Popular iOS Apps Now Free or Discounted for the Holidays - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Popular iOS Apps Now Free or Discounted for the Holidays

ituneslogo.jpgEach year during the holidays, app developers offer deals on a wide variety of apps and games, giving customers a chance to purchase popular content at a significant discount. This year is no exception, with a slew of fantastic apps and games available at low prices.

Our sister site AppShopper tracks prices in real-time and is a great resource to use to keep an eye on app sales during the holiday. We've also listed some of the best deals on apps below:

- Fantastical 2 for iPhone ($1.99, down from $3.99): Popular calendar app, at its lowest price ever [Direct Link]
- Fantastical for Mac ($9.99, down from $19.99): Popular Mac calendar app that syncs with Fantastical 2 for iPhone [Direct Link]
- djay 2 ($4.99, down from $9.99): Popular DJ iPad app [Direct Link]
- vjay (Free, down from $9.99): Video and music remixing app [Direct Link]


- Inspire Pro (Free, down from $4.99): App for drawing and sketching [Direct Link]
- ArtRage ($2.99, down from $4.99): Popular iPad painting app [Direct Link]
- ReadKit ($2.99, down from $6.99): Read-it-later/RSS app for the Mac [Direct Link]

Along with the apps listed above, several developers have teamed up to offer an App Santa promotion, offering discounts of up to 60 percent off apps like Twitter client Tweetbot, scanning app Scanner Pro, package tracking app Delivery Status Touch, password management app 1Password, and note taking app Vesper.

A forum member on our sister site TouchArcade has aggregated an extensive list of all the games on sale. Multiple studios, including Electronic Arts, Taito, CAPCOM, Square Enix, and Warner Bros. are offering deep discounts on their entire game catalogs. We've listed some of the more notable sales below:

- Angry Birds Star Wars II (Free, down from $0.99) [Direct Link]
- LostWinds (Free, down from $3.99) [Direct Link]
- Infinity Blade III ($2.99, down from $6.99) [Direct Link]
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown ($9.99, down from $19.99) [Direct Link]
- Final Fantasy V ($7.99, down from $15.99) [Direct Link]
- Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 ($0.99, down from $4.99) [Direct Link]
- Bastion ($0.99, down from $4.99) [Direct Link]
- Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga ($9.99 Full Unlock, down from $14.99) [Direct Link]
- Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic ($4.99, down from $9.99) [Direct Link]
- The World Ends With You: Solo Remix HD ($8.99/9.99, down from $17.99/$19.99) [Direct Link: iPhone/iPad]

Discount pricing on many of these apps will be in place for at least a week, as Apple will shut down iTunes Connect from December 21 to December 27, preventing developers from implementing app changes. For more sales, check out AppShopper's price drop section.

Popular Stories

macOS 27 on MacBook Pro

Apple Says macOS 27 Won't Be Compatible With These Macs

Wednesday June 3, 2026 8:29 am PDT by
During WWDC 2025, Apple revealed that macOS 26 Tahoe would be the final major macOS version for Intel-based Macs. macOS 27 will be compatible with Apple silicon Macs only, meaning that you will need a Mac with an M-series chip or a MacBook Neo with an A18 Pro chip in order to install the software update. Apple will unveil macOS 27 during its WWDC 2026 keynote this Monday, June 8, and the...
MacBook Neo on Yellow Feature

MacBook Neo is So Popular That Apple Reportedly Doubled Production

Wednesday June 3, 2026 9:24 am PDT by
On an earnings call in late April, Apple's CEO Tim Cook said that customer response to the MacBook Neo was "off the charts," and the popularity of the laptop has reportedly led the company to significantly boost production. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo this week said he believes that MacBook Neo shipments to Apple were doubled from an initial target of 5 million units to 10...
iphone 18 pro blue%402x

iPhone 18 Pro: Dark Cherry, Light Blue, and Dark Gray Chassis Leaked [Update]

Thursday June 4, 2026 5:18 am PDT by
Update: Since publication, new information has come to light suggesting the images have been AI-manipulated and are not in fact iPhone 18 Pro chassis parts. The original article follows. The color options Apple is reportedly planning for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max have appeared online today in the form of images of chassis parts of unknown authenticity....

Top Rated Comments

acfusion29 Avatar
163 months ago
make 1password 99 cents so i can buy it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SirithX Avatar
163 months ago
How long was The Elements free? The app store page says it's free and this story is only 3 hours old but it says $13.99 right now.

If it really expired that fast this feels more like a publicity stunt to me.

I'm very disappointed if I missed out.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
163 months ago
Just got all free ones, like I always do. (despite not having an iOS device) :cool:

They'll come in handy some day.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
163 months ago
Just got all free ones, like I always do. (despite not having an iOS device) :cool:

They'll come in handy some day.

Lol @ digital hoarding!!!!!!!! =P
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
163 months ago
This is why I didn't buy IB3 until this time. I've been waiting.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SeaFox Avatar
163 months ago
How long was The Elements free? The app store page says it's free and this story is only 3 hours old but it says $13.99 right now.

If it really expired that fast this feels more like a publicity stunt to me.

Edit: Went back to app's own website and clicked "buy now" iTunes reloaded the store page and it says Free now, but when I try and get it I'm still prompted on whether I really want to BUY it or not, and this right after downloading Inspire Pro with no issues.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)