The Clocks vs ZenClock
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Clocks
This app offers a variety of clock styles including flip, digital, and analog. It features customizable alarms with music options, a world clock for multiple locations, and several user-friendly controls for brightness, touch lock, and flashlight activation.
- Flip, Digital, and Analog clock types
- In-app music alarms
- World clock with 500+ cities
- Customizable clock appearance
- Adjustable snooze interval
- Flashlight by shaking
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The Clocks of Simplicity. Three fundamental clock types featuring in-app music alarms and a world clock. Clock Types: • Flip Clock • Digital Clock • Analog Clock • Detailed customization options for each clock Alarm Clock: • Supports up to 5 alarms • Adjustable snooze interval • Use your own iPod music as alarm sounds (while the app is running in the foreground) World Clock: • Displays times for 6 locations • Supports over 500 cities and countries Miscellaneous: • Touch lock • Intuitive gestures • Burn-in protection • Activate flashlight by shaking • User-friendly button interface • Adjustable brightness, scale, and position
ZenClock
This app transforms your iPad or iPhone into a visually appealing desk clock. It offers interactive time displays with customizable background color modes, including a unique spectrum that cycles through millions of colors over time.
- Minimalist design
- Interactive time display
- Widgets for quick access
- Single background color modes
- Color Clock modes with spectrum cycling
- Optimized for desk stands
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Zen Clock is a minimalist iPhone clock built around calm, legibility, and strong typography. Designed to work beautifully on a desk, nightstand, charging stand, or an always-nearby spare iPhone, it offers a full-screen time surface that never demands your attention. We intentionally avoided building a generic alarm, timer, or productivity app. Instead, Zen Clock’s promise is simple: make checking the time feel quiet, polished, and visually intentional. Signature Color Clock Modes Experience time as a living color, not just digits. Our signature Color Clock modes transform the current time into a shifting, live background gradient. Full Spectrum: Maps Unix time across the entire color spectrum. Day Mode: Maps the current day from midnight to night. Hour Mode: Maps the current hour from the top to the end of the hour. Curated Visual Themes & Typography Choose from seven striking visual themes, including White on Black, Black on White, White on Blue, Red on Black, and our signature Color Clock modes. Pair your theme with four distinct typographic styles (Zen, Rounded, Mono, and Serif) to make your clock feel airy, friendly, precise, or editorial. Composed for Your Space With our preview-first settings, you aren't just toggling options—you are composing a timepiece. Choose the layout that fits your environment: Pure: The ultimate minimalist experience. Time only. Calendar: Elegantly integrates the weekday and date. Editorial: A beautiful, designed asymmetric composition. Board: A restrained status surface that gracefully holds supporting information without overpowering the time. Supporting Context (Premium) For those who want a bit more at a glance, Zen Clock gracefully integrates extra details without the clutter. Add a curated World Clock rail to display up to two global cities (such as Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, or Sydney). Access live local weather conditions and temperatures seamlessly integrated into your composed layout while the app is open. Home Screen Widget Bring a touch of Zen Clock to your Home Screen with our included minimal clock widget, featuring a stark black background, crisp white text, and our signature aesthetic. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sociallycs.com/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: The Clocks at 4.5 against ZenClock's 4.0. The Clocks also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 50%) and ratings volume (22K vs 4). ZenClock's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. The Clocks sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ZenClock sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
The Clocks holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Clocks has 22K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of The Clocks's written reviews are positive against 50% of ZenClock's.
The Clocks ships an update every 2 weeks, ZenClock every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Clocks | ZenClock |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (22K ratings) — better | 4.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.4% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 22K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 21 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Meanterm Inc. | Socially Conscious Software LLC |
Customer experience
The Clocks
ZenClock
Bugs and requests
The Clocks
Reported bugs
4 issues- Clock style randomly changes
- Alarm doesn't work when device is locked
- App freezes or crashes occasionally
- Time displayed on home screen is incorrect
Requested features
7 requests- Add timer and stopwatch functions
- Allow custom alarm sounds/music
- Improve alarm reliability and duration
- Provide more clock face/style options
- Add date display
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- Improve orientation/rotation controls
- Adjust brightness changes to be less disruptive
ZenClock
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Clocks
- The Clocks Premium Upgrade$3.99
ZenClock
- Zen Clock Plus Monthly$1.991 Month
- Zen Clock Plus Yearly$19.991 Year
Questions
Is The Clocks free?
Is ZenClock free?
Which has better reviews, The Clocks or ZenClock?
Do The Clocks or ZenClock have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Clocks or ZenClock?
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