Comparison

Time’s Up! vs Color Timer

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

Head to head
About

Time’s Up!

This app offers a fun and engaging way to track time with visually appealing countdowns. It's perfect for managing tasks, study sessions, or bedtime routines for both children and adults. Choose from unique visual styles or traditional clocks, and customize alerts for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • Visual countdown styles (Reveal, Pixelate, Puzzle)
  • Customizable alert sounds and colors
  • iCloud timer syncing across devices
  • Live Activities for Lock Screen and Dynamic Island
  • Guided Access for child lock
  • AirPlay and tvOS support for TV display
  • Minute-by-minute audio updates
Features
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 — try it for free, NO ADS. Time’s Up! isn’t just for kids and workaholics, though. 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! is a free download with a trial limit of five countdowns. After that, there is a small one-time purchase that unlocks the app on all your devices, forever. ——————— What’s the difference between “Time’s Up! — Visual Timer” and “Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)”? You are looking at the free-to-download version of Time’s Up! that 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. ——————— Time’s Up! has no ads or data trackers. We believe your data is your own and we don’t collect any of it.

About

Color Timer

Features
Read full description

See how much time is left at a glance. Color Timer is a visual timer with a full screen countdown. As time passes, the colored area shrinks, giving you a clear sense of the time remaining. Set it on your desk for a study session, glance over while cooking, or keep your next presentation on time. A clear screen for your countdown Large numbers and vivid color fill the timer screen. There are no ads on the countdown screen and no full screen ads to wait through before starting. Keep the timer open and your screen stays awake while the countdown runs. Save it once. Start with one tap. Save your favorite timers with a name, duration and color, then start them directly from the home screen. Choose 1, 5, 10 or 25 minutes with quick duration buttons, reuse a recent duration, or set your own hours, minutes and seconds. Big numbers, in portrait or landscape Use your phone or tablet upright on your desk or sideways for a meeting, presentation or class. Choose from 18 color themes. Turn on the finishing-soon cue for a change in color and an on-screen message as time runs low. Pause, adjust and keep going Pause and resume, add a minute, or restart when you need to. Lock the controls to avoid accidental taps. Adding a minute to a running countdown leaves your saved timer's duration unchanged. Choose how your timer ends Preview and choose from 8 built-in alarm sounds. Switch sound and vibration on or off separately. In a quiet space, turn both off and use the visual display. Time for everyday moments • Study and work: set aside time for one task. • Cooking and tea: check the time with a quick glance while your hands are busy. • Presentations, meetings and classes: share an easy-to-see countdown. • Stretching and breaks: make room for a few minutes away from your desk. For a simple Pomodoro routine, start a 25-minute focus timer, then start a 5-minute timer for your break. No account is needed. The timer itself works offline. The app interface follows your device language, with Korean and English supported. Ads appear only on the home screen. Allow notifications to receive an end-of-timer alert while the app is in the background. Sounds and vibration depend on device capabilities and system settings.

Screenshots

Time’s Up!4 screens
Color Timer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Color Timer at none against Time’s Up!'s 1. Time’s Up!'s advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months). On price and iOS requirement 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. Time’s Up! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Color Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Time’s Up! ships an update every 6 weeks, Color Timer every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Time’s Up! versus Color Timer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTime’s Up!Color Timer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (435 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews84.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings435 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOverdesigned, LLCSeulki Eom

Bugs and requests

Time’s Up!

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Hotkey functionality broken after update
  • Timer not working after app update
  • No sound at the end of timer

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow longer timer durations
  • Add ability to set multiple timers
  • Improve customization options
  • Provide more sound/alert options
  • Add child-proof timer lock feature

Color Timer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Time’s Up!

One-time1
  • Time’s Up! Unlimited$5.99
None

Color Timer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Time’s Up! free?
Time’s Up! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Color Timer free?
Color Timer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Time’s Up! or Color Timer have ads?
Color Timer shows ads; Time’s Up! does not.
Which is updated more often, Time’s Up! or Color Timer?
Time’s Up! ships an update every 6 weeks, and Color Timer every 5 months. Most recently, Time’s Up! was updated on October 10, 2026 and Color Timer on October 11, 2026.

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