School Chimes vs BellsClock
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
School Chimes
This app functions as a customizable alarm and scheduler, offering a unique school chime sound inspired by the Westminster Quarters. It allows users to set and manage chime schedules, choose different chime types, and control notification display. Advanced users can integrate with the app via URL schemes for automated control.
- Alarm and scheduling
- School chime sound
- Westminster Quarters tone
- Customizable schedules
- Chime type selection
- Notification display control
- URL scheme integration
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This app is a basic alarm with scheduling capabilities. If you wish to use a school chime inspired by the Westminster Quarters, this app can fulfill your request. In Japan, the school chime is commonly used to signal the beginning and end of class periods. Settings: - Schedule Check: This feature allows you to check chime times with a list. - Schedule: You can choose a schedule, create a new schedule, and modify an existing one. - Chime Type: Select the tone or chime type. - Display Notifications: When turned off, notifications will only include sound. - Chime Test: Use this to ring the selected chime. - Information (i button): This section provides information about the app. URL Schemes: 1. ON/OFF (Format) sc://a/b/c - a: on or off. If set to off, the following items (b, c) are invalid. - b (optional): schedule number, with the top of the list (Default) being 0. - c (optional): tone number, with the top of the list (Westminster 1) being 0. Example: - Start with Default and Westminster 2: sc://on/0/1 - Stop: sc://off 2. Add a schedule (Format) sc://add/a/hhmmb/... (repeat, max 64 times) - add: constant - a: schedule name - hhmm: time in 24-hour format - b: description Example: - Add a “Test” schedule: sc://add/Test/0800Start/1200Noon/1700End If your iPhone doesn't read the URL scheme correctly, try converting spaces to %20 and commas to %2c.
BellsClock
Easily create and manage custom school bell schedules. Import schedules from CSV files or websites, and export your own. Personalize screen colors and navigate with a hamburger menu.
- Customizable bell schedules
- Add/delete class periods
- Modify start/end times
- Import from CSV/web
- Export to CSV
- Personalize screen color
- Hamburger menu navigation
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Version 2 update: * Navigation among pages is done by the hamburger menu. * The screen color can be modified and personalized. * Individual bell schedules can be exported to Comma Separated Value (CSV) text format. Details: You can customize a bell schedule by adding or deleting class periods, modifying their start and end times, adding or deleting whole schedules, and modifying the names of the periods. School bell schedules can be imported from a Comma Separated Values text file located on the device or, for school-wide distribution of a set of schedules, from a Web site. The CSV file format is simple: - Quotation marks are optional. - A schedule record precedes the set of period records. - Period record format is periodname,start HH:MM,end HH:MM HH can be 24 hour or 12 hour; simply add AM or PM for 12 hour times. - Sample file: # Comment lines have leading hash mark # Next line is a schedule name (no colon or comma) Regular # These are period records name-of-period,HH:MM,HH:MM Home Room,7:55,8:05 1st Period,8:08,8:48 2nd Period,8:51,9:31 Break,9:31,9:41 3rd Period,9:44,10:24 4th Period,10:27,11:07 5th Period,11:10,11:50 Lunch,11:53,12:33PM 6th Period,12:36,13:16 7th Period,1:19PM,1:59PM 8th Period,14:02,14:42 Office Time,2:42p,15:15 # Next schedule A.M. Assembly Home Room,7:55,8:03 Assembly,8:05,9:15 1st Period,9:18,9:51 # And so on.....
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: BellsClock at 4.2 against School Chimes's 3.7. BellsClock also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). School Chimes's advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (56 vs 5). On price and device support 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. School Chimes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. BellsClock asks for nothing beyond the download.
BellsClock holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: School Chimes has 56 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 58% of School Chimes's written reviews are positive against 50% of BellsClock's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
School Chimes ships an update every 4 weeks, BellsClock every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and June 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | School Chimes | BellsClock |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (56 ratings) | 4.2 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.2% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 56 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 47 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Takafumi AMANO | Francis Golazeski |
Customer experience
School Chimes
BellsClock
In-app purchases
School Chimes
- Remove Ads$2.99
BellsClock
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is School Chimes free?
Is BellsClock free?
Which has better reviews, School Chimes or BellsClock?
Do School Chimes or BellsClock have ads?
Which is updated more often, School Chimes or BellsClock?
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