Comparison

Text Clock Widget vs Strange Clocks

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

Head to head
About

Text Clock Widget

Features
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This app includes widgets that displays the current time as text, a faster way to perceive the time than reading numbers. Add the widgets to the different places where widgets can be displayed on iPhone, iPad, AppleWatch and MacOS. Three different time text styles can be used: โ€ข Hour and minutes โ€ข To and past the hour โ€ข To and past the half hour Choose to show the current date and whether the time should be rounded to the nearest 5 minutes. You can choose between 6 different background colors.

About

Strange Clocks

Features
Read full description

Strange Clocks turns "what time is it?" into a small daily puzzle. Instead of one clock face, you get 15, each a different, real way humans (and machines) have told time throughout history: from a Cold War-era German clock made of lamps to the way a resistor's color bands encode a number. Every clock is stranger than the last, but none of them stay strange for long. Each one ships with a short animated guide that highlights exactly what to read and when, plus a live calculation line so you can watch the math happen in real time. WHAT'S INSIDE - 15 unusual clocks: Berlin Clock, Word Clock, Binary Clock, Cistercian Clock, Fibonacci Clock, Tix Clock, Hex Clock, Maya Clock, Moon Clock, Polar Clock, Resistor Clock, Decimal Time, Internet Time, Roman Hours, and the Prague Orloj. - An animated how-to-read guide for every single clock, no exceptions. - Widgets for Home Screen, Lock Screen, and StandBy, in small and medium sizes. - Clock Wall mode: turn your iPhone, or the inner display of iPhone Duo, into a live wall of clocks, screensaver-style. - 10 languages: English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Korean, and Italian. ONE CLOCK ON US Pick any clock as your gift and keep it free, forever: live in the app, on your widgets, and in StandBy. Every how-to-read guide is free for all 15. Want them all? A single one-time purchase of $1.99 unlocks every clock. No subscription, no recurring charges, no ads, and no tracking, ever. PRIVACY Strange Clocks doesn't collect your data. The one place it asks for location, to compute local sunrise and sunset for the Roman Hours clock, is used entirely on your device and never leaves it. Fifteen clocks. One phone. Zero reasons to know what time it "normally" is.

Screenshots

Text Clock Widget4 screens
Strange Clocks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Strange Clocks at Free against Text Clock Widget's $0.99. Strange Clocks also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 15 months). Text Clock Widget's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (4 vs 2). On ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Strange Clocks is free to download; Text Clock Widget costs $0.99 up front. Strange Clocks sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Text Clock Widget asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Text Clock Widget ships an update every 15 months, Strange Clocks every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 2 level
Text Clock Widget versus Strange Clocks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterText Clock WidgetStrange Clocks
Price$0.99Free โ€” better
Update frequencyEvery 15 monthsEvery 3 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.417.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size4 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMagne RoaldKIP Networks

In-app purchases

None

Text Clock Widget

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Strange Clocks

One-time1
  • Unlock all 15 clocks$1.99

Questions

Is Text Clock Widget free?
Text Clock Widget costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Strange Clocks free?
Strange Clocks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Text Clock Widget or Strange Clocks have ads?
Neither Text Clock Widget nor Strange Clocks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Text Clock Widget or Strange Clocks?
Text Clock Widget ships an update every 15 months, and Strange Clocks every 3 days. Most recently, Text Clock Widget was updated on October 27, 2026 and Strange Clocks on October 29, 2026.

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