TimeSignals vs School Chimes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TimeSignals
This app provides an hourly time signal feature for your iPhone, offering gentle reminders with customizable chimes or spoken voices. Schedule signals in 30-minute intervals, and they will play even when the app is closed, unless Do Not Disturb is active.
- Hourly time signal
- Customizable voice options
- Chime and cuckoo clock sounds
- Scheduled alerts
- Background operation
- Adjustable intervals
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TimeSignals is an app that adds an hourly time signal feature to your iPhone. It gently reminds you of the time you may have forgotten with a chime at unexpected moments. You can choose the time signal voice from options like Japanese or English. Time signals can be scheduled in 30-minute intervals between 00:00 and 23:30 on the time setting screen. Once set, the time signal will play at the scheduled times even if the app is not running. (However, if Do Not Disturb mode is active, the time signal will not sound.) Please note that we do not respond to App Store reviews or questions posted there. For inquiries or requests, please contact us via the support email within the app. About the time signal, cuckoo clock, and chime sounds: The time signal does not differentiate between the hour and half-hour, nor does it indicate the specific time. The cuckoo clock chimes the number of hours on the hour and once at the half-hour. The chime distinguishes between the hour and half-hour but does not indicate the specific time. Use this option if you prefer not to have spoken announcements. The voice data for [Japanese Ami 12 o’clock] was provided by the following site: https://amitaro.net/ I'm sorry. I am not good at English. Thank you for interested.
School Chimes
This app functions as a customizable alarm and scheduler, offering a unique school chime sound inspired by the Westminster Quarters. It allows users to set and manage chime schedules, choose different chime types, and control notification display. Advanced users can integrate with the app via URL schemes for automated control.
- Alarm and scheduling
- School chime sound
- Westminster Quarters tone
- Customizable schedules
- Chime type selection
- Notification display control
- URL scheme integration
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This is a simple alarm app with scheduling capabilities. If you want to use a school chime based on the Westminster Quarters, this app is for you. In Japan, school chimes are commonly used to signal the beginning and end of class periods. The app also supports widgets. Settings: - Schedule Check: This feature allows you to check chime times with a list. - Schedule: You can choose a schedule, create a new schedule, and modify an existing one. - Chime Type: Select the tone or chime type. - Display Notifications: When turned off, notifications will only include sound. - Chime Test: Use this to ring the selected chime. - Information (i button): This section provides information about the app. URL Schemes: 1. ON/OFF (Format) sc://a/b/c - a: on or off. If set to off, the following items (b, c) are invalid. - b (optional): schedule number, with the top of the list (Default) being 0. - c (optional): tone number, with the top of the list (Westminster 1) being 0. Example: - Start with Default and Westminster 2: sc://on/0/1 - Stop: sc://off 2. Add a schedule (Format) sc://add/a/hhmmb/... (repeat, max 64 times) - add: constant - a: schedule name - hhmm: time in 24-hour format - b: description Example: - Add a “Test” schedule: sc://add/Test/0800Start/1200Noon/1700End If your iPhone doesn't read the URL scheme correctly, try converting spaces to %20 and commas to %2c.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: TimeSignals at 4.5 against School Chimes's 3.7. School Chimes's advantage is ratings volume (56 vs 6) and review sentiment (58% vs 49%). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. TimeSignals sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and School Chimes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
TimeSignals holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: School Chimes has 56 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 49% of TimeSignals's written reviews are positive against 58% of School Chimes's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TimeSignals | School Chimes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (6 ratings) — better | 3.7 (56 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 49.1% of reviews | 58.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 56 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 334 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yasushi Sakai | Takafumi AMANO |
Customer experience
TimeSignals
School Chimes
In-app purchases
TimeSignals
- Remove Ads.$1.99
- Use of User-Created Sounds$2.99
School Chimes
- Remove Ads$2.99









