Count Down to Christmas in Sleeps (and Heartbeats) With Christmas Countdown!

Q: How often does Christmas Countdown! show ads?

Christmas Countdown! shows a full screen ad about every 10 taps, on top of a banner that stays at the top of the screen.

Jessica Santero - Staff Writer

Updated 28 October 2026

Contents

Jump to:

What is Christmas Countdown!?
Is it worth downloading?
How I tested it
FAQ

Christmas Countdown! is a free iPhone and iPad app that counts down to Christmas in weeks, sleeps, hours, minutes, seconds, heartbeats, or breaths. It offers more ways to measure the wait than any other app in our roundup of the best Christmas countdown apps, and I tested it on my iPhone 11 to see whether the fun units outweigh the ads.

Kids don't count down to Christmas in seconds, because they count in sleeps. Christmas Countdown! is the only app I tested that speaks their language, and it does it in a font big enough to read from across the room.

Those full screen ads are snacking on your data

Every full screen ad in a free app loads over your connection, and ad heavy apps quietly chip away at a capped plan. An unlimited data plan means you never have to ration taps, carols, or countdown screenshots on the drive to Grandma's house.

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4 out of 5 overall

Christmas Countdown!

Free with a banner ad and full-screen ads
Seven countdown units, shown one at a time or all at once
Available for iPhone and iPad

Best for: Counting down in sleeps

App Store

What is Christmas Countdown!?

Christmas Countdown! puts the countdown front and center in a bold, big font, with a little holiday drawing at the bottom of the screen and carols playing in the background. You can show a single unit or all seven at once. Sleeps give younger kids a number that makes sense to them, while heartbeats and breaths turn the wait into a hilariously huge number.

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Toy piano carols and a cast of characters

The music plays traditional Christmas carol melodies that sound like they're coming from a kid's toy piano in a pleasingly nostalgic way. The drawing at the bottom of the screen switches between a very round Santa Claus, a dancing Christmas tree, Rudolph, a little bird, and an ice skater, so kids can pick a favorite.

Christmas Countdown! home screen showing a large countdown with a round Santa drawing at the bottom

Christmas Countdown! character options including a dancing Christmas tree and Rudolph

You can switch the little drawing at the bottom of the screen between Santa, a dancing tree, Rudolph, a bird, and an ice skater.
Images: Jessica Santero | WhistleOut

Sharing your countdown takes one tap

A single tap turns your countdown into an image you can send to group chats or post on social media.

Christmas Countdown! share menu with options to send the countdown image to social media and messaging apps

With a single tap, you can share an image of your countdown on social media or with group chats.
Image: Jessica Santero | WhistleOut

Is Christmas Countdown! worth downloading?

Christmas Countdown! is worth downloading if your family counts down in sleeps or you want a big, bold countdown to share. If ads drive you up the wall, the iPhone app that tops our roundup is a calmer choice.

The ads interrupt more than any other countdown app

A banner ad stays at the top of the screen at all times, which is tolerable on its own. Every 10 taps, though, a full-screen ad takes over, and you have to wait for the pop-up to finish before you can close it.

Check the privacy label before kids borrow your phone

According to the App Store listing, the developer may use your location, identifiers, usage data, and diagnostics to track you across other companies' apps and websites. Keep that in mind if your kids use your phone.

How I tested Christmas Countdown!

Switched between all seven countdown units on my iPhone 11, individually and all at once.
Tried every character drawing and the sharing feature to see how the countdown looks when you send it to friends.
Counted how often full-screen ads appeared and reviewed the tracking details on the App Store privacy label.

Christmas Countdown!: FAQ

Can you count down to Christmas in sleeps?

Yes, Christmas Countdown! lets you count down to Christmas in sleeps. It also counts in weeks, hours, minutes, seconds, heartbeats, and breaths, or shows every unit at once.

Is Christmas Countdown! free?

Yes, Christmas Countdown! is free on iPhone and iPad, but it shows a constant banner ad and frequent full-screen ads.

How often does Christmas Countdown! show ads?

Christmas Countdown! shows a full-screen ad about every 10 taps, on top of a banner that stays at the top of the screen.

Does Christmas Countdown! track you?

The App Store listing says the developer may use your location, identifiers, usage data, and diagnostics to track you across other companies' apps and websites.

Can you share a Christmas countdown on social media?

Yes, Christmas Countdown! creates a shareable image of your countdown with a single tap, which you can post on social media or send to group chats.

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Jessica Santero

Staff Writer

Jessica is a Staff Writer for WhistleOut and the site’s resident app expert. Her coverage frequently includes hands-on comparisons of popular app categories, such as translation, navigation, and dating apps, to evaluate how they perform in real-world mobile use.

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