Comparison

Countdown vs timer.

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

Head to head
About

Countdown

Easily track upcoming events, holidays, and important dates with custom photos and notifications. View your countdowns on your Apple Watch, Mac, or Lock Screen widgets. Share events and enjoy a private, ad-free experience with optional Pro features.

Highlights
  • Add, modify, and view countdowns
  • Customizable photos from library or web
  • Siri integration for easy access
  • Apple Watch and Mac support
  • Widgets for home and lock screens
  • Shareable countdown images
  • Customizable event notifications
Features
Read full description

Countdown is an easy way to keep track of upcoming events, holidays and important dates. Features: • View Countdowns - Add, modify and view countdowns • Past Countdowns - See countdowns from the past including how many days since • Custom Photos - Choose from your photo library or directly from the Web using Flickr • Add to Siri - Easily retrieve any countdown on any device • Apple Watch - View all of your countdowns on your wrist • Widgets - Add widgets to view up to 3 countdowns at once • Lock Screen Widgets - See the next widget directly on the Lock Screen (iOS 16 or later only) • Share - Countdowns can be shared as an image to any social media platform • Notifications - Receive notifications before the countdown with custom settings for how many days before • Full OS Support - Dark Mode, Drag & Drop, Split Screen, VoiceOver and much more • Privacy - No data is ever stored outside of your device and with no tracking or analytics • Pay Once - No ads or subscriptions, just regular free updates with Countdown Pro Countdown Pro unlocks the ability to add more than one countdown, archived countdowns, full widget support, app icons and much more for one low cost in app purchase. Available for iPhone, iPad & Apple Watch. Also available for Mac included with your purchase.

About

timer.

Manage multiple countdown timers simultaneously with this intuitive app. Set custom names, sounds, and even use your own music for alarms. Access timers easily via widgets, Apple Watch, and Live Activities.

Highlights
  • Multiple simultaneous timers
  • Customizable names and alarm sounds
  • Background timer operation
  • Widget and Apple Watch access
  • Live Activities with Play/Pause
  • Siri Shortcuts support
  • Dark Mode and themes
Features
Read full description

timer. is a simple and easy too use countdown timer. You are able to run several timers at the same time. The timers can be paused / resumed by the user and still run in background. Also you are able to define a sound or name. With the timer. widget and Apple Watch app you have quick and easy access to your last created timer. Features: - Several timers at the same time - Save timer - Edit and reorder existing timers - Siri Shortcuts support - Define timer name and alarm sound - Define an unlimited amount of timers - Timers still run in backround - Choose different alarms for notification and In-App - Choose from your favorite music for In-App alarm from your locally stored Apple Music or iTunes Music files - Widget for easy access the last created timer - Filter for running timers - Full access to timers from widget - Apple Watch app to view last created timer - More than 30 different alarm sounds - Choose between 16 modern themes for App and Widget - Dark Mode - Live Activities with Play / Pause - Dynamic Island Support with Play / Pause - Home Screen Widgets with Play / Pause For feedback or feature requests visit us on twitter: https://twitter.com/timer_2018 Please note for devices which run iOS 18 or older: The mute switch should not be active when the app is in background. Finished timers are not notified with an alarm sound. This is a limitation of iOS 18 or older. If the app is running in foreground, the alarm sounds are also played when the mute switch is active.

Screenshots

Countdown4 screens
timer.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Countdown at fortnightly against timer.'s every 3 months. Countdown also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.3). timer.'s advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and timer. sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Countdown holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 162 and 170 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Countdown's written reviews are positive against 63% of timer.'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Countdown ships an update fortnightly, timer. every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 7, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Countdown versus timer.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCountdowntimer.
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (162 ratings) — better4.3 (170 ratings)
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews — better63.5% of reviews
Number of ratings162170 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch
Requires iOS16.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB39 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperRob SammonsTobias Hauss

Customer experience

Countdown

All ratings162 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%

timer.

All ratings170 ratings
Positive81.2%
Neutral4.7%
Negative14.1%
Written reviews63 reviews
Positive63.5%
Neutral12.7%
Negative23.8%

User reviews

Countdown

From 162 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 🖼️ Customizable background images
  • ✨ Clean and elegant design
  • 🚀 Fast and reliable performance
  • 💰 Good value for one-time purchase

Room to improve

  • 💰 App became paid/premium required
  • 🖼️ Widget customization limitations
  • ⏳ Date selector can be cumbersome
  • 📸 Photo cropping/zooming issues
  • 🚫 Limited free features

timer.

From 170 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great widget functionality
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive UI
  • 👍 Useful for multiple timers
  • 👍 Good integration with Dynamic Island
  • 👍 Fast and responsive

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Widget opens app unexpectedly
  • 🐛 Apple Watch control limitations
  • 🐛 Timer data loss issues
  • 🐛 Widget display issues
  • 🐛 No sound in silent mode

Bugs and requests

Countdown

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • 🐛 Cannot add more than two countdowns
  • 🐛 Widget colors "washing out"
  • 🐛 Incorrect countdowns
  • 🐛 Countdown data disappeared
  • 🐛 Keyboard shows up and won't go away
Show 4 more
  • 🐛 Cannot add new photo from Camera Roll when editing
  • 🐛 Photos too zoomed in and blurry
  • 🐛 Widget not showing minutes/seconds
  • 🐛 Event title shows, but no countdown

Requested features

13 requests
  • Recurring event option
  • Ability to crop images
  • Import calendar events
  • Integration with Google/iCloud calendars
  • Option to show more than one goal in a large widget
Show 8 more
  • Pop-up alerts at event start
  • Pin to menu bar or screen
  • Use past countdowns to see days passed
  • Option to display time or just days
  • Year ticker
  • Jump ahead by years in date selector
  • Show full pictures within the app
  • Support for Apple Watch

timer.

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Widget opens the app when interacted with
  • Timers disappear or are lost
  • Watch app sync issues
  • Widget buttons overlap or are unreadable
  • App remains on Dynamic Island after closing
Show 5 more
  • Banner in notification center is unreadable
  • Live activity obscures status bar elements
  • App closes immediately upon opening
  • Purchases not restoring or working correctly
  • Custom timers and widgets disappear

Requested features

14 requests
  • Make widgets smaller and show only clicked timer
  • Allow Apple Watch to select and restart specific times
  • Add option to dynamically set timer from Shortcuts
  • Add option for timers to repeatedly loop
  • Option to hide seconds in Dynamic Island
Show 9 more
  • Redesign lock screen widget to remove alarm sound name
  • Show progress bar/circle on timer icon in live activity
  • Allow typing timer values instead of only wheel pickers
  • Add stopwatch function
  • Allow setting custom vibrate patterns
  • Make timer setting area larger for easier use
  • Separate page for created alarms
  • Option to play music from Apple Music library for alarms
  • Slower animation for swipe to show/hide create menu

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Countdown

One-time1
  • Countdown Pro$1.99
5 purchases

timer.

One-time5
  • Themes for timer.$0.99
  • iTunes Music as In-App Alarm$0.99
  • Edit All Widget Details$0.99
Show 2 more
  • Edit & Reorder Existing Timer$1.99
  • PRO (Bundle) - All Features$6.99

Questions

Is Countdown free?
Countdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is timer. free?
timer. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Countdown or timer.?
Countdown is rated higher. Countdown averages 4.6 out of 5 from 162 ratings, while timer. averages 4.3 from 170 ratings.
Do Countdown or timer. have ads?
Neither Countdown nor timer. shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Countdown or timer.?
Countdown ships an update fortnightly, and timer. every 3 months. Most recently, Countdown was updated on October 7, 2026 and timer. on October 7, 2026.

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