Gentle Timer vs StarLens Visual Notes & Tasks
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Visual countdown timers
- Pomodoro focus sessions
- Interval training timers
- Multi timer support
- Customizable backgrounds and music
- Everyday utility tools
Read full descriptionHide full description
Gentle Timer turns ordinary waiting into a calm, happy little moment. Set a time, choose an adorable animated character, a dreamy background and soothing music — then relax and watch a friendly countdown carry you to the finish. Most timers feel cold and stressful. Gentle Timer is the opposite — warm, playful and beautifully animated, so brushing teeth, focusing, cooking, working out or winding down all feel a little better. THE MAIN EVENT: A TIMER YOU'LL ACTUALLY ENJOY • A big, friendly countdown with a cute character that glides across the screen as time ticks down — time you can SEE • Hundreds of animated characters, backgrounds and effects — dreamy scenes, sparkle trails and joyful completion celebrations • Calming music while it runs and a gentle chime when it ends — or play your own tracks from your music library, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music or Amazon Music • Your pet turns up partway through to cheer you on — "You've got this!" … "Almost there!" • Dozens of pets to pick from — yours waits with you on the Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island, on the timer, and through focus sessions. Poke it and the whole screen goes sparkly. • Add or remove time on the fly, pause anytime, and follow along on your Lock Screen with Live Activities SO MUCH MORE INSIDE • Pomodoro — focus-and-break cycles that help you get real work done • Interval — work/rest rounds for HIIT and workouts, with 3-2-1 countdown beeps • Focus — open-ended focus sessions with task names and a history of your time • Multi-Timer — run up to six timers side by side • Presets — one-tap timers for brushing teeth, screen time, tidying up and more • Stopwatch — clean and simple, with laps • Breathing — guided four-phase breathing to slow down and reset • Tools — a counter, dice / coin / spinner, and a full scientific calculator MAKE IT TRULY YOURS • Pick characters, backgrounds, music, effects for every mode • Draw your own characters and backgrounds — or turn any photo into one, right from your camera or library • Set your own encouragement messages, sounds and gentle haptics BUILT TO FEEL CALM No clutter. No pressure. No jarring alarms. Every detail is designed to lower stress instead of adding to it. LOVED BY • Parents & kids — brushing teeth, tidying up, screen-time limits, smooth transitions • Students — Pomodoro study sessions and focus tracking • Focused work — deep-work sprints and mindful breaks • Fitness — interval and HIIT training • Everyday life — cooking, naps, laundry, breathing and winding down FREE — NO ADS, NO SUBSCRIPTION Gentle Timer is free to download and use — every mode, plenty of characters, backgrounds and music, and no ads, ever. Love it and want more? One optional, one-time unlock adds the full collection plus the tools to create your own — pay once, keep it forever, never a subscription. Supports Family Sharing — one purchase covers your whole family. Download Gentle Timer on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch — and make your next minute a little more delightful.
StarLens Visual Notes & Tasks
Read full descriptionHide full description
StarLens is a different kind of organizer, helping you visually keep track of the things that matter most. Why might a star system work for you when other methods of memory management don't? Consider memory athletes, super-memorizers that competitively remember and recall huge amounts of information. They use a system of imagery, visualization, and location based recall. While StarLens isn't meant to help you memorize 1,000 digits of Pi, it hopes to build on the concept to create something more. We don't all think the same. Try something a little different. Here's a quick list of a few of our features: - Unlimited levels of subtasks or child notes... this is how constellations are built - Each note or task is arranged into a constellation of stars automatically - A constellation can be put anywhere - Zoom out to see everything - Find what you need, when you need it - Search across everything - Notes can be dragged to reorder - Can be used offline - Automatic syncing and backup to our servers, so you never lose a thing And here are a few of our promises: - We know AI is a polarizing topic when it comes to notes, so let's address this straight on! We do not sell your data or "train AI" using your data, pure and simple. - We do not use your data in any way, except to provide our service / app to you - No ads ever - No tracking you or using your data to profile you - Complete transparency Please see the following for more information: Privacy Policy: [https://starlensapp.com/privacy-policy] Terms of Use / EULA: [https://starlensapp.com/terms-of-service]
Screenshots
Verdict
Gentle Timer and StarLens Visual Notes & Tasks are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Gentle Timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and StarLens Visual Notes & Tasks sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Gentle Timer | StarLens Visual Notes & Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (358 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 358 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 204 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JOHNNY LI | Wikidex Organization LLC |
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 moreShow fewer
- View of all timers set all time
- Ability to create 'Goals' (e.g., set 40 hours)
- Dinosaur character option
StarLens Visual Notes & Tasks
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Gentle Timer
- Go Premium$4.99
StarLens Visual Notes & Tasks
- Access to App7 Days trial$3.991 Year
Questions
Is Gentle Timer free?
Is StarLens Visual Notes & Tasks free?
Do Gentle Timer or StarLens Visual Notes & Tasks have ads?
Other comparisons















