Comparison

Gentle Timer vs Visual Timer

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

Head to head
About

Gentle Timer

This app offers a visually appealing, ad-free timer for focus, productivity, and managing children's routines. It supports various timer types, including countdown, Pomodoro, and interval, with extensive customization options for backgrounds, music, and themes. It also includes helpful everyday tools like a calculator and breathing exercises.

Highlights
  • Visual countdown timers
  • Pomodoro focus sessions
  • Interval training timers
  • Multi timer support
  • Customizable backgrounds and music
  • Everyday utility tools
Features
Read full description

Gentle Timer is a cheerful timer with cute animated characters. Set a time, and a character walks across the screen as the timer counts down. When it reaches the other side, time is up. You can always see how much time is left. • Pick a cute character, an animated background, and calming music. • Your character can leave a trail of sparkles, rubber ducks, or baby chicks. • A race car can drive around the timer and finish when time is up. • Choose a pet to pop up and cheer you on. • Your pet also shows on your Lock Screen, Home Screen, and Dynamic Island. • Fun animations play when your timer starts and when it ends. Use it for brushing teeth, homework, cooking, reading, or a short break at work. It also has a stopwatch, breathing exercises, and a Pomodoro timer for work and breaks. You can run more than one timer at once, too. There is also a simple Apple Watch timer. Free to download, with no ads and no subscription. Unlock more characters, pets, backgrounds, and music with a one-time purchase.

About

Visual Timer

This app offers a visually engaging countdown timer with multiple unique styles to represent the passage of time. Customize colors, backgrounds, and alarm sounds for various activities like focus work, cooking, or kids' routines.

Highlights
  • Nine unique visual timer styles
  • Customizable colors and backgrounds
  • Over 50 alarm sound options
  • Adjustable durations from seconds to hours
  • Presets and recent duration quick-picks
  • Designed for focus, cooking, kids, and workouts
Features
Read full description

Visual Timer - Time you can actually see Make every minute count with a timer that's actually worth looking at. Visual Timer turns the wait into the show: nine beautiful, hand-crafted styles that each visualize time in a different way. Pick your style: • Circular - a classic clock-face wedge that drains as time runs out • Liquid - a wave-tinted pool that drains as the clock ticks • Pixel - a grid of pixels disappears one by one • Rain - thousands of tiny grains rain down and pile up to fill the screen • Blocks - falling pieces stack up to fill the screen • Maze - a snake winds across the screen until it fills every cell • Rings - concentric rainbow rings, one per minute, leaving a colored trail • Sun - the sun arcs across the sky, drifting from dawn through dusk to night • Path - a dot glides along a trail — follow the built-in curve or draw your own • Spread - a colorful infection blooms from a few seeds until it fills the screen Make it yours: • Pick any color for the timer fill or background • Use your own photos as a backdrop or foreground • Choose from 50+ alarm sounds, from a gentle chime to a rooster • Custom durations from a few seconds to several hours • Quick-pick recent durations and built-in presets Built for any moment: • Focus and deep work - visual progress without distraction • Cooking - set it on the counter and just glance over • Kids - turn time-outs, brushing teeth, or screen-time limits into something they actually watch • Workouts - clear interval timing without staring at numbers • Meditation - calm, smooth visuals that don't pull attention • Studying - Pomodoro sessions that look like part of the desk A timer that feels at home on your phone. Designed top-to-bottom for iOS - Liquid Glass controls, fluid animations, and dark-mode-first aesthetics.

Screenshots

Gentle Timer4 screens
Visual Timer4 screens

Verdict

The call

Gentle Timer and Visual Timer both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Gentle Timer's written reviews are positive against 50% of Visual Timer's. Gentle Timer also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks) and ratings volume (378 vs 46). Visual Timer's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, rating, 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. Gentle Timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Visual Timer 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Gentle Timer against 4.6 for Visual Timer. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gentle Timer has 378 ratings behind it against 46, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Gentle Timer's written reviews are positive against 50% of Visual Timer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gentle Timer ships an update every 2 days, Visual Timer every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Gentle Timer versus Visual Timer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGentle TimerVisual Timer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (378 ratings)4.6 (46 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings378 — better46
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.4
Further details — not scored
Size211 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJOHNNY LIApplorium Ltd

Customer experience

Gentle Timer

All ratings378 ratings
Positive89.2%
Neutral3.2%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Visual Timer

All ratings46 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral4.3%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Gentle Timer

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • No sound issues reported
  • Seconds not displayed on countdown
  • Landscape mode not working

Requested features

8 requests
  • More free options
  • Landscape mode support
  • Ability to set specific seconds
  • Toggle off motion on settings menu
  • Cat character option
Show 3 more
  • View of all timers set all time
  • Ability to create 'Goals' (e.g., set 40 hours)
  • Dinosaur character option

Visual Timer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Gentle Timer

One-time1
  • Go Premium$4.99
1 purchases

Visual Timer

One-time1
  • Visual Timer Unlock$5.99

Questions

Is Gentle Timer free?
Gentle Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Visual Timer free?
Visual Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Gentle Timer or Visual Timer?
Gentle Timer and Visual Timer are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 378 and 46 ratings respectively.
Do Gentle Timer or Visual Timer have ads?
Neither Gentle Timer nor Visual Timer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gentle Timer or Visual Timer?
Gentle Timer ships an update every 2 days, and Visual Timer every 2 weeks. Most recently, Gentle Timer was updated on October 14, 2026 and Visual Timer on October 7, 2026.

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