Best Life Calendar Apps for iPhone in 2026: 7 Life in Weeks and Memento Mori Apps Compared
Checked 20 October 2026. Every competitor detail below comes from that app's US App Store page and Apple's public lookup data, fetched that day. Left details come from the app itself.
A life calendar draws your life as a grid: one square or dot for each week (or year) you've lived, and the rest still ahead. The idea was popularized by Tim Urban's "Your Life in Weeks" post on Wait But Why, and it sits close to the old Stoic practice of memento mori, remembering that time is limited so you spend it on purpose. These apps put that grid on your iPhone. Here are seven worth comparing.
Disclosure: we make Left, so we have put it first. Here is why, and when another app suits you better.
Quick verdict
- Best for seeing your life grid on the Lock Screen and Home Screen every day: Left.
- Best-established dedicated life in weeks app: Time Left • Be Present.
- Best for a life calendar with a daily journal: Life in Weeks - WeeksAlive.
- Best for the memento mori framing: Memento Mori: Death Clock.
- Best completely free option: Life Dots: Visualize Time.
- Best for a 4,000 weeks grid with a short journal: Life Time Left: 4K Weeks.
- Best one-time purchase with notes and photos per week: Life Calendar: Visual Timeline.
Comparison table
Ratings and counts are from the US App Store, checked 20 October 2026. This is a small category, so most apps have few ratings. "Not stated" means the listing doesn't mention it, not that the feature is missing.
| App | Price model | Weeks grid | Widgets | Wallpaper | Rating (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Left | Free; custom lifespan with Left Premium | Yes (years, months or weeks) | Home Screen, Lock Screen, StandBy (Life widget, free) | Yes, updates itself (free) | Not shown (our app) |
 Time Left • Be Present | Free; Pro weekly, yearly or one-time | Yes | Home Screen, Lock Screen (Pro unlocks widgets) | Not stated | 4.6 (240) |
 Life in Weeks - WeeksAlive | Free trial, then Pro subscription | Yes | Home Screen, Lock Screen | Yes, automatic | 5.0 (5) |
 Memento Mori: Death Clock | Free with optional purchases | Grid of life blocks | Home Screen | Not stated | 4.9 (21) |
 Life Dots: Visualize Time | Free, no in-app purchases | Grid of dots | Home Screen, Lock Screen | Not stated | 5.0 (33) |
 Life Time Left: 4K Weeks | Subscription for core features, or lifetime | Yes (4,000 weeks) | Home Screen (release notes) | Not stated | 4.6 (18) |
 Life Calendar: Visual Timeline | Free; one-time Full Access | Yes | Mentioned in release notes | Not stated | 3.7 (12) |
1. Left: your life grid on every screen
Left is a time awareness app for iPhone. Its Time Left tab shows your life, the year, the month, the week, today and the current hour as grids of symbols: the time that has passed dims and what remains stays solid.
- Your life in weeks: enter your birthday and Left draws your life from it. In Settings, See your life in... switches between years, months and weeks.
- Lifespan: the default is 80 years. With Left Premium you can Calculate your lifespan from factors such as country of birth, exercise, sleep and stress, or Set your lifespan manually. It's an estimate for reflection, not a prediction or medical advice.
- Widgets: the Life widget shows one symbol per year of your lifespan, with years left or percent left, in small, medium and large, and on the Lock Screen as circular, rectangular or inline. The You widget shows time lived and left in years, months, weeks, days or hours.
- Left Wallpaper: a Lock Screen wallpaper of your life in years, months or weeks, with your choice of symbol, colors and photo. A Shortcuts automation updates it every day, so the grid moves on by itself.
- More than life: year, month and week grids, countdowns in Ahead, and habits and streaks in Since, if you want to act on what the grid shows you.
Best for: people who want the life calendar in front of them every time they pick up the phone, not tucked inside an app.
Price: free to download. Time Left, the Life and You widgets and Left Wallpaper are free. A custom lifespan is part of Left Premium, a subscription or lifetime purchase. Prices are shown in the app before you buy.
Pros: free life widgets on the Home Screen and Lock Screen; a self-updating wallpaper; years, months or weeks; year, month and day progress in the same app.
Cons: a lifespan other than 80 years needs Left Premium; iPhone only, with iOS 26 or later; no Apple Watch app; the wallpaper needs a one-time Shortcuts setup.
2. Time Left • Be Present
By Julien Lacroix. Its App Store page says it shows "the days, months, and years you have left", keeps your birthdate private, and credits the Wait But Why life in weeks article. Its release notes name a Life in Weeks calendar, and the developer's site adds "moments": countdowns or memories with your own photos.
Best for: the most established dedicated life in weeks app, for people who want a quiet, private grid.
Price: free to download. Time Left Pro unlocks widgets and skins, unlimited moments and Live Photos in the life calendar; in-app purchases include weekly, yearly and one-time options.
Pros: the most ratings of the dedicated life calendar apps here (4.6 from 240); "No notifications. No ads. No sign-up."; privacy label lists only purchases, not linked to you.
Cons: the listing says Pro unlocks widgets, but doesn't say whether any widgets are free; a wallpaper feature isn't mentioned; no iPad version.
3. Life in Weeks - WeeksAlive
By Adrien Cens. Its App Store page says "Every dot is a week you lived, or a week still ahead", starting the day you were born. It pairs the grid with a daily 60-second check-in of four questions and 1 to 3 weekly intentions with a weekly recap.
Best for: people who want the grid to prompt a small daily reflection habit.
Price: free to download with a free trial. The listing says WeeksAlive Pro is an auto-renewable subscription, and a purchase is required for Pro features after the trial.
Pros: Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets and an automatic wallpaper, per the listing; journaling and weekly intentions built in; updated in October 2026.
Cons: only 5 ratings so far; it doesn't say which features stay free after the trial; its privacy label lists identifiers and usage data used to track you, which the description explains as seeing which ad brought you to the app.
4. Memento Mori: Death Clock
By Ramkumar Vellaisamy. Its App Store page describes a life countdown in years, months, days, hours or seconds, a grid of "Life Blocks" showing your life progress, customizable life expectancy and daily reflection, and its release notes mention a Life Journal.
Best for: people searching for a memento mori app specifically, who like a countdown and a grid together.
Price: free to download. The in-app purchases are a Pro Lifetime item and four support-style tiers; the listing doesn't say what Pro unlocks.
Pros: 4.9 from 21 ratings; Home Screen widgets with font options; adjustable life expectancy; a Life Journal, per its release notes.
Cons: the grid isn't described as weeks; Lock Screen widgets and wallpaper aren't mentioned; last updated in June 2026.
5. Life Dots: Visualize Time
By The Digital Minimalist Pte. Ltd. Its App Store page says it shows "how much of your day, month, year, or expected lifespan has passed through a simple grid of dots", with a widget for the Home Screen or Lock Screen.
Best for: a simple, free dots grid with no purchases at all.
Price: free, with no in-app purchases listed.
Pros: free; privacy label says Data Not Collected; Home Screen and Lock Screen widget; covers day, month and year too; 5.0 from 33 ratings.
Cons: the listing doesn't describe a weeks view or how you set your lifespan; no wallpaper is mentioned.
6. Life Time Left: 4K Weeks
By Edwing H Santos Mena. Its App Store page describes a minimal 4,000 weeks calendar with weeks spent, weeks left and percent left, plus a short Stoic journal with a mood tag on each entry. It says your data stays on your device and iCloud.
Best for: readers of Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks who want a grid and a place to jot a thought.
Price: free to download, but the listing says core features require a subscription; a lifetime purchase is also listed.
Pros: clean grid with weeks left and percent left; journal built in; 4.6 from 18 ratings.
Cons: core features need a purchase; widgets appear only in release notes and a wallpaper isn't mentioned; last updated in February 2026.
7. Life Calendar: Visual Timeline
By Bence Csondor. Its App Store page describes one square for every week you've lived, with notes, photos, memories and milestones attached to weeks.
Best for: turning the grid into a visual diary, with a one-time purchase.
Price: free to download; Full Access (Lifetime) is a single in-app purchase.
Pros: no subscription; notes and photos on individual weeks; memories and milestones on the grid.
Cons: the lowest rating here (3.7 from 12); its widgets are described only in release notes (memories on your Home Screen), and the listing doesn't say what's free without Full Access.
How we chose
- Search first: we searched the US App Store for "life calendar", "life in weeks", "memento mori", "4000 weeks" and "death clock" on 20 October 2026, and kept apps whose main purpose is showing your lifespan as time lived and time left.
- Left out: apps that predict a "death date" from health data or quizzes. They answer a different question; a life calendar is a reflection tool, not a forecast. We also dropped apps not updated in the last 12 months.
- Sources: each app's own App Store page and Apple's lookup data, plus the Time Left developer's own site for its feature names. No paid placements, and no developer reviewed this page.
- Small numbers: most apps here have fewer than 50 ratings, so treat the stars as a weak signal and try the free version first.
Which one should you pick?
- You want the grid on your Lock Screen, as a widget and a wallpaper, for free: Left.
- You want a dedicated, quiet life in weeks app with a track record: Time Left • Be Present.
- You want a daily reflection ritual around the grid: WeeksAlive or Life Time Left: 4K Weeks.
- You want to attach memories to weeks: Life Calendar: Visual Timeline.
- You want free with no purchases at all: Life Dots.
To try the idea without installing anything, Left on the web shows your life grid in the browser for free. The life expectancy calculator and age calculator give you the numbers, and the lifespan guide and wallpaper shortcut guide walk through the setup in Left.
See more on the Left life calendar page.
Questions
What is a life calendar app?
A life calendar app draws your life as a grid, usually one square per week from your birthday to an expected lifespan, with the weeks you've lived filled in. It's a reflection tool, inspired by Tim Urban's "Your Life in Weeks" and the Stoic idea of memento mori.
What is the best life in weeks app for iPhone?
Left suits you if you want the grid on your Home Screen, Lock Screen and wallpaper for free. Time Left • Be Present is the most-rated dedicated life in weeks app we compared, and WeeksAlive adds a daily check-in.
Can I put a life in weeks grid on my iPhone Lock Screen?
Yes. Left Wallpaper can show your life in weeks as a Lock Screen wallpaper that a Shortcuts automation updates every day, and Left's Life widget shows your life in years on the Lock Screen. Time Left • Be Present, WeeksAlive and Life Dots also list Lock Screen widgets.
How many weeks are in a lifetime?
About 4,170 weeks in 80 years (52.18 weeks a year), which is why the idea is often called "four thousand weeks". Each app uses its own lifespan setting: Left starts at 80 years and lets you change it with Left Premium.
Is there a free life calendar app?
Yes. Left's life grid, Life widget and wallpaper are free with an 80-year lifespan, and Life Dots lists no in-app purchases at all. Left also has a free web version at getleft.app/web.
Start noticing what matters.
Download Left on your iPhone to see the time you have left, dates you are looking forward to, build the habits you want to keep, and become a better version of yourself.
Scan or search "Left" on the App Store.