Comparison

Best Sand Timer vs Time’s Up!

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

Head to head
About

Best Sand Timer

A digital hourglass timer that visually represents the passage of time. It's designed to be kid-friendly, offers customizable alarm sounds, and allows users to personalize the timer's color. This universal app provides a stylish way to manage tasks and stay notified.

Highlights
  • Digital hourglass visualization
  • Kid-friendly time perception
  • Customizable alarm sounds (16 options)
  • Notification even when inactive
  • Color themes for timer customization
  • Universal app for iPhone and iPad
Features
Read full description

Digital sand timer with artistic design. Time flows and does it stylishly. This digitized hourglass can be used to time anything for up to 60 minutes. It's like having a nice looking visual indicator of how much time is left on your task. * KIDS FRIENDLY Timer visualizes time to kids and lets them feel the time. Without reading or even knowing the numbers one can look at the visualized time flow, feel it and understand how long to wait or whether to hurry up. * STAY NOTIFIED It lets you set the alarm sound that will play when the timer is finished. You can choose from 16 unique alarm sounds, melodies and loops. You’ll be notified when your time is up even if you’re using another app or your device is locked. It can also repeat the sound alarm (up to 3 times) at the given interval if it was missed/snoozed. * COLOR YOUR TIME You can easily change the timer color to fit your personal lifestyle. There are 5 color themes: turquoise, red, green, amber and pink. Just pick the one you like in the application settings. * UNIVERSAL APP Timer works both on your iPhone/iPod and iPad, contains HD graphics for retina and iPad displays and supports all screen orientations for all devices. [+Retina graphics for iPad 3rd generation] * SEE ALSO: Best Timer Beautifully designed sand timer, stylish kitchen timer, countdown/up and powerful stopwatch All in one creatively combined Best Timer application to suit all your timing needs. Search "Best Timer" on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/app/best-timer/id415656570) * There are plenty of things we really need to time, just do them the way you like! ***Important for iOS5+ devices: if there is no alarm played when the application is inactive please go to system Settings / Notifications, select the application name and configure the timer's alarms, whether they perform sound and if they're to appear on lock screen. VISIT US: smartphoneware.com

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.

Screenshots

Best Sand Timer4 screens
Time’s Up!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Time’s Up! at 84% against Best Sand Timer's 46%. Time’s Up! also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 14 months) and rating (4.6 vs 4.2). Best Sand Timer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.4). On price 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Time’s Up! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Best Sand Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Time’s Up! holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Time’s Up! has 435 ratings behind it against 19, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Best Sand Timer's written reviews are positive against 84% of Time’s Up!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Best Sand Timer ships an update every 14 months, Time’s Up! every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Best Sand Timer versus Time’s Up!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBest Sand TimerTime’s Up!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (19 ratings)4.6 (435 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.6% of reviews84.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings19435 — better
Update frequencyEvery 14 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.4
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSerhii SimkovskyiOverdesigned, LLC

Customer experience

Best Sand Timer

All ratings19 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative15.8%
Written reviews149 reviews
Positive45.6%
Neutral14.8%
Negative39.6%

Time’s Up!

All ratings435 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews121 reviews
Positive84.3%
Neutral6.6%
Negative9.1%

User reviews

Best Sand Timer

From 19 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Visually appealing sand timer
  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 👍 Good for focus and visual timing
  • 👍 Customizable colors
  • 👍 Works well for kids and educational purposes

Room to improve

  • 🐛 No sound/alarm issues
  • 🐛 Alignment and graphics issues
  • 🐛 Maximum timer limit of 1 hour
  • 🐛 Ads can be intrusive
  • 🐛 App crashes/freezes

Time’s Up!

From 435 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helps with time blindness
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive UI
  • 👍 Customizable timer settings
  • 👍 Useful for ADHD and autism
  • 👍 Great for classrooms and kids

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and performance issues
  • 🔒 Paywall after limited free usage
  • 🔒 Lack of flexibility in timer settings
  • 🔒 Cannot move timer window freely

Bugs and requests

Best Sand Timer

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • No sound when timer reaches zero
  • Sand not aligned with hourglass
  • Graphics not aligned properly
  • Buttons partially off screen
  • App not configured for certain iPhone screens (e.g., XR)
Show 3 more
  • App freezes when trying to change timer
  • Alarm fails to go off if other notifications occur
  • Force closes when timer ends

Requested features

10 requests
  • Display current time on screen
  • Keypad for setting timer
  • Option to hide digital timer
  • Longer timer duration (beyond 1 hour)
  • Vibrate function
Show 5 more
  • More sound options
  • Sound control on screen
  • Option to view timer when phone is locked
  • Sound while sand is pouring
  • Start timer by turning the iPad

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

In-app purchases

None

Best Sand Timer

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Time’s Up!

One-time1
  • Time’s Up! Unlimited$5.99

Questions

Is Best Sand Timer free?
Best Sand Timer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Time’s Up! free?
Time’s Up! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Best Sand Timer or Time’s Up!?
Time’s Up! is rated higher. Best Sand Timer averages 4.2 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while Time’s Up! averages 4.6 from 435 ratings.
Do Best Sand Timer or Time’s Up! have ads?
Neither Best Sand Timer nor Time’s Up! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Best Sand Timer or Time’s Up!?
Best Sand Timer ships an update every 14 months, and Time’s Up! every 6 weeks. Most recently, Best Sand Timer was updated on October 14, 2026 and Time’s Up! on October 10, 2026.

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