Comparison

Watch Chess vs Chess Call

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

Head to head
About

Watch Chess

Experience the next generation of chess broadcasting with this app, designed for mobile and Apple Watch. Follow live and recent Grandmaster tournaments, get real-time notifications on game results, and analyze games with an engine. Watch multiple games simultaneously with an intuitive interface.

Highlights
  • Live Grandmaster chess tournaments
  • Real-time game notifications
  • Optimized mobile and Apple Watch experience
  • Watch multiple games simultaneously
  • Swipe navigation for moves
  • Real-time engine analysis (PRO)
Features
Read full description

Watch Chess is built for following the world's top chess tournaments live. Keep up with every game and know when the position turns critical—even from your Lock Screen. FOLLOW TOURNAMENTS LIVE • Browse live and recent top-level tournaments. • Move through every game with a simple swipe. • Follow several boards at once. • Check pairings, standings, results, and real-time clocks. NEVER MISS THE MOMENT • Choose alerts for round starts and game results. • Get highlighted-moment alerts for blunders, brilliant moves, forced mates, time pressure, and hard-to-find moves. LIVE ACTIVITIES Follow a live game from the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, with the board, last move, and clocks updating as the action unfolds. STOCKFISH 19 GAME REPORTS Review a completed game with Stockfish 19. See accuracy and move quality, find critical turning points, and understand where the game changed. APPLE WATCH Follow tournaments and games from your wrist with a dedicated Apple Watch experience. Have questions or feedback? Email info@watchchessapp.com or find us at @watch_chess. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Terms of Service: https://watchchess.app/tos.html. Privacy Policy: https://watchchess.app/privacy.html.

About

Chess Call

Features
Read full description

ChessCall is the easy way to play chess with the people you already know. It works like a chat app: pick a contact, send them a link, and once they join you play a real game of chess while messaging back and forth with text and voice. CHALLENGE YOUR CONTACTS Start a chat with anyone in your contacts and challenge them to chess. They tap your invite link and you're playing, no usernames, no sign-ups, just your Apple devices and iCloud. A REAL GAME, WITH A CLOCK Full chess rules, castling, en passant, promotion, check and checkmate, plus a proper chess clock. Choose 3, 5, or 10 minutes, or play with no clock at all. CHAT WHILE YOU PLAY Send text and voice messages right inside the game. Voice notes can play automatically so you never miss a word, and you can turn that off whenever you like. YOUR PRIVATE RIVALRIES There's no global leaderboard. Instead, ChessCall quietly keeps the head-to-head score between you and each contact, so you always know who's ahead. PRACTICE ANY TIME No one around to play? Practice offline against the built-in opponent and set the strength anywhere from beginner to expert. ON YOUR WRIST ChessCall runs on Apple Watch too. Play a full multiplayer or practice game right on the watch, no iPhone needed. And when it is your move in a real game, the watch shows the board so you can answer from your wrist with or without the iphone near by. WORKS EVERYWHERE A universal app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Your games sync through your own iCloud. PRIVATE BY DESIGN ChessCall has no servers of its own. Your games and messages live in your iCloud and are shared only with the people you play. No ads, no tracking, no analytics. Requires an iCloud account. Playing with others requires each player to have ChessCall and be signed into iCloud.

Screenshots

Watch Chess4 screens
Chess Call4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess Call at none against Watch Chess's 3. Chess Call also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads, device support 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. Watch Chess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Chess Call asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Watch Chess ships an update every 2 weeks, Chess Call every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Watch Chess versus Chess Call: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWatch ChessChess Call
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (83 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings83 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size163 MB10 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperIgnacio Soto BustosJan Cordes

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Watch Chess

Subscriptions3
  • Watch Chess Pro7 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Watch Chess Pro7 Days trial$2.491 Month
  • Watch Chess Pro7 Days trial$19.991 Year
None

Chess Call

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Watch Chess free?
Watch Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Call free?
Chess Call is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Watch Chess or Chess Call have ads?
Neither Watch Chess nor Chess Call shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Watch Chess or Chess Call?
Watch Chess ships an update every 2 weeks, and Chess Call every 2 days. Most recently, Watch Chess was updated on October 24, 2026 and Chess Call on October 21, 2026.

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