Comparison

Dry Fire Timer vs Recoil Shot Timer

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

Head to head
About

Dry Fire Timer

This app provides a versatile dry fire training experience with a comprehensive drill library and a precision timer. It offers unique features like standalone Apple Watch operation, pause and resume functionality, and customizable sound alerts for enhanced training sessions.

Highlights
  • Standalone Apple Watch app
  • Pause and resume drills
  • Customizable sounds and signals
  • Drill sharing via export/import
  • Training log and progress charts
  • 23 built-in competition drills
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

The dry fire timer other apps wish they were. Dry Fire Timer is the only dry fire trainer with standalone Apple Watch, pause & resume, fully customizable sounds, and drill sharing — features you won't find anywhere else. 23 built-in competition drills. Progress charts. One-time purchase. APPLE WATCH — STANDALONE Run drills from your wrist without your phone. Browse by category, start with one tap, feel haptic signals — Stand By tap, Go buzz, Par Time pulse. Logs sync back to iPhone automatically. PAUSE & RESUME MID-DRILL Paused on rep 23 of 50? Resume from rep 24. Your session isn't lost because life interrupted. CUSTOMIZABLE SOUNDS 4 presets — Default, Tactical, Soft, Classic — or build your own. Assign a different tone to each of the 5 signals from 8 tone types. Preview before you train. EXPORT & IMPORT DRILLS Share your entire training program. Export drills as JSON, send to your squad via AirDrop or text. They import and run your exact drills with your exact par times. TRAINING LOG & PROGRESS CHARTS Every session logged with time, par times, notes, and target photos. Charts track your improvement over weeks. Export logs as CSV with photos for your coach. DRILL LIBRARY 23 built-in competition drills — Core, Match, and all 8 Steel Challenge stages. Build unlimited custom drills with multiple strings and individual par times per string. PAR SHIFT One tap shifts every par time across all strings by 1/100s. Tiny increments that compound into real speed. Perfect for Steve Anderson's "Refinement and Repetition." PRECISION TIMER Hardware-scheduled beeps — millisecond accuracy. Random or fixed start delay. Visual flash signals work with ear pro. AirPods and Bluetooth speaker support. No subscriptions. No ads. No account. Works offline. On the App Store since 2013.

About

Recoil Shot Timer

This app uses your Apple Watch to time shooting drills and tracks your performance on your phone. It accurately times shots even in noisy environments or with suppressed firearms, providing detailed analytics on your performance.

Highlights
  • Apple Watch drill timing
  • Phone-based performance tracking
  • AI-powered recoil detection
  • Accurate timing in noisy conditions
  • Detailed shot statistics
  • Weapon type performance breakdown
Read full description

Time drills with your Apple Watch and track performance on your phone. Our recoil-driven, AI-powered app succeeds where traditional acoustic timers fail, giving you the ability to confidently time shots next to other shooters, in the rain, and with suppressed firearms. Track every shot. See every split. Your data is yours, forever. Easily view shot times from your watch as you're training. Dive deeper post-practice and view shot stats on your phone including number of rounds fired, fastest draw, and fastest split for any given day or period. You can also view stats by weapon type (pistol or rifle). Recoil Shot Timer was developed in partnership with the Office of Naval Research as part of the Joint Marksmanship Assessment Package for the Marine Corps. Trained with over 20,000 shots from hundreds of Marines and civilians, Recoil has become a fully functional shot timer with remarkable accuracy. Works best on centerfire rifles and pistols.

Screenshots

Dry Fire Timer4 screens
Recoil Shot Timer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Recoil Shot Timer at Free against Dry Fire Timer's $8.99. Recoil Shot Timer also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 31%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Dry Fire Timer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and chart position (#48 vs unranked). On rating, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Recoil Shot Timer is free to download; Dry Fire Timer costs $8.99 up front. Recoil Shot Timer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Dry Fire Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Dry Fire Timer against 4.3 for Recoil Shot Timer. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Recoil Shot Timer has 25 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 31% of Dry Fire Timer's written reviews are positive against 75% of Recoil Shot Timer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dry Fire Timer ships an update every 2 months, Recoil Shot Timer fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Dry Fire Timer versus Recoil Shot Timer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDry Fire TimerRecoil Shot Timer
Price$8.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (5 ratings)4.3 (25 ratings) — better
Positive reviews30.8% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings525 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#48 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB61 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperKonstantin KuriloNIftyBytes

Customer experience

Dry Fire Timer

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive30.8%
Neutral7.7%
Negative61.5%

Recoil Shot Timer

All ratings24 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

None

Dry Fire Timer

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Recoil Shot Timer

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly14 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Recoil Pro - One Time Purchase$39.99

Questions

Is Dry Fire Timer free?
Dry Fire Timer costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Recoil Shot Timer free?
Recoil Shot Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dry Fire Timer or Recoil Shot Timer?
Recoil Shot Timer is rated higher. Dry Fire Timer averages 4.2 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Recoil Shot Timer averages 4.3 from 25 ratings.
Do Dry Fire Timer or Recoil Shot Timer have ads?
Neither Dry Fire Timer nor Recoil Shot Timer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dry Fire Timer or Recoil Shot Timer?
Dry Fire Timer ships an update every 2 months, and Recoil Shot Timer fortnightly. Most recently, Dry Fire Timer was updated on September 23, 2026 and Recoil Shot Timer on September 15, 2026.

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