Comparison

Handball Watch vs RefHand

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

Head to head
About

Handball Watch

This app provides referees with a digital tool to track game time, scores, and player penalties, including 2-minute suspensions. It offers a clear overview of all warnings and penalties per team and player, with notifications for penalty expirations. All game events are logged and can be shared easily.

Highlights
  • Game time tracking
  • Score management
  • Penalty registration (incl. 2-min)
  • Penalty expiration signals
  • Overview of warnings and penalties
  • Event logging and sharing
Features
Read full description

Finally a digital solution for the handball referee! With this app you can easily register 3 game related details: - game time - score - penalties (incl 2-min!!) Please Note: the app fully supports English, French, German and Dutch. Screenshots in Dutch/English are just me deciding to spent time improving app and not spend time to make language specific screenshots.. sorry ;) Especially the registering of time penalties is made extremely easy. No matter how many time penalties are given, every penalty is properly shown and a signal is given when one or more are finished. A full overview of all given warnings and penalties per team and player makes it easy to keep track of what penalties have been given to whom. Finally all events are logged on the related iPhone App and can be shared with one push of the button. For now this app is still free, but this is temporary. Take this chance as early adopter and help us further develop this to become the ultimate watch for a handball referee!

About

RefHand

Features
Read full description

The complete tool for a handball referee. The playing time, the goals, the two-minute suspensions and the report, in one app that works with no signal at all. Several suspensions at once From both teams, each on its own clock, always on screen and ordered by who comes back first. The app counts every player's suspensions and warns on the third — the one that disqualifies. The number of players on court is always right, without anyone doing arithmetic. The clocks never stop because of the app: they survive the phone going in a pocket, the screen locking and the system killing the app. Suspensions run against the playing time rather than the wall clock, so a time-out freezes them and a suspension whistled before half time carries correctly into the second half. An Apple Watch that works on its own The running suspensions on your wrist, without walking to the table. The watch does not need the phone: its own clock, its own store, and a reconciliation whenever the two devices next see each other. Learn the rules Over 200 questions on the IHF Rules of the Game, each anchored to a rule, an article and a short quote of the official text, scheduled by spaced repetition. The rules are configuration 2 × 30 as the IHF plays it, the youth formats of Rule 2:1, minihandball and a free format. Half length, suspension length, players on court and team time-outs are all editable. No sign-up. No account. No data collected. RefHand is an unofficial tool, not affiliated with the IHF or any national federation. Free and PRO. Free covers three games with the clock, the score and the suspension panel, plus 20 study questions. PRO adds unlimited games and history, the PDF report signed with your own signature, statistics, the Apple Watch app, the full question bank and iCloud sync. The paywall never appears during a game. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Handball Watch4 screens
RefHand4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Handball Watch at none against RefHand's 2. Handball Watch also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. RefHand sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Handball Watch asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Handball Watch ships an update weekly, RefHand every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Handball Watch versus RefHand: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHandball WatchRefHand
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS11.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB11 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperLazymen Solutions BVLUIS ORLANDO LAZO GONZALEZ

In-app purchases

None

Handball Watch

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

RefHand

Subscriptions2
  • RefHand PRO — Monthly$3.991 Month
  • RefHand PRO — Annual3 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Handball Watch free?
Handball Watch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is RefHand free?
RefHand is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Handball Watch or RefHand have ads?
Neither Handball Watch nor RefHand shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Handball Watch or RefHand?
Handball Watch ships an update weekly, and RefHand every 3 days. Most recently, Handball Watch was updated on October 18, 2026 and RefHand on October 25, 2026.

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