Comparison

Hourly vs TypeWay

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

Head to head
About

Hourly

This app provides customizable hourly chimes and notifications, functioning like a personal wristwatch that alerts you at specific intervals. You can select unique sounds, display custom messages, and choose which times to be notified.

Highlights
  • Customizable hourly chimes
  • Selectable notification sounds
  • Display custom messages
  • Flexible notification scheduling
  • No ads or tracking
Features
Read full description

Hourly helps you keep track of time. It's just like having a wristwatch that beeps on the hour, except it's much more personal! You can choose: * The sound to play (from a simple wristwatch beep, to the legendary Greenwich Pips, to a spoken voice, or the chime of an old clock) * A message to display on the screen * Which hours, half hours, or any other times to notify you about We think it's the best hourly chime app on the App Store, and we're always listening for your feedback if you think we can do better! No ads, no tracking, no In-App Purchases. Ever.

About

TypeWay

This app offers a customized keyboard designed for 10-finger typing on iPads. It adapts to your hand size and typing habits, allowing you to save and restore configurations. It also functions as a separate note-taking app with export capabilities.

Highlights
  • Adaptive 10-finger typing keyboard
  • Save and restore keyboard configurations
  • Freeze current keyboard layout
  • Integrated note-taker app
  • Text export via share button
  • Multiple language layouts
Read full description

CUSTOMIZED KEYBOARD FOR 10-FINGER TYPING TypeWay supports touch typing with automatic adaptation of the key configuration. It adapts to individual hands and typing habits (only on iPad, in landscape mode). You can “Save” and “Restore” a configuration as a favorite. “Freeze” fixes the actual configuration. “Save” / “Restore” and “Freeze” your personalized keyboard. For beginners, we recommend a fixed configuration (“Freeze”) and the slow adaptation in TypeWay’s “Settings”. The keyboard layout offers British English, US English, and German with several international accents. iOS features are integrated, like cut, copy & paste, etc. TypeWay provides fast typing, e.g., for protocols, lesson scripts, interviews, emails, and basic text editing. TYPEWAY AS A SEPARATE APP Activate the separate note-taker app by tapping on the TypeWay icon. “New” opens a new text file. You can “Edit” and “Rename” the text notes. For text export, the share button offers, e.g., Mail, Messages, AirDrop, Print, DropBox, Pages, etc. TYPEWAY AS A UNIVERSAL KEYBOARD For use in various iPad applications, you can activate TypeWay in iPad’s settings: > “General” > “Keyboard” > “Keyboards” > “Add New Keyboard” > “TypeWay” This installation of TypeWay offers the question for “Full Access”. “Full Access” also can be activated or deactivated in the iPad settings: > “General” > “Keyboard” > “Keyboards” > “TypeWay” > “Full Access” ( TypeWay does not need “Full Access”, does not need to connect to the internet, and does not transfer information. It works with and without “Full Access” mode. All typed data stays local on the iPad. ) Each keyboard shows the Globe Button to switch between available keyboards. TypeWay and its logo are registered trademarks in several countries. © 2011-2024 Ralf Trachte, Switzerland, all rights reserved. Engineering: Pierre Bernard Support: app@typeway.com Information: www.typeway.com

Screenshots

Hourly3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Hourly at 73% against TypeWay's 30%. Hourly also leads on monetization model (free vs paid) and ratings volume (127 vs 1). TypeWay's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, 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

Hourly costs $0.99 and TypeWay $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

TypeWay holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hourly has 127 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 73% of Hourly's written reviews are positive against 30% of TypeWay's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hourly ships an update every 6 months, TypeWay every 27 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Hourly versus TypeWay: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHourlyTypeWay
Price$0.99$0.99
Rating4.0 (127 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.9% of reviews — better30.0% of reviews
Number of ratings127 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 months — betterEvery 27 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPad
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size94 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChris JonesRalf Trachte

Customer experience

Hourly

All ratings127 ratings
Positive74.8%
Neutral7.9%
Negative17.3%
Written reviews129 reviews
Positive72.9%
Neutral6.2%
Negative20.9%

TypeWay

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive30.0%
Neutral30.0%
Negative40.0%

Bugs and requests

Hourly

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Notifications don't work when phone is locked or in sleep mode
  • Notifications stop working after phone is silenced
  • App stops working after iOS updates
  • Settings fail to sync between iPhone and multiple Apple Watches
  • Duplicate notifications firing within 2-3 seconds
Show 8 more
  • Day-of-week selection not functioning correctly
  • Apple Watch notifications don't display the time, only logo
  • App doesn't work reliably in background
  • Chimes during phone calls and are audible to other party
  • 11 PM checkbox gets stuck on some devices
  • Notifications appear twice on Apple Watch
  • App stops notifying around midnight and restarts at 9 AM
  • Text display issues on Apple Watch with large text settings

Requested features

16 requests
  • More diverse sound options (cuckoo chime, gong, church bells, grandfather clock)
  • Ability to use system sounds and custom ringtones
  • Female voice option and multiple voice varieties (British, Australian accents)
  • Volume control for individual notifications
  • 24-hour continuous operation option
Show 11 more
  • iCloud sync with Apple Watch
  • Apple Watch standalone functionality without iPhone dependency
  • Ability to set different schedules for weekdays vs weekends
  • Customizable notification messages beyond 'it is X o'clock'
  • Quarter-hour chime intervals
  • Different sounds for hour vs half-hour vs quarter-hour
  • Haptic feedback option
  • Ability to select which device receives notifications
  • Profile/preset saving and restoration
  • Spoken time on Apple Watch notifications
  • Disable notifications without clearing history

TypeWay

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Hourly

No in-app purchases

None

TypeWay

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hourly free?
Hourly costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is TypeWay free?
TypeWay costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hourly or TypeWay?
TypeWay is rated higher. Hourly averages 4.0 out of 5 from 127 ratings, while TypeWay averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Hourly or TypeWay have ads?
Neither Hourly nor TypeWay shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hourly or TypeWay?
Hourly ships an update every 6 months, and TypeWay every 27 months. Most recently, Hourly was updated on October 17, 2026 and TypeWay on October 8, 2026.

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