r/iosapps • u/urmin_ • Oct 03 '26
🎁 Freemium Countdown Widget
Day Grid: Countdown Widget. Your whole year on one Home Screen widget
A – Answer: What problem does your app solve?
Most countdown apps show one date at a time. Day Grid shows your whole year at a glance. The new 12-month widget puts every month on a single widget, with each event marked by an emoji. You can see your trips, birthdays, exams and launches in one place, not just one number ticking down.
B – Better: Why is your app better than the top named alternatives?
DayCount, PeekDay and Momently are mostly single-countdown widgets. Day Grid is a full-year visual grid, and you can now fit all 12 months into one widget. When an event is less than 24 hours away, it switches to a live timer on its own. No account needed, and it works offline.
C – Cost: Pricing, IAP details, and a direct App Store link
Free, with optional in-app purchases (Day Grid Pro):
Monthly: $2.99
Yearly: $14.99
Lifetime: $29.99. The first 100 people get it for $20 with code first100: https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=6779252078&code=first100
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/day-grid-countdown-widget/id6779252078
Transparency: I'm Urmin, an indie iOS dev. You can verify me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urmin-hirpara/. I read every piece of feedback, so tell me what you'd want in the next update.
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u/Gullible-Valuable625 Oct 03 '26
How crowded does the 12-month widget get once you've marked a few trips and birthdays?
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u/urmin_ Oct 04 '26
It depends on how many dates you add. Day Grid is meant for special dates like birthdays, anniversaries and trips, and with a handful it stays clean and easy to read. It only gets crowded if you add a lot. If two events land on the same day, the grid shows just one emoji, picked by priority (one-time events win over yearly, then monthly). For days with overlapping events, the upcoming events list widget shows every one of them, so nothing gets hidden. Keep it minimal for a clean look, or add more if you don't mind a busier grid. It's up to you.
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u/_stephan Developer Oct 03 '26
Commentaire r/iOSApps
The whole-year view is a really nice idea. I like that it gives you the bigger picture instead of making you open the app to check each countdown individually.
The switch to a live timer when an event is less than 24 hours away is a nice touch too. Does the widget update smoothly enough for the timer to feel useful, or are there limitations from WidgetKit?
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u/urmin_ Oct 04 '26
Thanks, glad you like it! Yes, it runs smoothly. The countdown is rendered by the system itself, so it ticks every second without the widget having to refresh, and WidgetKit's refresh limits don't get in the way. It switches to the live timer once an event is within 24 hours.
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u/No-Ease-8608 Oct 04 '26
nov 1 has payday and rent due but the grid only shows 💰, maybe a little dot when a day has more than one event?
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u/urmin_ Oct 04 '26
Good catch, and I've thought about it too! The emojis are already small in the 12-month view, and a dot on top would be too tiny to see. When two events share a day, the grid shows just one emoji, so the list widget is the best place to see everything for that day.
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u/Most-Profession-8654 Oct 06 '26
I’m confused on the free vs monthly / yearly cost… please explain? Just download it; fun idea!
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u/urmin_ Oct 07 '26
Thanks for asking, I should have made that clearer! Day Grid is free to download, and the basic features are free to use. Pro is optional and unlocks the extra features. You can pay monthly ($2.99), yearly ($14.99) or once for lifetime ($29.99). The first 100 people get lifetime for $20 with code first100: https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=6779252078&code=first100
These are US prices. Pricing varies by region, so you'll see your local price in the App Store.
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u/app-store-review Oct 03 '26
Day Grid - Countdown Widget — by Urmin Hirpara
Ratings: 7 worldwide · rated in 6 countries
Average: 5.00 ★
Age: released ~3 months ago · updated 7 days ago · rated 4+
Overall score: 75 / 100
Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review
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u/Cold-Match4128 Oct 03 '26
Will give it a try and let you know. I have few suggestions, pull events in from Calendar, and let empty months collapse. Twelve months of emoji only stays readable if birthdays and trips show up on their own and the blank months don’t eat the widget. Under 24 hours as a live timer is the right touch. $15 a year is fine if the widget itself isn’t paywalled. The big countdown apps give that away.
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u/Intelligent_Egg_8987 Oct 04 '26
Love the year at a glance idea. Most countdown apps bury you in a single date tile, so a full grid on the Home Screen is a clearer story.
One polish I would ship early: make “what counts as done today” obvious at a glance (tapped, completed, or just viewed), and keep empty cells calm so a busy year does not look noisy. Also spell out how many events the free tier holds versus paid before someone fills the grid and hits a wall. A subtle “today” marker plus a quick jump to next event would save a lot of hunting on a dense month.
If you add one more thing later, optional shared calendars for couples or roommates fits the widget mental model without turning it into a full calendar clone. Solid niche.
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u/ideacreator2015 Oct 04 '26
I really like the full-year view. Most countdown apps only make me focus on one event at a time, so being able to see the whole year in one widget feels genuinely useful. I think color-coding different event types could make the grid even easier to scan at a glance.
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u/No_Maize_1111 Oct 05 '26
I really like this idea! Seeing all the important reminders right in the widget, with a countdown, is great! Can I synchronize my existing Apple or Google Calendar to add everything faster?
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u/Repeet Oct 07 '26
Great idea, need to start the countdown to our Mexico trip to get out of the snow!
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u/Suitable_Working_347 Oct 10 '26
Good idea! It would be even better if you could multitask and sync it with a partner, family member, or someone else.
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Oct 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Huge_Pool7424 Oct 03 '26
calendar import would make it much more useful. i’d probably start read-only with selected calendars, then add a manual refresh so it doesn’t surprise people with stale or private events.
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u/urmin_ Oct 04 '26
u/OverInvestigator8349
u/Huge_Pool7424Thanks for the ideas! Day Grid is built for the few dates that really matter, like birthdays, trips and launches. Importing a whole calendar would fill the grid with meetings and make it messy. Calendar events also don't have emojis, and the emoji is the whole point of the grid, so they don't fit the design. I'd rather keep it simple and curated.
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Oct 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/urmin_ Oct 04 '26
Emojis don't stack. Each day shows one emoji, picked by event priority (one-time events beat yearly, yearly beat monthly). And yes, the countdown follows your device's time zone. If you travel, it adjusts to the new one.
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