Pretty Progress vs Left: An Honest Comparison

Updated November 3, 2026 · 6 min read

Compared on 3 November 2026. Pretty Progress details come only from its App Store listing and its official website, checked that day. Left details come from the app itself.

Pretty Progress and Left both put the time that matters on your iPhone's Home Screen and Lock Screen, but they start from different ideas. Pretty Progress is a countdown widget app: any date becomes a progress bar, a percentage or a count of days, in templates you style. Left is a time awareness app: the year, the day and your life as a grid, next to countdowns, habits, streaks and a day planner.

Quick verdict

• Pick Pretty Progress if you want styled countdown and progress-bar widgets on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, with four custom widgets free.
• Pick Left if you want year, day and life progress widgets for free, a self-updating Lock Screen wallpaper, countdowns next to a real habit tracker with check-ins, streaks and goals, and an Apple Watch app with complications.

Pretty Progress at a glance

According to the App Store listing for "Countdown - Pretty Progress" by keinois OU and its website, prettyprogress.app (checked 3 November 2026):

• Platforms: iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later, Apple Watch with watchOS 11 and Apple silicon Macs with macOS 15. Its website also offers an Android version.
• Countdowns: count up or down to a date or with a timer, with recurring events and import from Apple Calendar and Reminders. Each one can show the percentage complete, the time left or the time since, in years, months, weeks, days or a mix.
• Progress: default daily, weekly, monthly and yearly progress is built in.
• Widgets: Home Screen widgets in small, medium and large, Lock Screen widgets, StandBy, Apple Watch complications and Mac widgets, with 6 templates. Its website names Swiss Style, The Grid, Aqua, Retro OS and Minimal, and marks all but Swiss Style as PRO.
• Recent changes: version 2.2.0 in October 2026 added Dynamic Island support, alarms, a list widget, 21 shortcuts and a Siri integration in beta. An in-app event on its listing announces Live Activities.
• Price: free, with four custom countdown widgets in two designs. Pretty Progress PRO is weekly, monthly, yearly or lifetime, and can be shared with Family Sharing.
• Rating and privacy: 4.7 from 3,146 ratings on the US App Store. Its privacy label lists purchases, usage data, diagnostics and other data under "Data Not Linked to You".

Left at a glance

• Platforms: iPhone with iOS 26 or later, and Apple Watch.
• Time Left: the year, month, week, day and hour, and your life, as a grid of dots or symbols where the past dims. The Year, Month, Day and Life widgets show it on the Home Screen and the Lock Screen, and the Year widget can show the percentage left.
• Countdowns: Ahead dates with Starts and, for something that lasts, Until; repeats from weekly to yearly; units from hours to years; a symbol, a color and a photo; import From calendar; and reminders from a month to a day before.
• Countdown widgets: Ahead, Ahead Bars, Ahead Circle and the Time Ahead list. Ahead Bars and Ahead Circle show progress towards a date as bars or a ring, with the time left or a percentage.
• Live Activities: Get ready for the start and Get the final countdown show a live countdown on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island in the last 4 hours.
• Habits: habits with a goal per day, week or month, streaks that count up from the day you started and keep your restarts and longest run, and Aims for anything you can count.
• Left Wallpaper: a Lock Screen wallpaper that updates itself through the Shortcuts app.
• Apple Watch: a watch app with Time Left, countdowns, habits, streaks, Aims, Planner, Fasting and Focus, plus complications for your watch face in circular, rectangular, inline and corner sizes.

Side-by-side

Pretty Progress cells say "Not stated" where its listing and website don't mention the feature. That doesn't mean the feature is missing. Pretty Progress's rating is its US App Store figure; Left's is its worldwide average.

Countdown widgets

This is Pretty Progress's home ground. Every countdown can be a styled widget, and the same countdown can sit on your iPhone, your Watch face and your Mac. Left's countdown widgets live on the iPhone, where Ahead works on the Home Screen and Lock Screen, Ahead Bars and Ahead Circle show progress, and Live Activities take over for the final hours. On the Apple Watch, the Ahead complication puts a countdown on your watch face.

Habit tracking

Pretty Progress treats a habit as a date to count up from, and its listing names notifications every day, week, month or year after a habit streak. Left is a habit tracker as well: you check habits off, set schedules and reminders, see your restarts and longest streak, and track Aims next to your countdowns.

Pricing

Both apps are free to download. Pretty Progress's free version includes four custom countdown widgets in two designs and the default daily, weekly, monthly and yearly progress. Pretty Progress PRO is listed on the US App Store at $4.99 a week or a month, $14.99 or $24.99 a year, and $49.99 or $59.99 for lifetime.

Left's free plan includes the time grid widgets for your life, year, month, day and hour, Dynamic Time, the analog and digital clocks, Notes and Left Wallpaper, plus 2 each of countdowns, habits, streaks and Aims. Widgets that show something you create, such as a countdown or a habit, need Left Premium, which also unlocks unlimited items. Prices are shown in the app before you buy.

Who should pick which

Pretty Progress is a good fit if

• You want countdowns as styled progress bars and percentages, in several templates.
• You want them on your iPad or Mac too.
• You want a few custom countdown widgets without paying.
• You import plans from Apple Reminders as well as Calendar.

Left is a good fit if

• You want the year, the day and your life as a calm grid, free, on the Home Screen and Lock Screen.
• You want a Lock Screen wallpaper that updates itself.
• You want to check off habits and keep streaks in the same app as your countdowns.
• You want Live Activities for the final hours before a date.

For more options, see our Pretty Progress alternatives, the countdown widgets guide and the best habit tracker apps for iPhone.

Get the countdown widget

See more examples on the Left countdown widget page.

Questions

Is Pretty Progress free?

Partly. The free version includes four custom countdown widgets in two designs and the default daily, weekly, monthly and yearly progress. Pretty Progress PRO is a weekly, monthly or yearly subscription or a lifetime purchase.

Is Pretty Progress a habit tracker?

It can count up from the day you started a habit and notify you every day, week, month or year after it. Its App Store listing doesn't describe daily check-ins. Left has habits with check-ins, schedules and reminders, plus streaks and Aims.

Do Pretty Progress and Left have Lock Screen widgets?

Yes, both. Pretty Progress lists Lock Screen widgets and StandBy. Left's Year, Month, Day and Life widgets work on the Lock Screen for free, and its Ahead countdown widget works there with Left Premium.

Does Left work on Apple Watch?

Yes. Left has an Apple Watch app with Time Left, countdowns, habits, streaks, Aims, Planner, Fasting and Focus, plus complications for your watch face. Pretty Progress also lists an Apple Watch app with complications.

Which is better for year progress?

Both show it. Pretty Progress includes daily, weekly, monthly and yearly progress in its free version. Left's Year widget shows the year as a grid of days, with the percentage left if you choose, and Left Wallpaper can put the year on your Lock Screen.