Best Countdown Apps for iPhone in 2026

The short answer

• Want the most widely used app and do not mind ads? Countdown Star has the most ratings, and $1.99 once removes the ads.
• Want widgets on every surface Apple offers? DayDrop and Kounts list the most placements; Kounts needs iOS 26.
• Want Lock Screen widgets, Apple Watch complications and iCloud sync without paying or signing up? That combination is what TimeTill offers on its free tier.
• On an older iPhone? TimeCount runs on iOS 16, but has no Apple Watch app.

How these apps were compared

Each app was checked on 17 October 2026 against its US App Store listing: Apple’s own record of the app (description, release notes, supported devices, languages, version and rating), the in-app purchase prices shown on the listing, and the privacy label the developer filed with Apple. Nothing was taken from reviews, forums or other comparison sites.

The apps were chosen because they come up when you search the App Store for a countdown widget, are still being updated, and have either a large number of ratings or a feature set worth comparing. Dreamdays, once a popular choice, was left out because it has not been updated since 2019.

• “Not stated” means the listing does not say. The app may well do it — try it, or ask its developer.
• “Premium” means the listing names it as a paid feature.
• Prices are the US store’s at the time of checking. They vary by country and change over time.
• A privacy label is the developer’s own declaration to Apple, not an audit.

What to look for

Most countdown apps count down. The differences that matter are where the number shows up, what is free, and what the app does with your data.

• Widgets: a Home Screen widget you look at; a Lock Screen widget you see every time you raise the phone. Check which ones are free — in some apps the widget is the paid feature.
• Apple Watch: an app on the watch lists your events; a complication puts one on the watch face. They are not the same thing.
• Sync and accounts: iCloud sync needs no extra account, but in some apps it is Premium.
• Repeats and count-up: a yearly repeat means entering a birthday once; count-up tracks time since something happened.
• Ads and tracking: read the privacy label on the listing, under App Privacy.

Countdown

By Find Appiness LLC · 4.8 from 188,864 ratings · iOS 17.0 or later · App Store listing

Good at

• One of the most-rated countdown apps on the US store, and updated on the day this was checked.
• Repeats yearly, monthly, weekly or daily, counts up from past events and syncs over iCloud.
• Has an Apple Watch app.

Worth knowing

• Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets are both Premium features, so the free version has no widget.
• The free version shows ads; the $6.99 purchase removes them.
• The listing mentions colour backgrounds but not photos, and does not mention watch-face complications.

Countdown Star

By Joseph Merrill · 4.8 from 216,225 ratings · iOS 17.0 or later · App Store listing

Good at

• The most-rated app in this comparison on the US store.
• The cheapest way out of ads: a one-off $1.99, with no subscription anywhere.
• Your own photos as wallpapers, iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

Worth knowing

• The free version shows ads and its privacy label lists location, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics as used to track you. The separate ad-free app’s label is much shorter.
• The listing names Home Screen widgets only; Lock Screen widgets and watch complications are not mentioned.
• Repeating is described for annual events only.

Countdown Widget - DayDrop

By Hirak Banerjee · 4.8 from 21 ratings · iOS 18.0 or later · App Store listing

Good at

• One of the widest ranges of widget placements here: Home Screen up to extra-large, a multi-event widget, Lock Screen, StandBy and Control Center.
• AI-generated photo backgrounds from a description of the event.
• The shortest privacy label here: usage data, not linked to you, for app functionality.

Worth knowing

• iCloud sync and the AI backgrounds are Premium.
• Apple Watch is not in the listing’s current compatibility list.
• Another, newer app is also called DayDrop — this is the one by Hirak Banerjee.

Kounts

By Daniel Caceiro Aversari · 5.0 from 8 ratings · iOS 26.0 or later · App Store listing

Good at

• Every widget is free, with no ads and no account, according to its listing.
• Apple Watch app with complications, and a native Mac app.
• Ready-made content packs — public holidays, films, games, moon phases — for $1.99 each.

Worth knowing

• Needs iOS 26 or later on every device, the highest minimum in this comparison.
• The free tier is capped at 15 countdowns, and iCloud sync is Premium.
• Only 8 ratings on the US store so far.

TimeCount

By App Forgeron LLC · 4.6 from 24,526 ratings · iOS 16.0 or later · App Store listing

Good at

• Runs on iOS 16, the lowest minimum here — the one to try on an older iPhone.
• A large rating base, and full-screen photos for each event.

Worth knowing

• iPhone only: no iPad version and no Apple Watch app.
• The listing does not say whether it has Lock Screen widgets, iCloud sync or a count-up mode.
• The listing shows several prices for the same tiers, so check the price in the app before buying.

TimeTill

By Andrii Kolisnyk, who wrote this page · 5.0 from 12 ratings · iOS 17.0 or later · App Store listing

Good at

• Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets on the free tier, with eleven Lock Screen styles and five time formats.
• A native Apple Watch app with configurable complications, and free iCloud sync with no account.
• Localised for 44 App Store markets, the most in this comparison.

Worth knowing

• On the free tier the configurable widgets share one event; a different event in each widget is Premium, as are photo backgrounds.
• Its privacy label lists purchases, identifiers and usage data as used to track you, because the app reports installs to Meta to measure its own advertising. The advertising identifier is read only if you allow tracking. It shows no ads.
• The Apple Watch app is in English only, and only 12 ratings on the US store so far.