# VAL: Voice, alarm & chimes — the ultimate audio clock app > Customizable talking and chiming clock with custom audio and smart scheduling. (iPhone/iPad app by Quinton Williams.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/val-voice-alarm-and-chimes/id6760596283 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Quinton Williams](https://appshunter.io/developer/1885203841) - Category: Utilities, Lifestyle - Price: $6.99 with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.80/5 from 11 App Store ratings · 4 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 16.1 · 109 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-05-04 - Data updated: 2026-08-21 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/val-voice-alarm-and-chimes/id6760596283/reviews.md ## What is VAL? If you’ve ever tried to find a clock app that actually works the way you want, you’ve probably had to settle for less than ideal solutions. VAL changes that. VAL is a fully customizable talking and chiming clock for iPhone and Mac. Make Time Your Own VAL supports a wide range of clock types, from spoken time announcements to traditional chimes. The app includes high-quality recordings from real clocks — including rich Westminster chimes from a grandfather clock with tubular bells. You can also import your own audio to create something completely personal: a favorite clock, a familiar voice, or a custom soundscape. VAL gives you full control over how your time sounds. Flexible Announcements Choose announcements every 15, 30, or 60 minutes — or let each clock define its own schedule. Announcements continue even when the app is closed. Settings are saved per interval so you can experiment freely without losing your setup. Need the time instantly? Tap Speak Now from inside the app, or assign the Speak Time shortcut to your Action Button or Back Tap for quick access anywhere. Powerful Alarms VAL’s alarms are built to cut through Focus and silent mode, while letting you use any compatible clock sound from your collection. Quiet hours are available when you'd rather not be interrupted. Smart Scheduling Automatically switch between clocks based on time, date, or events. Wake up to one sound, wind down with another, or mark special occasions with custom audio. Schedules and quiet hours can even follow local sunrise and sunset — calculated entirely on your device, with no network required. Easy Sharing VAL uses a custom file format to share configurations. Move setups between iPhone and Mac, or share them with others — whether it’s a single setting or an entire clock collection. Build Your Own Clocks VAL supports 13 distinct clock methods — from simple digit-by-digit speech to syllable-level recordings that sound like natural conversation, classic Big Ben-style chimes, cuckoo clocks, and more. A full methods reference is built right into the app, so you have everything you need to craft a clock from scratch. Already using Steve’s Talking Clock on Windows? VAL is fully backward compatible with all of its clock methods, so any clock you use there will work seamlessly. Whether you rely on spoken time, enjoy the tradition of real clock chimes, or want to build a sound experience that’s entirely your own — VAL is the clock app for you. Download once, and enjoy across both your iPhone and Mac. ## Key features - Customizable spoken time announcements - Import custom audio for sounds - Powerful alarms with Focus/silent mode bypass - Smart scheduling based on time, date, or events - Build your own clock sounds - Share clock configurations ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: $6.99. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | small tip | $0.99 | one-time | | Medium tip | $2.99 | one-time | | large tip | $4.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (4 of 4) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/val-voice-alarm-and-chimes/id6760596283/reviews.md ### 4/5 — More chime sounds? *2026-06-18* I really like the accessibility of this ap. I wish there were more sounds to choose from within the app in the future update though. **Developer response:** Hi, and thank you so much. Firstly, I agree with you 100%. I wanted to try and balance app size with options to get you started, but custom imports are where the app shines. I am working on a community library which will allow users to both upload and download packs of their own which should help significantly. Unfortunately, finding recordings of all of the samples is pretty tricky, but I anticipate the library will spawn lots of new creations ☺️. Keep an eye out, and thank you again for reviewing. ### 4/5 — The world should not stop *2026-06-08* The only reason I do not like this app and why I might remove it is it seems that the whole world has to stop while you’re telling the time I think the volume of the clock should be way under other apps and other settings I think that what’s happening right now is if I’m watching a YouTube video for example and the clock comes on my YouTube volume is greatly diminished while the chime is working. I think this is something you need to work on. to extend this of you, I think you should allow us to set the volume of the chime rather than depending upon what level you think should be preset. Maybe that’s better. if the option is there, please let me know so that I can set the volume and that will change my review and my rating **Developer response:** Hi. This is something I am working on for a future update, but notifications cause all other audio to duck which is an iOs limitation, unfortunately. ### 5/5 — A wonderful clock app *2026-05-16* I highly recommend this app to anybody who is looking for time announcements with either chimes, grandfather, clocks, or voices. It is very accessible and very customizable. ### 5/5 — Very Excellent Audio Clock App! *2026-05-06* I've missed the older clock apps I've had that became obsolete, so this one is a terriffic replacement and even better than before. Very screen reader accessible, and above and beyond in ease of use for setting up, making changes, and even importing your own clock audio schemes! Very well thought out and planned. Thank you very much! **Developer response:** Thank you so much, I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I felt exactly the same way, especially since even the ones which had decent audio weren't very customizable. There's much more in store, and I hope you'll stick around😀. ## Frequently asked questions about VAL ### What is VAL? VAL is a fully customizable talking and chiming clock application for iPhone and Mac. It allows users to set spoken time announcements, use traditional chimes, import their own audio, and build unique clock sounds. ### Does VAL have ads? No, VAL does not contain advertisements. It is a paid application that offers an ad-free experience. ### How much does VAL cost? VAL is available for a one-time purchase of $6.99. This price grants access to the app on both iPhone and Mac devices. ### Can I use my own sounds with VAL? Yes, VAL allows you to import your own audio files to create personalized clock sounds. This includes custom sounds, familiar voices, or any audio you wish to use for time announcements or alarms. ### How often is VAL updated? The latest version of VAL is 1.5, and it was last updated on July 3, 2026. The app is generally updated to introduce new features and improve performance. ### What devices does VAL support? VAL is compatible with iPhone and iPad devices. It also offers seamless integration with Mac computers. ### Is VAL suitable for children? VAL has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for children. The app's core functionality revolves around time announcements and alarms. ### Can VAL alarms be heard in silent mode? Yes, VAL's alarms are designed to cut through Focus and silent mode. This ensures that important alarms are not missed, even when the device is set to quiet hours. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.5.1 — 2026-08-06 You can now join the WhatsApp community from inside the app. Go to settings>join the VAL community on WhatsApp. You can now sign up to join the beta from the app as well. Click "join the VAL beta" in settings. From here, you will be able to enter your email and a TestFlight link will automatically be sent. Note, these links are not public and are single use only. Notification reliability has been further improved to account for more edge cases, including custom quarter clocks with quiet hours. Now, if the number of scheduled notifications is 64 or under, the app will continue to use repeated notifications. Alarms now retain their alarm sounds, even if the clock behind them is deleted. Once the alarm is deleted, the sound goes with it. This just ensures you don't end up getting the iOS system alarm sound. More bug fixes under the hood, including additional diagnostic data. Far more updates are coming, so stay tuned. I hope to see more of you in the community. Have a great weekend, and happy timekeeping! ### 1.5 — 2026-07-03 bug fixes. Only kidding, here's what's new. :) New: You can now set favorites, which you can cycle through with three-finger swipes (one-finger swipes for non-VoiceOver users) on the main clock tab. These can also be reordered when using custom sorting instead of alphabetical sorting, which is the default. New: Each clock can have its own settings beyond the per-method settings - for example announcement style, announcement interval, and more. New: Per-clock settings can travel with a clock when you share it, so it sounds exactly as you intended. You can disable this in Announcement Settings if you'd prefer to use your existing settings. New: Time Voice can now always use your last-used talking clock. Handy if you'd used a talking clock before but never set a dedicated Time Voice, then switched your announcement clock to a non-speaking one. This can also be adjusted in announcement settings. New: You can optionally have your Time Voice follow a schedule's talking clock - when a schedule with a talking clock is active, that clock is used for the Time Voice, then it returns to your usual setting once the schedule ends. New: All methods have been renamed and slimmed down from 13 to 10, with an entirely rewritten Methods Reference under Help - great if you'd ever like to build your own clocks. A massive shout out and thank you to Dan Parker for the rewrite and names New: You can now report bugs directly in the app, settings>report a bug. Reports will go straight to me and make it much easier to fix things. New: Chiming clocks now support alarm sounds. New: You can now edit the individual files inside a clock, including the Additional Info section - under View and Manage Clocks in Settings, as a rotor action. This includes duplicate, rename, and delete actions for individual audio files. New: Share, delete, and duplicate individual or multiple files at once on this screen, just like you can with multiple clocks. Tap Edit, select the files you want, and the buttons appear at the bottom of the screen. New: You can now customize swipe / VoiceOver actions - remove, add, and reorder them to your heart's content. New: Assign three-finger swipe-left and swipe-right gestures to frequently used actions (for example Export, or Adjust Chime Splits). This lets you remove actions from the rotor while keeping the ones you use most only a swipe away. New: Foreground Play mode. When the app is open, clock files play directly through the audio player instead of via notifications - so chiming and musical clocks play fully, without gaps or splits. New: British-style "past/to" support. Clocks using it announce the traditional way - "it's quarter past 3," "it's ten minutes to midnight." All talking methods support this format; see the Methods Reference for more information. new: The app now has a proper share extension. This means finding the option to import .zip and .val files will be significantly easier and won't be buried under the "more" section. Fixed: Standard alarms (non quiet hours or schedule end) not reactivating after being skipped. Fixed: The "Switch to imported clock?" dialog not appearing after importing. I hope you enjoy this update - and stay tuned, there's much more to come. Stay cool, and happy timekeeping. Last note, If you'd like to join the app's WhatsApp community, the link is below. https://chat.whatsapp.com/EJf5dQh5uw8JO4V2KqXGCx ### 1.0.8 — 2026-06-24 Hi all, and happy Summer! This update fixes a bug where schedules were not behaving correctly. You'll also now be notified upon opening the app when there's a new update available. Stay tuned for some exciting new updates in the next couple of weeks. Thank you for your support, and happy timekeeping. ### 1.0.7 — 2026-06-09 Hello, fellow timekeepers.This update aims to make the app more resilient for surviving updates. Several people have reported sounds and notifications and alarm sounds not working properly after updating. Thank you to everyone who has been helping catch and squash bugs. Westminster sligh mantle will once again play the correct chime for half past. Happy timekeeping! ### 1.0.6 — 2026-06-02 This update contains several fixes which should improve the overall experience. The "always use chime splits" option should now work as intended. Selecting an alarm sound will no longer dismiss the screen, instead requiring you to go back which mirrors iOS behavior. Diagnostics have also been improved to handle non speaking clocks. The westminster sligh mantle and StMichaels sligh mantle have been adjusted to match whittington's volume (a volume adjustment is coming). When cycling between hourly only clocks and back to quarter based ones with clock type intervals turned off, the app will remember the main interval you've set and revert accordingly. That's about it for this update, but keep an eye out for 1.1 A lot of exciting changes coming. Have a good week, and happy timekeeping! ## Related topics [chime clock](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/chime-clock) --- *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 2026-08-21.*