Barre | Down Dog vs Return... Meditation Timer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Barre | Down Dog
Experience a new barre workout every time with this fitness app. It offers beginner-friendly routines, targeting and toning your entire body with high-rep, low-impact exercises. Customize your focus and enjoy dynamic music to keep you motivated.
- Unique workouts every time
- Beginner-friendly instruction
- Total body targeting and toning
- Customizable workout focus
- Dynamic music selection
- Syncs across devices
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From the developers of the highest rated Yoga App, Down Dog, Barre gives you a brand new barre workout every time! Unlike following pre-recorded videos, Barre keeps things fresh and keeps you motivated with endless content. BEGINNER FRIENDLY Start in the comfort of your own home. No fancy props required, all you need is a chair to get started. If you’re new to barre, we’ll guide you through all the movements with clear instruction, high-definition video, and plenty of modifications and alternatives along the way! TARGET AND TONE Our barre classes provide a total body workout, with thoughtful high-rep/low impact exercises. Get fit, and enjoy increased stamina, strength, balance, and flexibility, while sculpting gorgeous lean muscle and adding definition to your arms, abs, butt, and legs through exercises that isolate and tone. BOOST FEATURE Want to tailor your workout to focus more on a specific part of the body? We’ve got you covered! DYNAMIC CHANGING MUSIC Pick the type of music you love, and we supply beats that support where you are in your barre routine, whether you're warming up, building heat, or cooling down. SYNC BETWEEN DEVICES Automatically syncs across all your devices. Integrates with the Apple Health app! Down Dog's terms and conditions can be found at https://www.downdogapp.com/terms Down Dog's privacy policy can be found at https://www.downdogapp.com/privacy
Return... Meditation Timer
A minimalist, zen-inspired timer for establishing a consistent meditation practice. Offers immersive themes, flexible timer settings, and seamless integration across Apple devices. Prioritizes user privacy with no data collection or ads.
- Minimalist zen design
- Four immersive themes
- Customizable timer durations and bell sounds
- Apple ecosystem support (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, TV)
- HealthKit integration for Mindful Minutes
- iCloud sync across devices
- Privacy-focused, no ads or data collection
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Return... is a meditation timer with nothing in the way: one tap, a room to sit in, and a bell when it is time. No guided voices, no account, no feed. FIVE ROOMS - Water: a drop and its rings - Fire: flames on stone - Forest: leaves in sunlight - Silence: a black screen and the bell - Music: Still Rooms, an original album made for sitting STILL ROOMS Ten pieces written and recorded for this app play in order while you sit, in Spatial Audio on AirPods. On Apple Watch they play through your paired headphones. Previous and next sit beside pause, and nothing else is on the screen. THE TIMER - 5 to 60 minutes - Three bells: Singing Bowl, Temple Bell or Soft Chime, rung once, twice or three times - Repeat once, a set number of times, until a time of day, or until you stop - A background sound for each room, or none YOUR ICON Choose the cube from the album cover, the water drop, fire or forest. EVERY APPLE SCREEN - iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and iPhone Duo - Mindful Minutes logged to Apple Health - Settings and session history on every device through iCloud - A widget, and a Live Activity for the sit in progress PRIVACY - No account, no sign-in - No ads, no tracking, nothing sold - Anonymous crash reports and usage counts keep the app working, and you can switch them off in Settings
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Barre | Down Dog at Free against Return... Meditation Timer's $9.99. Barre | Down Dog also leads on ratings volume (23K vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.1). Return... Meditation Timer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). On rating and ads 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
Barre | Down Dog is free to download; Return... Meditation Timer costs $9.99 up front. Barre | Down Dog sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month. Return... Meditation Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Barre | Down Dog against 5.0 for Return... Meditation Timer. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Barre | Down Dog has 23K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Barre | Down Dog ships an update every 2 weeks, Return... Meditation Timer every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Barre | Down Dog | Return... Meditation Timer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.9 (23K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 74.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 23K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Subscription | Paid — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 100 MB | 243 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yoga Buddhi Co. | Christopher Crosley |
Customer experience
Barre | Down Dog
Return... Meditation Timer
Bugs and requests
Barre | Down Dog
Reported bugs
2 issues- Video freezing or glitching during workouts
- Inconsistent countdown timers
Requested features
5 requests- Warm-up and cool-down options
- Difficulty level selection
- More arm and upper body focused exercises
- Improved verbal cues and instructions
- Expanded music library and customization
Return... Meditation Timer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Barre | Down Dog
- Barre Subscription$12.991 Month
- All Access Subscription2 variants$12.991 Month
- All Access Subscription$79.991 Year
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- Barre Subscription$99.991 Year
- All Access Subscription2 variants$99.991 Year
- All Access Subscription$119.991 Year
Return... Meditation Timer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Barre | Down Dog free?
Is Return... Meditation Timer free?
Which has better reviews, Barre | Down Dog or Return... Meditation Timer?
Do Barre | Down Dog or Return... Meditation Timer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Barre | Down Dog or Return... Meditation Timer?
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