TalkingTime vs HourChime
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TalkingTime
This app announces the current time audibly at user-defined intervals, such as hourly, half-hourly, or quarter-hourly. It operates efficiently in the background after initial setup, conserving battery life. The app adheres to your phone's 12-hour or 24-hour time format.
- Audible time announcements
- Hourly, half-hourly, quarter-hourly alerts
- Set and forget operation
- Battery efficient
- Respects phone's time format
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Hear the time without stopping to look at your screen. TalkingTime gives you spoken time announcements, chimes and personal voice reminders on iPhone and iPad. Use a regular time cue to notice the passing hours while you work, study or move through your day. START WITH EASY • Use the included Easy schedule. • Choose spoken time or chimes, a voice, and 12- or 24-hour speech. • Add your own text to an enabled Easy announcement time. PRO SUBSCRIPTION • Edit Easy announcement times. • Use the separate Custom schedule at any minute, on specific dates or on selected weekdays. LEGACY PRO Your original lifetime access continues to include Easy editing and messages. The separate Custom schedule requires a Pro subscription. SET UP ANNOUNCEMENTS Keep Master Enable on and allow Notifications and Sounds for TalkingTime. Then return to the Home Screen with a normal swipe up or Home button, giving the app time to prepare your schedule. Prepared announcements use iOS local notifications and can sound when the screen is locked. Keep the device powered on. Silent mode, ringer volume, Focus and audio routing can affect what you hear. GET HELP Open It’s not working and tap Get support. Diagnostic information is sent automatically. You can also contact support@fortuisoft.com. The app and Apple purchase sheet show the current Pro price, billing period and any eligible trial. Pro is an automatically renewing subscription unless cancelled. Manage or cancel subscriptions through your Apple account. Privacy: https://www.fortuisoft.com/talkingtime/Privacy.html Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
HourChime
This app provides hourly or 30-minute voice cues and sounds to help you stay focused and on track. It features customizable quiet hours and a clean, battery-friendly interface. The app is designed for reliable background operation.
- Hourly/30-minute chime intervals
- Spoken time announcements
- Customizable mute schedule
- Background operation
- Battery-friendly design
- Light/Dark Mode support
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Chime your day into focus. Hourly or every-30-minute voice cues that keep you on track. Quiet when you need it—powerfully simple when you don’t. HourChime is a focused time-management app that keeps your rhythm with hourly or every-30-minute chimes and optional spoken time, delivering notifications reliably in the background. Set quiet hours with a mute schedule for sleep, meetings, or deep work. A clean, intuitive UI is optimized for Light/Dark Mode and designed to be battery-friendly with no unnecessary background tasks. Features • Chime interval: hourly or every 30 minutes • Spoken time announcement (on/off) + bell sound toggle • Mute Schedule: per time window/day for sleep & meetings • AM/PM or 24-hour display switch • Works reliably in the background after permission • One-time in-app purchase removes ads & unlocks all features (Restore Purchases supported) • Minimal data use; privacy-minded by design Perfect for • Focus sessions, study blocks, and Pomodoro-style routines • Office hours, standups, and calendar-free time awareness • Gentle timekeeping at home and bedtime wind-downs Download now and give your day a clear, calm cadence.
Screenshots
Verdict
TalkingTime and HourChime both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 93% of TalkingTime's written reviews are positive against 62% of HourChime's. TalkingTime also leads on ratings volume (309 vs 3). On price, rating, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. TalkingTime sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per month and HourChime sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for TalkingTime against 4.7 for HourChime. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TalkingTime has 309 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of TalkingTime's written reviews are positive against 62% of HourChime's.
TalkingTime ships an update every 6 weeks, HourChime every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TalkingTime | HourChime |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (309 ratings) | 4.7 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 92.7% of reviews — better | 61.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 309 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fortuisoft LLC | Mitsuhiro Hashimoto |
Customer experience
TalkingTime
HourChime
Bugs and requests
TalkingTime
Reported bugs
2 issues- Announcements not working after iOS updates
- Inconsistent behavior with music/audio playback
Requested features
4 requests- More frequent time announcements (e.g., every 10 minutes)
- Custom voice recording option
- Integration with calendar/scheduling apps
- Separate volume control for announcements
HourChime
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
TalkingTime
- Pro upgrade7 Days trial$1.991 Month
HourChime
- Premium$1.99









