Comparison

Hourglass vs Real Hourglass

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

Head to head
About

Hourglass

A visual timer app that uses falling sand to help you track time peacefully. Ideal for focus sessions, meditation, or any activity where a calm sense of time passing is desired. Offers customizable colors and time visibility with a Pro upgrade.

Highlights
  • Visual falling sand timer
  • Customizable timer durations
  • Relaxing sand animation
  • Timer completion notifications
  • Restart recent timers
  • Customizable colors (Pro)
  • Toggle time visibility (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Watch the sand fall and enjoy a calmer way to keep track of time. Hourglass is a simple visual timer that lets you enjoy the gentle motion of falling sand while counting down your time. Use it for studying, focused work, reading, breaks, meditation, or any moment when you want time to feel a little more peaceful. Unlike an ordinary digital timer, Hourglass gives you a visual sense of time passing as the sand slowly falls. Perfect for: • Studying and focus sessions • Work and productivity • Reading and hobbies • Pomodoro sessions • Meditation and quiet time • Relaxing breaks Features: • Set any timer duration you like • Relaxing falling-sand animation • Quickly restart recently used timer durations • Notifications when the timer finishes • Customize sand and background colors with Pro • Show or hide the remaining time with Pro Whether you're studying, working, meditating, or taking a break, Hourglass gives you a simple and calming way to experience time. standard Apple Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Real Hourglass

A minimalist sand timer app that offers a realistic hourglass animation for focus, relaxation, and time management. It's designed to provide a distraction-free experience for various daily activities.

Highlights
  • Realistic hourglass animation
  • Intuitive interface
  • Focus sessions
  • Meditation aid
  • Daily routine timer
  • Distraction-free design
Features
Read full description

Experience the calm and clarity of a traditional hourglass, reimagined for your smartphone. This app offers a beautifully animated sand timer that helps you stay focused, relax your mind, or manage your daily activities with ease. Whether you're studying, meditating, cooking, or taking a short break, the hourglass provides a gentle and distraction-free way to keep track of time. Features - Smooth and realistic hourglass animation - Simple and intuitive interface - Perfect for focus sessions, meditation, stretching, or daily routines Bring a touch of calm to your day with this minimalist hourglass timer. Enhance your productivity with a clean and distraction-free hourglass timer designed for focus, study sessions, meditation, and daily routines. This simple sand timer app provides a realistic hourglass animation, making it perfect for Pomodoro-style focus, mindfulness, relaxation, and time management. Use it as a study timer, focus timer, meditation timer, or a calming visual timer to help you stay on track. Its minimalist design ensures a smooth experience whether you're working, reading, stretching, or taking a break.

Screenshots

Hourglass3 screens
Real Hourglass4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Real Hourglass at 100% against Hourglass's 30%. Real Hourglass also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Hourglass's advantage is ratings volume (255 vs 1). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Hourglass sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Real Hourglass sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Real Hourglass holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hourglass has 255 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of Hourglass's written reviews are positive against 100% of Real Hourglass's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Hourglass versus Real Hourglass: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHourglassReal Hourglass
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (255 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews30.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings255 — better1
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFocaccia, Inc.akira ohmachi

Customer experience

Hourglass

All ratings254 ratings
Positive87.4%
Neutral4.3%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive30.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative50.0%

Real Hourglass

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Hourglass

Subscriptions1
  • Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
One-time1
  • Hourglass Timer Pro$4.99
1 purchases

Real Hourglass

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99

Questions

Is Hourglass free?
Hourglass is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Real Hourglass free?
Real Hourglass is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hourglass or Real Hourglass?
Real Hourglass is rated higher. Hourglass averages 4.5 out of 5 from 255 ratings, while Real Hourglass averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Hourglass or Real Hourglass have ads?
Both Hourglass and Real Hourglass show ads.
Which is updated more often, Hourglass or Real Hourglass?
Hourglass ships an update weekly, and Real Hourglass weekly. Most recently, Hourglass was updated on November 3, 2026 and Real Hourglass on November 5, 2026.

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