# Five Bells — Ship's Bells wherever you are

> Digital ship's bell system for maritime tradition and timekeeping. (iPhone/iPad app by Mark Gould.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/five-bells/id1579094984 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Mark Gould](https://appshunter.io/developer/1575372263)
- Category: Utilities, Lifestyle
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.74/5 from 198 App Store ratings · 39 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 36 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2021-08-15
- Data updated: 2026-08-29
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/five-bells/id1579094984/reviews.md

## What is Five Bells?

For sailors or anyone interested in maritime tradition.

The ship’s bell has traditionally been used to mark the passage of time and the changeover of watches aboard ships.

Five Bells aims to replicate this tradition on your iPhone®. Bells can be configured to sound a traditional or simplified sequence. Alternatively, a single bell can be struck every hour.

A scheduled quiet-time can be enabled to prevent bells from sounding during a scheduled period.

Additional information relevant to sailors is also provided.

## Key features

- Traditional ship's bell simulation
- Configurable bell sequences
- Hourly single bell option
- Scheduled quiet time
- Maritime information for sailors

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Regular Coffee | $1.99 | one-time |
| Large Coffee | $2.99 | one-time |
| Lunch | $4.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of Five Bells?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 🔔 Great bell sounds
- 👍 Exactly what users wanted
- 💡 Useful for time tracking
- 💰 Free with donation option
- 🌙 Quiet hours feature appreciated
- 🧭 Tells sunrise/sunset times
- 🎖️ Good for Navy/Coast Guard background
- ✅ Works well generally
- 👍 Pleasant sounding bells
- 🚀 Fast, helpful tech support
- 🎯 Perfect for measuring day passage
- 🎶 Pleasant bell sound resonance
- 👍 Simple and useful free features
- 🌟 Best nautical time app
- 😊 Makes users feel nostalgic
- 🗣️ Catches attention of other boaters
- 👍 Great learning tool
- 💯 Acts exactly as hoped

**Cons**

- 🐛 Quiet time feature doesn't work
- ⏰ Time incorrect/chiming late
- 🔇 Silence function doesn't work
- 🔊 Too loud, needs volume control
- 🔔 Half-hour bell can be annoying
- ⌚ Doesn't work on Apple Watch
- ⚠️ Number of bells doubled on iPad
- 🔊 Bell pitch too low for outdoors
- 🔔 App doubles strikes sometimes
- ⚙️ Needs tweaking, bell sound choice
- 🐛 Bells stopped working after iOS update
- ❓ Bells strike when they want

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Quiet time feature doesn't work
- Time incorrect, chiming late
- Silence function doesn't work
- App doesn't work on Apple Watch, only one ding
- Number of bells doubled on iPad compared to iPhone
- App strikes bells when it wants, not always when required
- Bells stopped working after iOS 17 upgrade
- App doubles strikes (e.g., 16 bells at noon)
- Developer webpage link goes to an error

**Most requested features**

- Nicer clock interface
- Volume control or loud/medium/quiet switch
- Option to leave out half-hour bell
- Ability to have app on Apple Watch
- Choice of bell sounds
- Fix Apple Watch integration

## Recent user reviews (10 of 39)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/five-bells/id1579094984/reviews.md

### 5/5 — I wish you joy!

*2026-08-06, version 1.4*

Nothing beats this app. I love it. A glass of wine with you, sir!

### 5/5 — Perfect

*2026-03-06, version 1.4*

Just perfect.

### 5/5 — Five bells 🔔 GREAT

*2026-01-13, version 1.4*

Thank you for having such a good bell 🔔 clock app had an tried others some not loud enough an or not working at all ect, but this one is the best one update it once in awhile an maybe a nicer clock but good other wise 👍👍👍👍👍

### 5/5 — Fun

*2025-01-13, version 1.4*

It’s fun. I pretty much can tell time with it all through the night. It’s not intrusive, it’s sort of subliminal  

During the day it’s a conversation starter. 

Old sailors hardly seem to hear it.

### 4/5 — Time incorrect

*2024-11-01, version 1.4*

I’ve had this app for quite a while and love it but just recently it started chiming late. Not sure if this can be fixed by the designers but I hope it can. Please try!

### 5/5 — Exactly what I wanted

*2024-07-18, version 1.4*

Standard US Navy six four-hour "watches", appropriate bells on the half-hour. Settings can be customized to your preference -- bells can be "standard", "quieter", or "gentle" (I like the "quieter" bells -- sound is perfect for me). This free app works very well, and doesn't bug you with  "in app purchases", so I was quite happy to donate to the author's "tip jar".

### 5/5 — Bells and more

*2024-05-25, version 1.4*

This app is perfect. It makes the bells, has a quiet option to silence the bells overnight, and uses lat/long to also tell the times of sunrise/set and moonrise/set.

### 3/5 — Learned a lot

*2024-05-08, version 1.4*

This is great. I now understand how the system works, and it helps
me keep track of time when working.
I do wish the silence function worked. I have to turn my phone off when we sleep.. I don't mind hearing the occasional bell through the night but the wife is not keen.

### 2/5 — Quiet time doesn’t work

*2024-05-07, version 1.4*

I really wanted this to work but the quiet time feature doesn’t work. Despite it being set to not ring from after 9pm to 6.29am to not annoy the hell out of my wife, we have just been awoken at 3.00am by bells and she reports hearing them every half an hour earlier. So it’s likely to be a delete from me unfortunately and a strong recommendation against them for people who like their sleep uninterrupted by bells.

### 4/5 — Good app but not customizable

*2023-11-27, version 1.4*

I used to have a ships bills app on my android that was like this one and I really enjoyed it. The bell sound is really great, the only thing I wish is you could customize it so you can leave out the half hour bell. The bell is going off every 30 minutes can get annoying and distracting very quickly. 
I had to delete the app because of that reason

## Frequently asked questions about Five Bells

### What is the Five Bells app?

Five Bells is an application designed to replicate the traditional ship's bell system. It allows users to experience the historical method of marking time and watch changes aboard ships directly on their iPhone.

### How can I customize the bells?

You can configure the bells to sound a traditional or a simplified sequence. Additionally, there's an option to have a single bell struck every hour, providing a consistent timekeeping mechanism.

### Does the app have a quiet mode?

Yes, the app features a scheduled quiet-time option. This allows you to set a specific period during which the bells will not sound, preventing disturbances.

### Is this app free to use?

The application is free to download and use, with options for in-app purchases. These purchases may unlock additional features or customization options beyond the core functionality.

### Who would find this app useful?

This app is primarily designed for sailors or anyone with an interest in maritime tradition. It provides a way to engage with historical seafaring practices and offers relevant information for sailors.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.4 — 2022-06-12

A few bugs have been squashed.
A background image can now be added to the dashboard. screen.
FAQs and support information has been updated.

### 1.3.1 — 2022-05-12

Improved user experience on smaller devices.

### 1.3 — 2022-05-11

A few minor improvements and a couple of bugs squashed.
• A Help Section is now included to assist in making sure iPhone and Watch settings do not prevent the bells from sounding as expected.
• Bell schemes have been renamed for clarity.
• The name of each 'watch' now appears in the optional notification banners.

### 1.2 — 2022-02-27

New feature: 
There is now a choice of bell sounds available, including a quieter version of the standard bell sound.

Improvements:
Cleaned up various interface aspects.

Fixes:
Corrected an issue with moonrise/moonset times.

### 1.1 — 2021-08-15

No release notes.

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## Related topics

[ships bells](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ships-bells) · [bells marine](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/bells-marine)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-29.*