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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Idle Digging vs Stone Miner

Idle Digging 4.6★ · Free + IAP · ⚠ stale 55
Winner Stone Miner
Stone Miner 4.7★ · Free + IAP · ⚠ stale 60

Stone Miner is slightly better for casual players due to fewer reports of critical bugs and better overall stability, despite both games suffering from excessive ads.

Full reviews: Idle Digging · Stone Miner

Both Idle Digging and Stone Miner are free-to-play idle mining games plagued by an overwhelming number of ads, with many users reporting issues even after paying for ad removal. Stone Miner, however, appears to have fewer critical bugs related to progression and paid features, making it a marginally more reliable choice.

Head to head

Features and Gameplay tieR5R8R14R20
Idle Digging Idle Digging is described as simple, relaxing, and addictive, with users enjoying the core digging mechanic R8R14R20. However, some find the progression too slow or expensive, and a few note that it's not truly an idle game as it requires active engagement for progress R5. There are also reports of bugs like disappearing locations and ineffective diamond purchases R24.
Stone Miner Stone Miner is also praised for being fun, relaxing, and a good time passer . Users enjoy the upgrading mechanics, though some report that upgrades can paradoxically make their miner weaker or ineffective at higher levels . A significant complaint is the lack of new levels and updates, leading to a quick completion of content R61R64R69R79.
Ads and Monetization tieR1R2R3R4
Idle Digging Idle Digging is heavily criticized for its overwhelming ad frequency, with forced ads appearing every few minutes or even seconds R1R4R7R13. Many users report that purchasing the 'no ads' option (e.g., $1.99, $2.99) does not eliminate all ads, particularly those for boosts or rewards, leading to feelings of being scammed R2R3R6R10.
Stone Miner Stone Miner also receives widespread complaints about excessive ads, with pop-ups occurring every 15-30 seconds or every 2-5 minutes . Similar to Idle Digging, users who paid to remove ads still experienced frequent pop-ups, rendering the purchase ineffective . Some users even report ads appearing in the middle of mining gameplay .
Reliability and Bugs tieR3R10R22R24
Idle Digging Idle Digging has reports of paid ad removal not working R3R10. Users also mention issues with reward ads not lasting as long as promised or not activating R24, and some experience the game not loading at all R22. There are also instances of game progress being affected by disappearing locations R24.
Stone Miner Stone Miner users report issues with upgrades not increasing capacity R81 or even making the grinder weaker . Freezing and crashing are common problems R66, and some users lost all progress after phone resets due to a lack of cloud save options R68. There are also reports of videos not loading for rewards and carts disappearing .
Updates and Support edge: Idle DiggingR62R64R65R75
Idle Digging Reviews for Idle Digging do not explicitly mention update frequency or developer support, though some bugs and issues persist across multiple reviews, implying a lack of timely fixes R3R10R24.
Stone Miner Stone Miner users frequently complain about the lack of updates and new levels, with some noting no updates in two years R62R64R75R79. This leads to players quickly completing all available content. There are also concerns about the game's age rating inexplicably increasing to 17+ or 18+, preventing younger players from accessing it R65.
Pick Idle Digging if

you prefer a game with a potentially more consistent experience regarding upgrades and progression, as Stone Miner has reports of upgrades making the game harder .

Pick Stone Miner if

you are looking for a relaxing time-passer and don't mind the possibility of quickly running out of content, or if you are comfortable using airplane mode to mitigate ads R61R64.

Evidence note: Evidence for both apps is heavily skewed towards negative experiences with ads, which is common for free-to-play games. The lifetime ratings are high, but recent reviews are much more critical, especially regarding monetization and bugs.

Frequently asked

Do these games have too many ads?
Yes, both Idle Digging and Stone Miner are heavily criticized for having an excessive number of ads, with many users reporting forced ads appearing every few minutes or even seconds, significantly disrupting gameplay R1R4R7R13.
Does paying for no ads work in these games?
For both Idle Digging and Stone Miner, many users report that purchasing the 'no ads' option (e.g., $1.99, $2.99 for Idle Digging) does not fully eliminate ads, as they still encounter forced ads or ads for boosts/rewards, leading to dissatisfaction R2R3R6R10.
Are there progression issues or bugs?
Both games have reported progression issues and bugs, with Idle Digging users mentioning ineffective diamond purchases and disappearing locations R24, while Stone Miner players frequently report upgrades making their miner weaker, freezing, crashing, and a lack of cloud save options leading to lost progress R66R68R81.
Does Stone Miner have enough content?
No, Stone Miner users frequently complain about a lack of new levels and updates, with some finishing the game in a few hours or a week, leading to boredom once all content is completed R61R64R69R79.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R5] Idle Digging 4/5 · US A pretty good deal: This game is fun until things get too expensive and it takes longer to buy things but overall it’s a pretty damn good game
  2. [R8] Idle Digging 5/5 · US Relaxing: It’s cool, I’m kinda addicted. Not much to it, it’s simple and good to setting down and play.
  3. [R14] Idle Digging 5/5 · US This game is amazing!!!!: A little while ago I was looking for an actual good game to play and all I found was trash games!I thought it was hopeless but then I found this game!It’s so fun when you’re like me and have nothing to do on your phone or you just want new games.It 100% deserves what I rated it
  4. [R20] Idle Digging 5/5 · US Amazing game: Very peaceful and is just an amazing game. In my opinion, this game is worth it to download.
  5. [R1] Idle Digging 1/5 · US Ads: I do not mind watching ads to earn benefits. However don’t start ads without me choosing to do so. Nothing annoys me more. I have deleted the game.
  6. [R2] Idle Digging 4/5 · US Another ad pay game: Get the option to watch an ad for an in game benefit. I say no. Still get an ad that does not give any in game benefits. This isn’t an accident, this is deliberate. Just another developer who hopes you’ll pay them money to get ride of ads instead of balancing ads vs. Game play.
  7. [R3] Idle Digging 3/5 · US Paid for no ads - still getting ads: Paid for no ads in 2 different ways and still getting ads. Annoying. Game is fun otherwise.
  8. [R4] Idle Digging 1/5 · US Forced ads: Forced ads after 3 minutes of playing
  9. [R10] Idle Digging 1/5 · US Broken Ad Purchase: Purchasing Ad-free doesn’t work so you are still forced to watch the ads.
  10. [R22] Idle Digging 2/5 · US I mean: This game looks fun in all but when I downloaded it. It wouldn’t let me play like what?
  11. [R24] Idle Digging 3/5 · US Kind of messed up: The ads rewards don’t always last as long as they’re supposed to or activate. There’s lots of forced ads even when pressing the x. After beating the mars and earth locations it sent me to this janky halloween place that after I visited earth disappeared with no option to return. 🤷🏻‍♂️idk. The diamonds existing would be more productive if they could purchase variations of charact
  12. [R62] Stone Miner 5/5 · US Fun but no new Stuff: I think the devs have abandoned this game it is fun and it hasn't updated in two years but I still play it so I do think it is worth playing and I would like to help towards updates
  13. [R64] Stone Miner 1/5 · US NEED MORE LEVELS: I absolutely love this game. Best game ever. But I NEED more levels!!! I finished this game twice already and ran out of levels to play. PLEASE ADD MORE LEVELS
  14. [R65] Stone Miner 5/5 · US Plz change to 12+: There’s no reason for this to be 17+ this was a super cool game now it’s rated 17+ plz change to 12+
  15. [R75] Stone Miner 3/5 · US Game forgotten: They do not update or add new levels. The stronger you make your digger the weaker it gets in the gem dig rounds. Plus you have nothing to purchase with gems after a while. I have almost 4,000 and nothing to spend them on
  16. [R7] Idle Digging 2/5 · US Ad-watching simulator: It’s basically an ad-watching simulator. Every time you want to do anything other than clicking it forces you to watch an ad. Even if you want to level up it says do you want to watch an ad to get 2x? You say no and it still gives an ad. This is every 30s of clicking. I also have no idea what the clicking even does because they seem to love at the same pace without clicking.
  17. [R13] Idle Digging 1/5 · US Ads: Forced ads. Hate them. Stop it. Don’t make the player pay $3 usd to play a game for more than 90 seconds. If I wanna give you money I will.
  18. [R6] Idle Digging 3/5 · US No Ads isn’t no ads: Don’t pay for no ads. You’ll still have to watch ads for the boosts. Games okay but no ads and still making you watch ads is too scammy
  19. [R66] Stone Miner 3/5 · US Fun game. Needs updating: It’s been a good game, like how it has levels. Needs to be UPDATED, keeps freezing up on me and I have to reset the game. Happens multiple times per level and getting frustrated. Will update rating if fixed. Looking for a similar game now until then. Will try it again later
  20. [R68] Stone Miner 4/5 · US The game I did about it: I redownloaded the app but it lost my progress, because, it didn’t let me do anything earlier.
  21. [R81] Stone Miner 3/5 · US It doesn’t upgrade my capacity when i upgrade it.: I spend over 200 k and it won’t upgrade my capacity. Is it a glitch in the game or is is it in the games code?
  22. [R61] Stone Miner 1/5 · US Good… at first: So when I first downloaded this game it was pretty fun, but then it only had 10 or 20 levels and I beat it in 2 hrs
  23. [R69] Stone Miner 3/5 · US Good game needs more levels: It’s a good game to pass time but it needs more levels and more upgrades. Once you’ve completed all the maps no matter how much you upgrade your vehicle you can’t mine the bricks other then that fun game
  24. [R79] Stone Miner 1/5 · US No update has yet to come out: Only 56 levels too much to get the game to be played by me I am out deleting the game now I have finished it in a week and I thought it would take a year but it doesn’t seem that the game should have a chance of making money

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store