Hourly vs The Big Keyboard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Customizable hourly chimes
- Selectable notification sounds
- Display custom messages
- Flexible notification scheduling
- No ads or tracking
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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.
The Big Keyboard
This keyboard app offers larger text and buttons for improved readability, especially for users with vision difficulties. It provides customizable themes, multiple layouts including a numeric keypad and arrow keys, and supports various languages.
- Scalable text size up to 2.5x
- Comfortable button sizes
- Word suggestions and autocorrect
- Multiple keyboard layouts (QWERTY, numeric, arrows)
- Full emoji collection
- Customizable themes (light, dark, high contrast)
- Sound and haptic feedback controls
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LARGE TEXT & BIG KEYS: Scale text size up to 2.5x larger - perfect for better readability Button sizes stay comfortable while text gets bigger No more squinting at tiny letters Word suggestions + Autocorrect Supported Keyboard Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian, German (QWERTZ), French (AZERTY), Finnish, Danish, Polish, Turkish, Romanian, and Swedish. MULTIPLE KEYBOARD LAYOUTS: Full QWERTY keyboard with smart auto-capitalization Dedicated numeric keypad for numbers Arrow keys for precise cursor control Complete emoji collection with categories Symbols and punctuation layouts CUSTOMIZABLE EXPERIENCE: Light, Dark, High Contrast and themes Adjustable text and emoji sizes Sound and haptic feedback controls ACCESSIBILITY FOCUSED Perfect for users with vision difficulties Large, clear text that's easy to read High contrast themes for better visibility Simple, intuitive design EASY TO USE Quick setup in just minutes Works with all your favorite apps Smooth, responsive typing experience No complicated settings - just works! Why choose The Big Keyboard? Unlike other keyboards that make everything bigger, The Big Keyboard smartly scales only the text while keeping buttons the perfect size. This means better readability without losing screen space! Perfect for: Seniors who need larger text Users with visual impairments Anyone who wants a more comfortable typing experience People who prefer customizable keyboards Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Hourly at 4.0 against The Big Keyboard's 3.5. Hourly also leads on ratings volume (127 vs 13) and review sentiment (73% vs 64%). The Big Keyboard's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 6 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On ads, 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
Hourly costs $0.99 and The Big Keyboard $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Hourly holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hourly has 127 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Hourly's written reviews are positive against 64% of The Big Keyboard's.
Hourly ships an update every 6 months, The Big Keyboard every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hourly | The Big Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (127 ratings) — better | 3.5 (13 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.9% of reviews — better | 64.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 127 — better | 13 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chris Jones | Defriction LLC |
Customer experience
Hourly
The Big Keyboard
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
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- 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
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- 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
The Big Keyboard
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Hourly
No in-app purchases
The Big Keyboard
No in-app purchases
