Comparison

Visual Countdown Timer vs Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)

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

Head to head
About

Visual Countdown Timer

This app helps children transition between activities with a visual countdown. A picture slowly reveals as time elapses, and a fun animation and sound reward completion. It's designed to make daily tasks more engaging and less of a struggle.

Highlights
  • Visual time progression (green to red)
  • Picture reveal as time counts down
  • Customizable reveal images
  • Time-of-day background changes
  • Reward animation and sound
  • COPPA and GDPR compliant
Features
Read full description

This is the Educational Institution Edition of "Visual Countdown Timer". It has all the great features of the normal version but comes without any Ads or InApp purchases, and is opted into Apple's volume discount for educational institutions. COPPA and GDPR compliant. Is it a battle to get your child to do something quickly? This visual countdown App was designed for my 2 year old son to help him get his reward chart star for getting dressed quickly. Getting him dressed used to take forever with many stalling strategies being deployed. Now he runs upstairs asking for the "Countdown". Watch as the timer runs from green to amber to red, helping the child understand that time is running out. A fun picture is slowly revealed as the time runs down and when the time is up the child is rewarded with an exciting sound and the picture spins. Background image changes to match the time of day, so that your child is given subtle hints as to what time of day the task they are being asked relates to. Choose your own image to reveal from your iPhones photo library to really surprise your child. Endless possible uses: * Getting dressed * Getting out the door (shoes and coats on) * Tidying * Brushing teeth * Sharing toys Turns daily struggles into fun time!

About

Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)

This app offers a visually engaging countdown timer designed for various uses, from managing work breaks and children's activities to focusing on tasks. It features unique visual styles that reveal or pixelate photos as time elapses, making time management more interactive and fun.

Highlights
  • Visual countdown timer
  • Photo reveal and pixelate styles
  • Customizable alert sounds and colors
  • iCloud timer synchronization
  • Live Activities support
  • Guided Access for kids
  • AirPlay and tvOS support
Currently charting
Read full description

Time’s Up! is a fun, visual timer that you’ll actually want to use. Whether it’s for you, your kids, or someone else, Time’s Up! will make counting down much more engaging. Timers can be used at work and at home, whether you’re making sure you take a break or telling kids it’s bedtime. Timers exist everywhere, but none of them are fun and visually appealing — and that can be important when you’re dealing with kids big and small! Time’s Up! has the features you need to make time fun again. ——————— What’s the difference between “Time’s Up! — Visual Timer” and “Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)”? The free-to-download version of Time’s Up! lets you try the app five times before upgrading via in-app purchase. “Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)” is the same app but available paid-upfront with no limits in the app itself. “Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)” exists so educators can purchase the app through Apple’s Volume Purchase Program (VPP) for Education. It also excludes any third-party frameworks and analytics from the app. ——————— Time’s Up! isn’t just for kids and workaholics. The possibilities are endless: • Adults who need to set timers to stop them from working for too long without a break. • Kids who don’t want to do their homework but can be convinced to work in smaller chunks. • Setting reading or other activity timers before bed time. • Helping bigger kids focus on an activity for a set amount of time. • Setting timers for exercises — put Time’s Up! on your TV screen using AirPlay and turn a timer into the focal point for your exercise group. • Anything that’s based on a specific amount of time! What makes a timer fun? Time’s Up! has 5 fun styles to choose from, including: • “Reveal” a photo from your Photo Library as the seconds tick down. • “Pixelate” makes a photo more clear as a timer gets closer to completion. • “Puzzle” breaks a photo into jigsaw puzzle pieces and then puts the pieces into their places as time progresses. Alternatively, there are more traditional clock faces if you just want a simple timer. Timers can be customized with their own alert sound and color, too. Other key features include: • Sync your timers between iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV using iCloud. • See your timers on your Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, and Apple Watch with Live Activities (requires iOS 18). • Guided Access to prevent kids from switching apps and changing timers, making sure only you have the power to control time. • Airplay and tvOS support so you can put a timer up on a TV screen. • Get audio updates each minute or countdown the last 10 seconds. • On macOS, you can float the timer window above other apps so it’s always visible. Time’s Up! has no ads or data trackers. We believe your data is your own and we don’t collect any of it.

Screenshots

Visual Countdown Timer4 screens
Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Visual Countdown Timer at 251 against Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)'s 8. Visual Countdown Timer also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months) and price ($3.99 vs $5.99). Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)'s advantage is chart position (#187 vs unranked) and device support (5 vs 3). On rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Visual Countdown Timer costs $3.99 and Time’s Up! Timer (VPP) $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Visual Countdown Timer against 4.4 for Time’s Up! Timer (VPP). That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Visual Countdown Timer has 251 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Visual Countdown Timer ships an update monthly, Time’s Up! Timer (VPP) every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Visual Countdown Timer versus Time’s Up! Timer (VPP): the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVisual Countdown TimerTime’s Up! Timer (VPP)
Price$3.99 — better$5.99
Rating4.5 (251 ratings) — better4.4 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings251 — better8
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#187 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS15.515.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size165 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFehners Software LLPOverdesigned, LLC

Customer experience

Visual Countdown Timer

All ratings251 ratings
Positive87.3%
Neutral6.8%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Visual Countdown Timer

No in-app purchases

None

Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Visual Countdown Timer free?
Visual Countdown Timer costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Time’s Up! Timer (VPP) free?
Time’s Up! Timer (VPP) costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Visual Countdown Timer or Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)?
Visual Countdown Timer is rated higher. Visual Countdown Timer averages 4.5 out of 5 from 251 ratings, while Time’s Up! Timer (VPP) averages 4.4 from 8 ratings.
Do Visual Countdown Timer or Time’s Up! Timer (VPP) have ads?
Neither Visual Countdown Timer nor Time’s Up! Timer (VPP) shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Visual Countdown Timer or Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)?
Visual Countdown Timer ships an update monthly, and Time’s Up! Timer (VPP) every 2 months. Most recently, Visual Countdown Timer was updated on September 23, 2026 and Time’s Up! Timer (VPP) on September 10, 2026.

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