Comparison

UTC Orbit vs UTC NOW

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

UTC Orbit

This utility converts between human-readable dates and a YYDDD.FFFFFF format essential for spacecraft orbital element calculations. It also features a UTC alarm clock based on the day of the year and a large digit UTC display.

Highlights
  • UTC time conversion
  • YYDDD.FFFFFF format display
  • UTC alarm clock
  • Day of Year alarm setting
  • Large digit UTC clock display
  • Background alarm notifications
Features
Read full description

UTC Orbit; is a time conversion utility for use with Earth orbital elements calculations for spacecraft. The application also contains a UTC alarm clock that is based on "Day of Year". UTC stands for "Universal Time Coordinated", but is also known as Zulu Time or GMT Time. The application allows the user to select any epoch time in the future or past via pick wheels and that time is then displayed as YYDDD.FFFFFF where YY=Two digit year, where DDD=day of the year (000 - 366), and where .FFFFFF is the decimal fraction of the day. This is the standard format for manipulation of spacecraft tracking TLE's (Two Line Element sets). The app also works in reverse where the user types in the epoch time and the pick wheels will spin to the human readable date. The alarm is set via the pick wheels and operates in the background for sound and screen notification as well as the foreground if application is running. The user must "allow notifications" for the background to function. A useful feature of the app is that if you rotate the iPhone you then have a large digit UTC clock. iPad large digit clock is selected by touching the button "UTC screen". Note that this locks the screen rotation on all devices and to return to the calculation screen you must touch "Back to main screen".

About

UTC NOW

Easily convert UTC dates and times to your local time, and vice versa. This utility app features a simple interface and a small file size for efficient use. It offers ad-free functionality.

Highlights
  • UTC to local time conversion
  • Local time to UTC conversion
  • Simple interface
  • Small file size
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

UTC NOW converts UTC date and time to your local time, and back again. Pick a date and time in UTC and the matching local time appears instantly. Or pick your local date and time and see the UTC equivalent. Both directions work the same way, on their own tab. WHY UTC NOW - Simple interface. Two tabs, nothing to learn. - Small file size. - No ads. - No account and no sign-up. - Works offline. No network connection is used at any point. WHO IT IS FOR - Developers reading server logs, timestamps, and CI output in UTC - Pilots, sailors, and radio operators working in UTC / Zulu time - Anyone scheduling meetings or calls across time zones Your local time zone is taken from your device settings, so there is nothing to configure. Open the app and it is ready.

Screenshots

UTC Orbit2 screens
UTC NOW4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: UTC NOW at every 4 months against UTC Orbit's every 8 months. UTC NOW also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UTC Orbit ships an update every 8 months, UTC NOW every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
UTC Orbit versus UTC NOW: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUTC OrbitUTC NOW
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDave MasseyMasashi Yasaka

In-app purchases

None

UTC Orbit

No in-app purchases

None

UTC NOW

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UTC Orbit free?
UTC Orbit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is UTC NOW free?
UTC NOW is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do UTC Orbit or UTC NOW have ads?
Neither UTC Orbit nor UTC NOW shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UTC Orbit or UTC NOW?
UTC Orbit ships an update every 8 months, and UTC NOW every 4 months. Most recently, UTC Orbit was updated on October 2, 2026 and UTC NOW on October 1, 2026.

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