Binary O'Clock vs Punctum
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Binary O'Clock
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There are only 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't. Binary O'Clock is a glowing binary clock for your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Six columns of LEDs show the time as hours, minutes and seconds, ticking away in ones and zeros. HOW TO READ IT Each column is one digit of the time: HH MM SS. Read each column from the bottom up. The LEDs are worth 1, 2, 4 and 8, so add up the ones that are lit to get the digit. For example, a column with the 2 and 4 LEDs lit shows 6. FEATURES • Full-screen 24-hour clock with hours, minutes and seconds • Widgets for the Home Screen, Lock Screen and StandBy • An Apple Watch app, and complications for your watch face • Keeps the screen on while the clock is showing • No ads, no accounts, no data collected BINARY O'CLOCK PRO Tap the clock to open Settings, and try any of it first: a live preview shows your clock before you buy. A one-time purchase unlocks, on Apple TV, Mac, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch alike: • Themes: White, Aviation green, and Dust, with dark dots on sand • Round LEDs • Learning mode: shows what each LED is worth and the number in each column • 12-hour time • A speaking clock: touch and hold the clock to hear "14:32 and 20 seconds", then a beep exactly on the second No subscription. The classic blue clock stays free, widgets and complications included. Also on Apple TV and Mac. Perfect on the nightstand in StandBy, on your wrist, or as a daily brain teaser for anyone learning binary.
Punctum
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Punctum is a dot-matrix clock for your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Every character is drawn dot by dot, in a typeface made for the grid, with the weight and roundness of the dots in your hands. A CLOCK THAT STAYS OUT OF THE WAY Time and date, a timer, your next calendar event, the song that is playing, and the battery. Pick what the display shows and how it moves. Dot size and shape are yours to set, and the display rolls from one value to the next. FULL DISPLAY Dock your iPhone and Punctum fills the whole screen, dimmed and quiet, as a bedside clock. Nothing but the dots, with a slow drift that protects the screen. WIDGETS AND WATCH Small Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, an Apple Watch app, and an Apple TV app, all in the same dots. PUNCTUM PRO, ONE PURCHASE Unlock everything once and keep it, shared with your family: - Live weather with 17 dot-drawn icons - Phosphor green and Night red inks, and a night schedule - Up to four timers, five rotating messages, and a live timer on the Lock Screen - Medium and Large widgets, and Apple Watch complications - Alternate app icons No account, no ads, no tracking. Punctum collects no data. Try everything free for 7 days. Then unlock the full app with a single one-time purchase. No subscription.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Binary O'Clock at none against Punctum's 1. Punctum's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads 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. Punctum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Binary O'Clock asks for nothing beyond the download.
Binary O'Clock ships an update every 3 weeks, Punctum every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Binary O'Clock | Punctum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Backslashed | Jiajia Zhang |
In-app purchases
Binary O'Clock
No in-app purchases
Punctum
- Punctum Pro Lifetime$3.99
Questions
Is Binary O'Clock free?
Is Punctum free?
Do Binary O'Clock or Punctum have ads?
Which is updated more often, Binary O'Clock or Punctum?
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