versus Any Text · Widgets: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHCAAny Text · Widgets
PriceFree — better$4.00
Rating4.7 (6 ratings) — better4.6 (450 ratings)
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews81.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6450 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank—#72 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS12.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdvanced Quonset Technology, IncSindre Sorhus

Customer experience

HCA

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

Any Text · Widgets

All ratings450 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral4.0%
Negative7.6%
Written reviews138 reviews
Positive81.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative14.5%

Bugs and requests

HCA

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Any Text · Widgets

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Widget not showing on Lock Screen
  • Text not updating in a timely manner
  • Force show when locked doesn't work

Requested features

6 requests
  • Allow alternating/rotating text
  • Add custom font support
  • Provide full-width widget options
  • Add custom widget background colors
  • Enable editing widgets directly
Show 1 more
  • Add Apple Watch widget support

In-app purchases

None

HCA

No in-app purchases

None

Any Text · Widgets

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HCA free?
HCA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Any Text · Widgets free?
Any Text · Widgets costs $4.00, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HCA or Any Text · Widgets?
HCA is rated higher. HCA averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Any Text · Widgets averages 4.6 from 450 ratings.
Do HCA or Any Text · Widgets have ads?
Neither HCA nor Any Text · Widgets shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HCA or Any Text · Widgets?
HCA ships an update every 4 months, and Any Text · Widgets every 6 weeks. Most recently, HCA was updated on June 8, 2026 and Any Text · Widgets on September 29, 2026.

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