Countdown vs Whenish
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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Countdown is an easy, beautiful way to keep track of upcoming events, holidays and important dates. Features: • Upcoming Countdowns — Add, edit and view all your important events • Natural-Language Creation — Quickly create countdowns using phrases such as “Holiday next Friday at 6pm” • Past Countdowns — Revisit previous events and see how much time has passed • Repeat and Duplicate — Reuse archived countdowns for annual or similar events • Custom Images — Choose a photo, search the web, generate an image with Image Playground or select a colour • Siri Shortcuts — Create, find and interact with countdowns using Siri and the Shortcuts app • Apple Watch — View your countdowns directly from your wrist • Customisable Widgets — Display your latest countdowns or choose a specific countdown • Lock Screen Widgets — Keep your next countdown visible from the Lock Screen • Archive Widgets — View previous countdowns and memorable events • Control Centre — Open Countdown quickly from Control Centre • Flexible Reminders — Receive notifications at the event time, one day, one week or one month beforehand • Sharing — Share beautifully generated countdown images with friends or on social media • Full OS Support — Designed for Dark Mode, rotation, resizable layouts, Split View, Drag and Drop, VoiceOver and the latest Apple devices • Private by Design — Your countdowns are stored on your devices and synced securely through your personal iCloud account, with no tracking or analytics • Pay Once — No advertisements or subscriptions, with regular free updates for Countdown Pro Countdown Pro unlocks unlimited countdowns, archived countdowns, full widget support, alternative app icons and much more with one affordable in-app purchase. Available for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Also available on Mac with your purchase.
Whenish
Simplify group scheduling by creating polls for dates and times directly within your messaging app. Let participants vote on their availability to quickly find the best time for any event, eliminating back-and-forth communication.
- Create polls within Messages
- Share dates and times easily
- Group voting on availability
- Quickly lock in plans
- Streamlined group coordination
- Supports various event types
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Stop the endless “what day works?” texts. Whenish makes it easy to plan with friends, family, coworkers, and groups directly inside Messages. Create a poll, share dates and times, and let everyone vote on what works best — without switching apps or dealing with messy group chat back-and-forth. Perfect for: • Dinner plans • Weekend trips • Golf tee times • Fantasy football drafts • Birthday parties • Happy hours • Game nights • Team meetups • Study groups • Family events How It Works Create a poll in seconds Share it in iMessage Everyone votes on dates and times Pick the best option and lock in plans Why People Use Whenish • Built for iMessage • Fast and simple to use • No endless texting • Great for groups of any size • Easy date and time voting • Clean, lightweight experience Whether you're trying to coordinate a dinner with friends or schedule a trip with a large group, Whenish helps you find a date everyone can agree on — fast. Download Whenish and make planning easier.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Countdown at weekly against Whenish's monthly. Countdown also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (162 vs 17). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Countdown sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Whenish sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Countdown holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown has 162 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 70% and 70% positive.
Countdown ships an update weekly, Whenish monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Countdown | Whenish |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (162 ratings) — better | 4.3 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 70.0% of reviews | 70.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 162 — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 39 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rob Sammons | CommonGroundTech, LLC |
Customer experience
Countdown
Whenish
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
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- 🐛 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
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- 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
Whenish
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Countdown
- Countdown Pro$1.99
Whenish
- Whenish Premium$4.99
Questions
Is Countdown free?
Is Whenish free?
Which has better reviews, Countdown or Whenish?
Do Countdown or Whenish have ads?
Which is updated more often, Countdown or Whenish?
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