Comparison

Countdown Widget vs Talklight

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

Head to head
About

Countdown Widget

Track upcoming events or past milestones with customizable countdowns and count-ups. Visualize your time with beautiful widgets and sync across all your Apple devices. Organize events with lists and receive custom notifications.

Highlights
  • Customizable countdown and count-up timers
  • Gorgeous, colorful widgets
  • Unlimited number of timers
  • Repeating timers
  • Calendar event import
  • iCloud sync
  • Custom notifications
Features
Read full description

Countdowns helps you count down to something you're looking forward to, whether that's a wedding, birthday, or new iPhone! Need to count up from it instead? No problem! Designed to be more than a timer app, Countdowns is great for keeping tabs on how long it is until something, or how long it is since it happened. Count up from the last time you had a cigarette and down to your next cookie — if it happened in the past or is happening in the future, Countdowns keeps track of the time so you don't need to. Countdowns can keep your timers running no matter where you are. Available for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, Countdowns can sync your timers between your devices so you're always up to speed. As a free download, Countdowns offers the following features: - Gorgeous, colorful widgets on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. - An unlimited number of countdowns. - Repeating timers which are perfect for birthdays and similar events. - Siri & Shortcuts integrations. - Support for importing events from calendars, reminders, and contacts. - Multiple unit options (days, weeks, etc.) and icons to make your countdown your very own. - Dark mode. - And more! An optional monthly, annual, or one-time in-app purchase unlocks additional features, including: - iCloud support to keep all of your timers in sync across iPhones, iPads, and Macs. - A compact display mode so you can see more timers at once. - Lists so you can more easily organize your timers — put all of your birthday timers in a list, for example. - Directional indicators so you always know whether a timer is counting up or down. - Custom notifications and sounds so you'll never miss a timer again. - Archive function that saves old timers. Countdowns subscriptions can be canceled at any time, but will renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the next payment is due. For more information, see our privacy policy & terms of use: https://www.countdowns-app.com/policies

About

Talklight

Features
Read full description

Talklight keeps every talk on time. Set green, yellow and red at the minutes you choose, give the speaker a screen they can read from the back of the room, and run it from your seat On stage • Three looks: full-screen color, colored digits on black, or color only to use the screen as timing lights. • Counts down or up. After time's up it stays red and counts the overrun as +m:ss. • Tap anywhere to start. The controls fade while the clock runs and the screen stays awake. • A touch lock ignores stray taps on the lectern. • +1 and −1 move the end by a minute, and the color cues move with it. Touch and hold for 10 seconds, 30 seconds or 5 minutes. • A progress bar with a mark at each cue, the time of day and a flash at zero, each of them optional. • A chime or bell and a vibration at each cue. Sound follows the silent switch unless you tell it not to. • A color-blind palette: blue, yellow and orange. Timers • Starts simple with three timers: a club speech, a lightning talk and a conference talk. Templates add evaluations, pitches, sermons and more in one tap. • Add as many of your own as you like, from 5 seconds to 24 hours, each with its own cues, look and sound. • Quick-start lengths from 1 to 20 minutes, any custom length, or a timer that ends at a clock time, such as 8:30. For timekeepers • Qualifying time windows with a grace period, judged in whole seconds: each run is marked qualified, under time or over time. • History keeps every run with the speaker's name and the actual time. • Share the day's timer's report as plain text in one tap, ready to read out at a speech club or paste into the group chat. Control it from your seat • Put an iPad on the lectern as the display and control it from your iPhone: start, pause, add time and move to the next speaker. • The two devices connect to each other directly over Wi-Fi or peer-to-peer, with a four-digit code. No internet, no account, no server. • If the link drops, the display keeps counting and the remote reconnects by itself. • Message the speaker: "Please wrap up", "One minute left" or anything you type, with an optional blink to catch their eye. Run of show • Line up a meeting or a session with a timer and a name for each speaker. • On stage, Next and Previous move through the lineup and "Up next" shows who follows. • Every talk lands in History for the report. On every screen • TV or projector: connect an HDMI adapter or use AirPlay. The big screen shows only the clock while your device keeps the controls. • Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. • Pocket alerts: lock your iPhone and put it away. A time-sensitive notification arrives at each color change, and an Apple Watch turns it into a tap on your wrist. Built to be trusted • Time is measured from the clock, not counted in ticks, so it stays right through rotation, locking and switching apps. A started run even survives the app being closed. • Your timers and history stay on your devices. A second device connects to this one directly, never through a server. Made for speech-club timekeepers, conference and event organizers, AV crews, pastors, teachers, debate coaches and anyone rehearsing a talk. Talklight is free: every feature, no ads, no account, no subscription. If it has kept a talk on time, there is an optional tip jar. Tips unlock nothing.

Screenshots

Countdown Widget4 screens
Talklight4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Talklight at none against Countdown Widget's shown. Talklight also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks). Countdown Widget's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. Countdown Widget sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Talklight sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown Widget ships an update every 2 weeks, Talklight every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Countdown Widget versus Talklight: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdown WidgetTalklight
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.5K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings9.5K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShayes Apps LLCShahriar Ahmed

Bugs and requests

Countdown Widget

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Countdowns not displaying correctly
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow reordering of countdowns
  • Improve recurring event handling
  • Add more customization options
  • Provide full-screen countdown view
  • Implement more notification options

Talklight

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Countdown Widget

Subscriptions2
  • Countdowns Premium7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Countdowns Premium7 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$4.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Unlock$19.99
4 purchases

Talklight

One-time4
  • A thank-you$0.99
  • Coffee$2.99
  • Lunch$4.99
Show 1 more
  • A month on the App Store$9.99

Questions

Is Countdown Widget free?
Countdown Widget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Talklight free?
Talklight is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Countdown Widget or Talklight have ads?
Countdown Widget shows ads; Talklight does not.
Which is updated more often, Countdown Widget or Talklight?
Countdown Widget ships an update every 2 weeks, and Talklight every 4 days. Most recently, Countdown Widget was updated on November 2, 2026 and Talklight on October 9, 2026.

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