Hourglass vs Sandy Timer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hourglass
This app offers a simple and user-friendly hourglass experience. Set your desired time, pause it as needed, and enjoy the soothing visual of falling sand. It's designed for moments of calm and focused time management.
- User-friendly hourglass interface
- Set custom timer durations
- Pause and resume timer
- Soothing falling sand animation
- Comforting visual experience
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Simple and user-friendly hourglass app. You can set your desired time and also pause it. Watching the beautiful falling sand is soothing and comforting. standard Apple Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Sandy Timer
Simulates a real sand timer using your device's orientation. Simply flip your phone to start the countdown. Tap the screen to adjust timer settings.
- Realistic sand timer simulation
- Device orientation control
- Tap to change settings
- Simple and intuitive interface
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This a real sand timer app simulator. Gravity does its job... Just turn your device upside down to start the timer! Single tap the screen to change the timer options. Make sure to turn the device orientation lock Off... and turn it upside-down!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Sandy Timer at none against Hourglass's shown. Sandy Timer also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 30%). Hourglass's advantage is ratings volume (216 vs 6) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, update cadence 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. Hourglass sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Sandy Timer 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 Hourglass against 4.5 for Sandy Timer. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hourglass has 216 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 30% of Hourglass's written reviews are positive against 50% of Sandy Timer's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and July 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hourglass | Sandy Timer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (216 ratings) — better | 4.5 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 30.0% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 216 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Focaccia, Inc. | Cesar Mejia Valero |
Customer experience
Hourglass
Sandy Timer
In-app purchases
Hourglass
- Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Hourglass Timer Pro$3.99
Sandy Timer
- Pro$3.99
