FaceClock Pro vs Poor Man's Throttle
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FaceClock Pro
This app announces the current time at specified intervals in multiple languages. It also offers customizable clock faces, background images, and alarm clock functionality with music player controls and a battery indicator.
- Announce the time in multiple languages
- Customizable clock faces and backgrounds
- Alarm clock with snooze
- Music player control
- Battery indicator
- Today's widget
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Turn your iPhone or iPad into a beautiful analog bedside clock, with alarms, weather, a sleep timer and widgets. Now rebuilt for iOS 26. Description: FaceClock turns your iPhone or iPad into an analog clock you'll actually want on your nightstand, your desk or your kitchen counter. Twenty clock faces Pick from four groups: Minimal (bars, dots, rings), Numerals (including Roman, Arabic-Indic and Chinese numbers), 24-Hour dials, and Counter-Clockwise faces that run backwards. Choose a color theme, including a dim red Night theme that won't keep you awake, and a light theme for bright rooms. Make it yours Set any wall color or use your own photo as the background, then drag and pinch to frame it. Add the date, the digital time in 12- or 24-hour form, and the current temperature. Drag up or down anywhere on the clock to dim the screen for night-time. A real alarm Built on Apple's alarm system, so it rings even when your phone is locked or on silent. Choose the time, which days it repeats and how long snooze lasts. Sleep timer Count down with white noise, or an alarm at the end. The timer keeps going on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. Weather on the face Local temperature and conditions from Apple Weather, right on the dial. Visual effects behind the clock can follow your weather: sunlight, fog, rain or snow. Hear the time Have the clock speak the time on the hour, half hour or quarter hour, in your choice of language. Or just double-tap the clock whenever you want to know. Widgets Clock widgets for the Home Screen in every size, including extra large on iPad, plus a minimal clock for the Lock Screen. They follow the clock settings you chose in the app. Also included Now Playing controls for the Music app · battery ring with charging status · keep-screen-awake for bedside use · full iPad support in portrait and landscape · English and Japanese.
Poor Man's Throttle
Transform your smartphone into a wireless throttle for model trains. This app enables smooth, responsive control of locomotives using inexpensive electronics and your phone, ideal for DIY enthusiasts and hobbyists looking for an affordable wireless solution.
- Wireless smartphone throttle
- PWM motor control for smooth operation
- Control speed, direction, and stop
- DIY hardware integration
- Affordable components
- Ideal for DC and dead-rail layouts
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FREE DIY Wireless Model Train Control — Built for Hobbyists, **Poor Man’s Throttleturns your smartphone into a wireless throttle for model trains. Designed formodel railroad hobbyists, makers, and DIY builders**, the app allows you to control a locomotive using inexpensive electronics instead of costly commercial control systems. With simple ESP32-based hardware, your phone becomes asmooth, responsive wireless throttle**. --- Smooth Motor Control Many traditional DC transformers struggle with low-speed operation. Locomotives often: • hum at low speeds • start with weak torque • move in jerky steps Poor Man’s Throttle solves this by usingPWM motor control (Pulse Width Modulation)instead of simply lowering voltage. This allows locomotives to: • start smoothly • run at extremely slow speeds • maintain strong torque • eliminate most transformer hum --- Wireless Smartphone Control Control your locomotive directly from your phone. Features include: • Speed control • Forward direction • Reverse direction • Stop • Additional command support Because control is wireless, you canwalk around your layout while operating trains**, just like with professional wireless throttle systems. --- A Major Upgrade for Traditional DC Layouts Poor Man’s Throttle works especially well with classic DC transformers. Instead of using the transformer to regulate speed, the transformer is set tofull powerwhile Poor Man’s Throttle performs the motor control using PWM. This approach provides: • smoother slow-speed operation • higher starting torque • reduced transformer noise • modern wireless control for classic layouts --- Perfect for Dead-Rail Builders The system also works extremely well withdead-rail locomotivespowered by onboard batteries. Builders commonly use: • cordless tool batteries (DeWalt, Milwaukee, Ryobi, etc.) • lithium battery packs • LiPo or lithium-ion cells • NiMH packs • other hobby batteries This flexibility allows hobbyists to useinexpensive, widely available power sources**. --- A DIY System That Costs Around $20 A typical Poor Man’s Throttle hardware build costs about: • ESP32 development board • IBT-2 motor driver • 5V logic power module Total hardware cost is oftenaround $20 per locomotive**. Many builders already have some of these parts available. --- Built for the Model Railroad Community Poor Man’s Throttle was created to makewireless train control accessible to everyone**. Instead of expensive proprietary systems, this project focuses on: • simple hardware • open DIY building • affordable components • sharing knowledge with the hobby community The goal is simple: **Give model railroaders a powerful wireless throttle they can build themselves.** --- Who This App Is For This app is ideal for: • model railroad hobbyists • dead-rail builders • DC layout operators • electronics makers and tinkerers • DIY train control enthusiasts Bothbeginner buildersandadvanced hobbyistscan use the system. --- Learn More Hardware build guides, documentation, and project information are available through the Poor Man’s Throttle project resources. https://github.com/jamocle/PoorMansThrottle-DIY/blob/main/README.md Build your own throttle. Control your trains wirelessly. Keep the hobby affordable.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Poor Man's Throttle at Free against FaceClock Pro's $2.99. Poor Man's Throttle also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months). FaceClock Pro's advantage is ratings volume (147 vs 4). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Poor Man's Throttle is free to download; FaceClock Pro costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Poor Man's Throttle holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FaceClock Pro has 147 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of FaceClock Pro's written reviews are positive against 100% of Poor Man's Throttle's.
FaceClock Pro ships an update every 2 months, Poor Man's Throttle every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FaceClock Pro | Poor Man's Throttle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (147 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 147 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 110 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | iReka Soft | James Theimer |
Customer experience
FaceClock Pro
Poor Man's Throttle
In-app purchases
FaceClock Pro
No in-app purchases
Poor Man's Throttle
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is FaceClock Pro free?
Is Poor Man's Throttle free?
Which has better reviews, FaceClock Pro or Poor Man's Throttle?
Do FaceClock Pro or Poor Man's Throttle have ads?
Which is updated more often, FaceClock Pro or Poor Man's Throttle?
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