Cuckoo Timer vs Coves
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cuckoo Timer
This app helps you manage tasks and cultivate skills by tracking time spent on each activity. It links tasks to specific skills, allowing you to visualize your progress towards mastery and achieve your 10,000-hour goals.
- Classical time tracking for tasks
- Task management with skill attribution
- Skill cultivation progress visualization
- Daily beautiful background pictures
- Full-screen focus mode
- Task priority setting
- iCloud sync
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Task management combined with 10,000 hours rule. It takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a field. We work not just for work, we complete our tasks not just for tasks themselves. In fact, what we want are SKILLS! Every task completed should end up with a better SKILL. ***What Cuckoo Can Do For You*** 1. Classical Time Tracking: Track time spent for every task you created. 2. Task Management: Shake your device to quickly add new Tasks, attribute your Task to a certain Skill that you want to cultivate. 3. Skill Cultivation: Tasks are for improving your skills. You can link multiple Tasks to one Skill, and time spent on those tasks will be summed as the total time of the Skill. So that you can see clearly how your skills grow towards 10,000 hours. ***More Features*** 1. A new beautiful background picture everyday; 2. Full-screen focus mode to focus on your work; 3. Advanced features such as task priority setting, iCloud sync. Privacy Policy & Use of Terms Link:https://cuckoo2017.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/布谷布谷隐私政策/
Coves
This study app integrates task prioritization, focus timing using the Pomodoro Technique, and spaced repetition for memory retention. It helps users plan their study sessions, block distractions, and track progress with detailed analytics.
- Eisenhower Matrix for task prioritization
- Pomodoro, Countdown, and Stopwatch focus timers
- Spaced repetition for memory review
- Daily/weekly focus goal setting
- Detailed focus analytics and reports
- Ambient sounds for distraction blocking
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**coves — Space-Themed Study Timer** Turn every focus session into a voyage through space. coves completes the full learning loop — break down tasks, plan your schedule, focus, and review — so every session counts. **Break Down Tasks** Goal System: Set daily or weekly goals for each task and track progress at a glance. Visible goals keep procrastination at bay. **Plan Your Schedule** Time Blocks: Create plans with start and end times, building your day block by block on the calendar, with reminders when it's time. See at a glance what to study today. Priorities: Mark each plan by importance and urgency, so you always know what matters most. Smart Review: Auto-scheduled reviews at 1, 2, 4, 7, and 15 days help you revisit key points and beat the forgetting curve. **Focus** Focus Timer: 25 minutes of focus and 5 minutes of rest, auto-looped, with a longer break after four rounds. Start focused, end with a reminder. Three Timer Modes: Focus Timer, countdown, and stopwatch — for exam countdowns, homework deadlines, or daily accumulation. Focus Environment: White noise, Focus Mode, and custom ringtones create your own cockpit. **Daily Review** Daily Review: Compare plan vs. actual — see what you accomplished and where you drifted, so tomorrow's plan lands better. Statistics: Heat maps, efficiency scores, and weekly voyage reports — your learning data at a glance, shareable as cards. **Growth** Growth System: Accumulate voyage mileage with every session, growing from cadet to captain, unlocking planets and honors. **Siri** Say "Start learning" to Siri and begin timing instantly. **No Payment Required to Start** Create 10 tasks and manage categories and tags without paying. **Subscription Details** coves Membership offers a monthly subscription (¥22/month), a yearly subscription (¥148/year), and a lifetime purchase (¥198). Subscriptions auto-renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Any unused portion of a free trial period (if offered) will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Manage or cancel your subscription anytime in Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions. Renewal charges occur within 24 hours before the end of the current period. Privacy Policy: https://www.softwindlab.com/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Cuckoo Timer at 4.7 against Coves's 4.2. Cuckoo Timer also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (319 vs 11). On price, review sentiment, 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. Cuckoo Timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Coves sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Cuckoo Timer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cuckoo Timer has 319 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Cuckoo Timer's written reviews are positive against 67% of Coves's.
Cuckoo Timer ships an update every 4 days, Coves every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cuckoo Timer | Coves |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (319 ratings) — better | 4.2 (11 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.1% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 319 — better | 11 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 54 MB | 103 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 俊航 何 | 朋 潘 |
Customer experience
Cuckoo Timer
Coves
Bugs and requests
Cuckoo Timer
Reported bugs
9 issues- Skill recording time sync issue with manually uploaded tasks
- Timer freezes and requires manual time entry
- Language setting reverts to Japanese unexpectedly
- Data loss after app update
- Skills option disappeared after update
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- Notification sound doesn't work when muted
- Manually entered tasks don't appear in daily reports
- iPad text cutoff and layout issues
- Music interruption during timer countdown
Requested features
12 requests- Complete English translation for all UI elements
- Customizable number of tasks per Pomodoro session
- Widget support for home screen
- Focus mode that discards time if app is switched
- Task deadline reminder notifications
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- Daily recurring task functionality
- Time-block calendar view showing task allocation
- Ability to toggle/mute notification sounds
- Mac version of the app
- Undo/delete functionality for completed tasks
- iCloud sync across devices
- Badge notifications for pending tasks
Coves
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Cuckoo Timer
- Pro Account$1.99
Coves
- Colors$1.99
- Ringtones$1.99
- White noise$1.99
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- Member$4.99
- Value Bundle$4.99








