Comparison

XCTLY vs Noir

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

Head to head
About

XCTLY

This utility displays the current and elapsed time of the day. It also provides a visual graph to track the progress of the current day, month, and year.

Highlights
  • Current and elapsed time display
  • Daily progress graph
  • Monthly progress graph
  • Yearly progress graph
  • Time of day visualization
Features
Read full description

The widget displays the current and elapsed time of the day. A graph shows the progress of the current day, month and year.

About

Noir

Automatically applies a custom dark mode to every website visited in Safari. Enjoy a comfortable browsing experience at night with tailored styles and customizable themes. Integrates seamlessly with system features and prioritizes user privacy.

Highlights
  • Automatic dark mode for all websites
  • Custom dark styles per website
  • Over 20 built-in themes
  • Create custom themes
  • Per-website customization
  • System feature integration
  • Privacy-focused design
Features
Read full description

Noir is a Safari extension that automatically adds a dark mode to every website you visit. It makes browsing the web at night so much better. With Noir, you won’t be blinded by bright websites ever again. And the results look great too. Noir generates a custom dark style for each website you visit, based on the colors that are used on a page. You won’t even notice this happening in the background – that’s how fast it is – but you’ll certainly appreciate the end result: a beautiful dark mode tailored for each website, where contrast is preserved and highlights still pop. And with over 20 built-in themes and the ability to create your own, you can customize the results exactly the way you want. Noir works with any website you visit in Safari, automatically. By default, Noir is linked to your device’s Dark Mode, so websites will only go dark when you want them to. But you can easily customize this to your liking, even per website. Only want to use Noir on just a few specific websites? Sure thing! Disable Noir on some websites? No problem! Built from the ground up for iOS and iPadOS, the app feels right at home on your device. It supports the brand new Safari web extension feature, which means there’s no need to manually activate it every time you load a new page. The app also tightly integrates with system features such as Shortcuts, Control Center, Focus Filters, and Widgets to fully integrate Noir in all your workflows. And your settings are automatically synced to all your devices using iCloud. And just as importantly, Noir takes your privacy seriously: it doesn’t collect any of your browsing data. Period. Noir is made by an indie iOS developer. It does not include any subscriptions or ads. Buy Noir once, use it forever. Notes: • Found a website where Noir’s dark mode doesn’t look just right? Let me know by reporting it. The app will be frequently updated to address issues that are reported. Privacy Policy: • The Noir extension requires access to the websites you visit to analyze the existing style of the page and to override it with Noir's dark style. • Noir never collects your browsing data. The only data Noir ‘collects’ are your settings, and those will never leave your device or iCloud account. • You can read Noir’s full Privacy Policy at https://getnoir.app/privacypolicy

Screenshots

XCTLY4 screens
Noir4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Noir at 4.6 against XCTLY's 3.5. Noir also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 27 months) and ratings volume (1.4K vs 8). XCTLY's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $2.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

XCTLY costs $0.99 and Noir $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Noir holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noir has 1.4K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of XCTLY's written reviews are positive against 81% of Noir's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

XCTLY ships an update every 27 months, Noir every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
XCTLY versus Noir: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterXCTLYNoir
Price$0.99 — better$2.99
Rating3.5 (8 ratings)4.6 (1.4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews81.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings81.4K — better
Update frequencyEvery 27 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#2 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerinstant:solutions OGJeffrey Kuiken

Customer experience

XCTLY

All ratings8 ratings
Positive62.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative37.5%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%

Noir

All ratings1,352 ratings
Positive88.7%
Neutral3.0%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews873 reviews
Positive81.2%
Neutral7.6%
Negative11.2%

Bugs and requests

XCTLY

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Noir

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Websites crashing or repeatedly reloading
  • Images appearing in negative colors
  • Compatibility issues with iOS 17

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to blacklist/whitelist specific websites
  • Automatic dark mode scheduling based on sunset/sunrise
  • Option to customize text/link colors
  • Keyboard shortcut to toggle Noir on/off

In-app purchases

None

XCTLY

No in-app purchases

None

Noir

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is XCTLY free?
XCTLY costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Noir free?
Noir costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, XCTLY or Noir?
Noir is rated higher. XCTLY averages 3.5 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Noir averages 4.6 from 1.4K ratings.
Do XCTLY or Noir have ads?
Neither XCTLY nor Noir shows ads.
Which is updated more often, XCTLY or Noir?
XCTLY ships an update every 27 months, and Noir every 3 weeks. Most recently, XCTLY was updated on September 20, 2026 and Noir on September 22, 2026.

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