Hourglass vs Colored Timer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hourglass
A minimalistic countdown clock app designed for iPhone. It offers a clean interface with a visual progress indicator and supports multiple time units. Easily share countdowns and receive notifications when events conclude.
- Minimalistic design
- Multiple time units
- Visual progress indicator
- Unlimited countdowns
- Sharable content
- Push notifications
- Notification Center widget
- Apple Watch compatibility
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When time doesn't fly, countdown in style with Hourglass. Hourglass is a minimalistic countdown clock for iPhone. It's simplistic, easy to use, and has a beautiful design. Features: - Beautiful, Minimal Design: The flagship feature of Hourglass is its incredible design. The sleek, black background blends seamlessly with the device bezel. No complicated features or in-app purchases, just a clear design with easily readable text. - Multiple Time Units: Simply tap the time remaining to switch between seconds, minutes, hours, and days. - Visual Progress Indicator: The beautiful blue ring surrounding the time indicates the progress of the time remaining to an event. - Unlimited Countdowns: Countdown to as many events as your heart desires. Simply swipe left or right to switch countdowns, and get an overview of all your countdowns by going back to the Countdowns list - Sharable Content: Easily E-mail, Text, or Tweet the time left to an event by tapping the Share icon. - Push Notifications: Get notified when a countdown finally finishes. - Notification Center Widget: Instead of having to open Hourglass, just swipe down to view your Countdowns in the Notification Centre. - Compatible with Apple Watch: Now, you can easily view your countdowns quickly and easily, right on your wrist!
Colored Timer
This utility app allows users to set up multiple timers that visually change color as time progresses. Define custom "Timer events" to associate specific colors with different time intervals. A pro version offers more timers and color options.
- Color-changing background
- Configurable timer events
- Multiple simultaneous timers
- Pro version for more timers
- Customizable colors
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Colored Timer is a configurable timer that changes its background color as time passes. The colors can be defined as "Timer events". Up to three timers can be used at the same time in Colored Timer. Use Colored Timer Pro for up to 10 timers with unlimited colors.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hourglass at 80% against Colored Timer's 50%. Hourglass also leads on rating (4.0 vs 3.7) and update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Hourglass holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 10 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Hourglass's written reviews are positive against 50% of Colored Timer's.
Hourglass ships an update fortnightly, Colored Timer monthly. The most recent releases landed on June 10, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hourglass | Colored Timer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better | 3.7 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 10 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.2 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mat Cartmill | Sven Bergmann |
Customer experience
Hourglass
Colored Timer
In-app purchases
Hourglass
No in-app purchases
Colored Timer
No in-app purchases
