Comparison

Chime vs The Time Is

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

Head to head
About

Chime

Set personalized alerts and time announcements with customizable sounds and repeat intervals. Features include night mode and automatic weekend disabling for uninterrupted rest.

Highlights
  • Personalized alerts
  • Flexible chime intervals
  • Preference saving
  • Night mode
  • Customizable time ranges
  • Do Not Disturb on weekends
Features
Read full description

Time Announcements & Alerts Chime is a versatile app that allows you to set personalized alerts and time announcements on your iOS device. Customize alert sounds, choose repeat intervals, enable night mode for restful sleep, and automatically disable alerts on weekends. Key Features: • Personalized Alerts • Flexible Chime Intervals • Preference Saving • Night Mode • Customizable Time Ranges • DND on Weekends Download Custom Chime now to enhance your time management with cheerful alerts and timely reminders on your iPhone. Stay on track and never miss a beat!

About

The Time Is

This utility app announces the time with real human voices and classic chimes, offering customizable hourly and half-hourly alerts. It operates offline, respects user privacy, and provides a one-time purchase for full access.

Highlights
  • Real human voice announcements
  • Multiple chime styles
  • Customizable hourly alerts
  • Half-hour chime option
  • Offline functionality
  • No data collection or tracking
  • One-time purchase
Features
Read full description

The Time Is. Not a notification. Not an alarm. Not another app demanding your attention. Just time — spoken clearly, on your schedule, exactly the way you want it. The Time Is announces the hour and half-hour using real human voices and classic chimes. No robotic text-to-speech. No gimmicks. Just a clean, reliable reminder that keeps you anchored in your day without ever pulling you out of it. You set the rules. Choose which hours you want to hear. Skip the ones you don't. Pick a voice that feels right. Select a chime that doesn't make you flinch. Enable the half-hour chime when you need tighter awareness. Mute it all when you need silence. The app bends to your day — not the other way around. — VOICES — Multiple real human voices to choose from. Darren. Lamin. Lucy. Suzanne. Evan. Karen. Zoe. Pick the one that fits your vibe and let it ride. — CHIMES — 6 chime styles built for every mood and setting: · Air Plane — clean and modern · Big Ben — classic and commanding · Bright — cheerful and light · Fun — playful and upbeat · Cuckoo — charming and nostalgic · Grandfather — warm and timeless — HOURLY CONTROL — Full hour-by-hour selection. Enable every hour. Select just your work hours. Or dial it down to a handful of checkpoints that actually matter. Select All or Select None — total flexibility, zero friction. — HALF-HOUR CHIME — Need finer awareness between the hours? Turn on the half-hour chime and stay even more in tune with your day. — BUILT FOR REAL LIFE — The Time Is works completely offline. No internet connection required — ever. It runs quietly in the background, respects your focus, and never phones home. No data collection. No analytics. No tracking. What happens on your device stays on your device. — ONE-TIME PURCHASE — No subscriptions. No ads. No feature tiers. No paywalls hiding the good stuff. You buy it once and it's yours — fully featured, forever. That's the deal and it isn't changing. — VERSION 2 — This isn't a patch. It's a full rebuild from the ground up. Cleaner architecture, smoother experience, more voices, more chimes, and a level of polish that version 1 was just warming up for. If you used v1, you'll feel the difference immediately. — ONE MORE THING — For the curious, the adventurous, and the ones who like to poke around in the corners of an app... there are Easter eggs hidden in this version. Unlock them and you may just find yourself hearing the time announced in a language that doesn't exactly exist on this planet. Or one that predates most of the ones that do. We'll say no more. You'll know it when you find it. Built out of necessity. Designed with care. Yours to keep.

Screenshots

Chime4 screens
The Time Is4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: The Time Is at 100% against Chime's 45%. The Time Is also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). Chime's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99) and ratings volume (819 vs 1). On 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

Chime is free to download; The Time Is costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Time Is holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chime has 819 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Chime's written reviews are positive against 100% of The Time Is's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chime ships an update every 5 months, The Time Is every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Chime versus The Time Is: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChimeThe Time Is
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.2 (819 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings819 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReeba SebastianDonald Fredrick

Customer experience

Chime

All ratings815 ratings
Positive77.1%
Neutral7.2%
Negative15.7%
Written reviews192 reviews
Positive45.3%
Neutral14.1%
Negative40.6%

The Time Is

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Chime

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Chime not working after iOS updates
  • Can't change Do Not Disturb settings
  • Inconsistent behavior across devices
  • Setup process gets stuck

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add custom sound options
  • Allow adjusting chime volume
  • Provide option to disable ads
  • Expand chime interval options
  • Add Apple Watch support

The Time Is

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Chime

No in-app purchases

None

The Time Is

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chime free?
Chime is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Time Is free?
The Time Is costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chime or The Time Is?
The Time Is is rated higher. Chime averages 4.2 out of 5 from 819 ratings, while The Time Is averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Chime or The Time Is have ads?
Neither Chime nor The Time Is shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chime or The Time Is?
Chime ships an update every 5 months, and The Time Is every 2 months. Most recently, Chime was updated on October 25, 2026 and The Time Is on October 24, 2026.

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