On your home screen
What it looks like
- The big number is full days left. It drops by one every day — no math in your head, no crossing days off a calendar.
- “And a wake up” — because the last partial day still counts, and everybody inside knows what that means.
- The orange clock is total time left — every hour, minute, and second until your day arrives, ticking live.
- On the day itself, it reads zero. No negative numbers, no glitch — just done.
- Pick your background: solid, see-through, or nearly clear, so it sits right on your own wallpaper.
- Made for release day first. Any date works — program finish, a court date you're waiting on, a family day — but it was built for counting down to going home.
The how-to
Watch it done first
One minute and forty seconds, start to finish — including the two warning screens that trip everybody up.
Watch it once before you install, and the steps below will make sense.
1:40, start to finish — voiceover and captions are in the video, so it works with the sound off.
Install it
Step by step
About five minutes, most of it waiting on your phone. This app is not on the Play Store yet, so your phone will warn you — that's expected, and steps 4 and 5 walk you through exactly what to tap. Don't skip them.
- File
- paperskater-countdown-v6.apk
- Version
- 6 (1.5) — test version
- Size
- 762 KB — tiny download
- Phone needed
- Android 8.0 or newer
Tap it, and if your phone asks where to save it, tap Save. Then follow the steps.
Get it installed
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Find the downloaded file
After the download finishes, open My Files and tap Downloads. You'll see paperskater-countdown-v6.apk. Tap it.
(You can also tap the “download complete” notification at the top of your screen — same file.)
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Tap Install
Your phone shows the app name, PaperSkater Countdown. Tap Install down at the bottom.
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Samsung phones: the Auto Blocker stop
On a Samsung, a box may pop up saying the install was blocked by Auto Blocker. That's not an error — just tap OK and switch it off for this install:
Open Settings → Security and privacy → Auto Blocker → switch it off.
Then go back to Downloads, tap the file again, and tap Install again. You can switch Auto Blocker back on later if you want.
No Samsung? Skip this step.Auto Blocker is a Samsung-only thing. If Install just worked, keep going.
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The Play Protect warning — the step everybody misses
Google Play Protect will probably warn you: “App blocked to protect your device… Play Protect hasn't seen an app from this developer before. It may be unsafe.”
That warning shows up because this is a small test app that isn't on the Play Store — not because something was found wrong with it. Here's the exact way through:
1. Tap More details
2. Then tap the small words Install anyway⚠ “Install anyway” is small text, NOT a buttonIt sits inside the warning box and is easy to scroll right past. And do not tap “Got it” — that only closes the warning and does not install the app. If you tapped Got it, just tap the file and Install again, then use More details → Install anyway.
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Wait for “App installed,” then tap Open
Installation takes a few seconds. When it finishes, tap Open.
Set your date
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Open the APP — not the widget
The app asks: “What date are you counting down to?” Scroll the date picker to your date — your release day, your EOS, the day that matters to you.
Then tap Save Date. While you're there, you can also pick the widget background: solid, translucent, or nearly clear.
Your date stays on your phone onlyIt's never sent anywhere — the app makes no network calls at all. And it starts blank for everybody: whoever you pass this to sets their own date.
If you pick a date more than 10 years out, the app asks you to confirm — that's just a guard against a mis-tap. Check the date, then confirm if it's right.
Put it on your home screen
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Add the widget
Go to your home screen. Press and hold an empty spot until a menu appears, then tap Widgets.
Find PaperSkater Countdown in the list. Tap the widget preview, then tap Add.
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Give it a second
The widget lands on your home screen showing dashes for a moment, then your numbers fill in: days to freedom, and a wake up, and the clock ticking.
That's it — you're counting down. One heads-up: tapping the widget opens paperskaterhq.com — that's by design. To change your date, open the app from your app drawer, not the widget.
Stuck?
If something went sideways
I tapped “Got it” and nothing installed
That's the #1 snag. “Got it” only closes the Play Protect warning — it doesn't install anything. Tap the APK file in Downloads again, tap Install, then on the warning tap More details and then the small text Install anyway.
Somebody texted me the file and it says “File type not supported”
That happens in Google Voice — Voice can't receive app files at all. Have them text it to your regular phone number in the normal Messages app instead, or just download it from this page. The file itself is fine.
The widget just shows dashes
Give it a few seconds after adding it. If it stays on dashes, open the PaperSkater Countdown app and make sure you picked a date and tapped Save Date — the widget can only count down to a date the app has saved.
Tapping the widget opens a website instead of settings
That's by design — the widget tap opens paperskaterhq.com. To change your date or background, open the app from your app drawer (where all your apps are listed).
My phone isn't a Samsung — do I still do step 3?
No. The Auto Blocker stop (step 3) is Samsung-only. On other Android phones you'll go straight from Install to the Play Protect warning in step 4.
Is it safe to install something that isn't on the Play Store?
Fair question — here's what's verifiable: the app asks for exactly one permission (starting back up after your phone restarts, so your countdown survives a reboot). It makes no network calls, has no ads and no tracking, and your date never leaves your phone. The Play Protect warning appears because the developer is new and the app is a test build — Google says so in the warning itself. If that still doesn't sit right with you, don't install it — no hard feelings.
I have an iPhone
This version is Android only. An iPhone version is parked for later — if enough guys ask for it, that changes.
Pass it on
Got it working? Hand it to the next guy
This was made to be shared, man to man, phone to phone. No store, no sign-up, nothing to buy. Two ways to pass it along:
Straight answers
What this app does — and doesn't
- It's free.No cost, no in-app purchases, no ads. Nothing to sign up for.
- Your date never leaves your phone.Stored on the device only. The app makes no network calls — there's nothing it could send your date to.
- One permission, total.“Run after restart” — so your countdown comes back after a reboot. That's the whole list.
- It's a test version.Version 6, built small and simple on purpose. It does one thing: count down. If it breaks for you, say so — that's how it gets better.
- Android only, for now.Works on Android 8.0 and newer — which covers most phones from the last several years.
- Any date counts.Release day is what it was built for. A program completion, a transfer, a family reunion — if you're counting down to it, it counts.