Comparison

Taptic d/Deaf Support vs Surface Time

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

Head to head
About

Taptic d/Deaf Support

This app provides customizable alerts for sound-based notifications, offering vibration, flashlight, or standard notifications. It also features a text-to-speech and speech-to-text function for communication, with real-time transcription and the ability to save conversations.

Highlights
  • Customizable sound alerts
  • Vibration, notification, and flashlight alerts
  • Text-to-speech communication
  • Real-time speech transcription
  • Save conversation transcripts
  • Alerts when phone is off
Read full description

Sound Tab: Select the sounds you want to be notified by. Customize alerts: vibration, notification, flashlight. Receive alerts even when your phone is off. Text Tab: Type a message. Typed responses are displayed in a flipped orientation and automatically spoken out loud. Press record to listen to speech and receive accurate real-time transcriptions. Save transcripts. https://www.tapticapp.com/terms-and-conditions https://www.tapticapp.com/privacy-policy

About

Surface Time

This app encourages you to put your phone down with an intuitive, button-free timer. It uses subtle haptics and visual cues to guide you, and offers unique notification options like LED flash or calming sounds. Track your progress towards daily goals and customize them for different tasks.

Highlights
  • Button-free timer operation
  • Intuitive haptic feedback
  • Visual timer progression
  • LED flash notifications
  • Calming sound alerts
  • Customizable daily goals
  • Progress tracking
Features
Read full description

Timer apps are usually always simple with few buttons, but Surface takes this simplicity to the next level. With no buttons, taps, or swipes, the timer just turns on and off. It is designed to intuitively encourage you to put your phone down. The timer values peek from a small circle, and as you move your iPhone across angles, the circle expands with subtle haptics, nudging you to keep going and rest your phone on the surface facing down. The hidden yet visible options for Settings and Goals are not only designed to prevent opening when you might accidentally touch or swipe when flipping your phone, but are also intentionally uninviting for you to interact. However, the moment you choose to do interact, it transforms itself into a beautiful control. A control that encourages you to make a gesture and intentionally reveal the hidden features. The app is mainly aimed to help you stay focused in your work while keeping your phone at arms reach. But it is truly versatile, and I personally found myself using this everywhere. For instance in the kitchen, when my hands are dirty and I don't want to touch the screen or shout at my voice assistants, or to monitor my workouts with intervals. I'm sure there are many more ways to use this! For basic timer features, you'll never have to touch the screen or press any buttons. Just flip your iPhone back up to reveal the screen and the timer pauses. Then, you can shake to reset or flip back down to resume. Notifications: Surface uses backside LED flash to signal when timer begins. You can also set periodic notifications using LED flash or using calming sounds, such as of Himalayan Bowl or Guitar Strum to keep rough track of duration without looking at your timer. Goals: By default, your surface time per day is always saved and visible from the Goals view. You can adjust this goal to whatever duration you want. Plus, you can create custom everyday color-coded goals for different tasks and monitor your everyday progress.

Screenshots

Taptic d/Deaf Support4 screens
Surface Time4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Surface Time at 5.0 against Taptic d/Deaf Support's 4.4. Surface Time also leads on monetization model (free vs freemium). Taptic d/Deaf Support's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and ratings volume (11 vs 3). 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. Taptic d/Deaf Support sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Surface Time 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

Surface Time holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on June 4, 2026 and August 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Taptic d/Deaf Support versus Surface Time: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTaptic d/Deaf SupportSurface Time
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (11 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings11 — better3
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMicah RobersonNeel Makhecha

Customer experience

Taptic d/Deaf Support

All ratings11 ratings
Positive72.7%
Neutral18.2%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral40.0%
Negative20.0%

Surface Time

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Taptic d/Deaf Support

Subscriptions2
  • Taptic +$4.991 Month
  • Taptic +$49.991 Year
1 purchases

Surface Time

One-time1
  • Surface - One Time Purchase$5.99

Questions

Is Taptic d/Deaf Support free?
Taptic d/Deaf Support is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Surface Time free?
Surface Time is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Taptic d/Deaf Support or Surface Time?
Surface Time is rated higher. Taptic d/Deaf Support averages 4.4 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Surface Time averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Taptic d/Deaf Support or Surface Time have ads?
Neither Taptic d/Deaf Support nor Surface Time shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Taptic d/Deaf Support or Surface Time?
Taptic d/Deaf Support ships an update weekly, and Surface Time weekly. Most recently, Taptic d/Deaf Support was updated on June 4, 2026 and Surface Time on August 22, 2026.

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