The 8 best countdown apps for iPhone to celebrate holidays and events

Is a friend’s birthday or special holiday coming up in the next month or so? In addition to marking these on your calendar or adding them to your reminders, starting a countdown is an exciting way to look forward to and plan for an event.

Here we will cover some of the best countdown apps for your iPhone. We’ll also look into adding these apps as a countdown widget if you prefer the convenience of seeing the countdown on your home screen, lock screen, or today view.

1. Days

Days is one of the best countdown apps for your iPhone because you can add a countdown widget to your home screen, day view, and lock screen – all for free! In contrast, most apps require you to subscribe to a plan before you can use the countdown widget.

For common festive celebrations like Christmas and New Year’s Day, the Days app automatically sets the correct date for you when you enter the event name. Days also links to Unsplash, a very popular stock photography website.

You will get suggestions for beautiful, high-quality images that can be used as countdown backgrounds. You can also choose a simple color gradient background.

Therefore, even if you are a free user, you can still get a lot out of Days. The app’s paid plan offers additional features, such as the ability to count down by business days and organize your events by category.

Download: Days (free, subscription available)

2. Countdown to anything

Countdown to Anything’s unique appeal is its selection of vibrant, adorable icons for holidays and other special events, making it a fun widget to add to your iPhone.

The app also has many preset countdowns, including Earth Hour, St. Patrick’s Day, the Super Bowl, and the Winter Olympics. These countdown suggestions appear as you type in your event name Add new countdown field.

Just add an event, choose your icon and customize the background color. To use the app’s countdown widget on iPhone, you’ll need to upgrade to the premium plan. When you do, you’ll also get access to more than 100 icons, with new ones added along the way!

Download: Countdown to Anything (Free, Premium version available)

3. Bears Countdown

The hand-drawn characters in this iPhone countdown app are reminiscent of the popular animated series We Bare Bears.

There are 28 categories of countdown events, with three to five countdown widget designs in each category. Each artwork is accompanied by a humorous or heartwarming description – a personal touch from the app developer.

Bears Countdown also has a feature that no other app on this list offers: you can use the lunar calendar in the countdown. This is especially useful for those who observe these dates. After you’ve set up your event, you can add a countdown widget to your Home screen or Today View for free.

If you already use apps to customize your iPhone home screen and recreate a similar aesthetic, the Bears Countdown countdown widget should blend in perfectly with everything else on your screen.

Download: Bears Countdown (Free in-app purchases available)

Another great iPhone countdown app is Countdown Widget. The app’s clean interface makes it a very user-friendly app for keeping track of your events. You can add the app’s countdown widget to your iPhone home screen, lock screen, and Today View for free.

The basic design of the app’s countdown widget is relatively minimalist, but you can upgrade to the paid plan to customize the widget style. The styles offered are not just differences in font or color. They present the countdown with a completely different look, such as Tally Marks, Punch Card and Paper Calendar.

Download: Countdown widget (free, premium version available)

5. Countdown+ Calendar

Countdown+ Calendar allows you to add a countdown by category. Examples of the categories include weddings and anniversaries, shows and concerts and trips and holidays. The app can add countdowns directly from your Facebook events and iPhone calendar app. It also retrieves a list of public holidays from your country.

Since Countdown+ Calendar doesn’t come with countdown widgets on either the free or paid plan, you can choose to receive a daily countdown notification if you want to get countdown updates every day.

You only need to upgrade to Countdown+ Calendar’s full version if you want to see holidays in all countries or access the photo packs without having to unlock them individually by viewing ads.

Download: Countdown+ Calendar (free, in-app purchases available)

6. Countdown Star

Countdown Star is a simple countdown app for your iPhone. In the app, each event and its background is presented in full screen, creating a nice, immersive effect for your countdown.

Use the slider to easily change the countdown units and see how many months, days or hours are left until your event. You can also favorite an event so that it is the first to appear when you open the app.

Countdown Star simply lets you add a countdown widget to your iPhone’s Today View. By default, the countdown widget displays the event closest to the current date, but you can also choose to display multiple events.

All the features of Countdown Star are completely free, but there is a separate, paid version of the app if you don’t want to see any ads when using it.

Download: Countdown Star (Free)

7. Atomic clock

If you’re looking for a more traditional countdown experience—that is, counting down next to the ticking second hand of an analog clock—try out the AtomicClock app.

The time given in the app is based on the Network Time Protocol (NTP). This way, you can be sure you’re celebrating an event at exactly the right time, wherever you are!

You can customize the appearance of the clock in AtomicClock. From Roman numerals to minimalist, you can choose from 33 dials and 13 hour hands. You can also change the color of the clock. The Pro version of AtomicClock allows you to change the clock font and remove all ads. This app does not come with countdown widgets.

Download: AtomicClock: NTP time (free, premium version available)

Countdown Widget 321 offers customizable countdown templates for your iPhone. Some of them, like the birthday and neon styles, even have animated elements.

Although you can only access all templates by upgrading to the premium plan, you can unlock more without paying by simply sharing Countdown Widget 321 to social media or messaging apps.

After adding an event, you can also add a countdown widget to your home screen and lock screen for free.

Download: Countdown Widget and Timer 321 (Free, Subscription Available)

Exciting countdown apps for your iPhone

We hope our recommendations have helped you find the perfect countdown app for your iPhone. Most of the apps in this list can be added as a countdown widget to your home screen, lock screen, and today view.

But if you prefer to keep your home screen or lock screen less cluttered with widgets, you can still enjoy an overview of all your countdowns within the app itself.