Comparison

Clocks vs Punctum

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

Head to head
About

Clocks

Transform your device into a beautiful clock and weather display. Offers customizable clocks, animated backgrounds, and font options for a personalized experience. It's a private, ad-free alternative to standby modes, with optional matching screensavers for macOS.

Highlights
  • Animated backgrounds
  • Customizable clock variations
  • Font and color options
  • Private and ad-free
  • MacOS screensaver sync
  • Shortcuts support
Features
Read full description

The Clocks app transforms your phone, tablet, or mac into a beautiful clock display, perfect for any home office, bedroom, or studio. It's perfect as an alternative to Standby Mode with even more options: ◎ 28+ gorgeous and intentionally designed animated backgrounds ◎ 15+ variations of clocks you can pair in any combination ◎ Some font and font color options for more personalization ◎ Private, no ads. Designed to be simple and stunning. ◎ Pro Park includes a download for matching screen savers on MacOS so your display can match across your entire work setup. ◎ Three clocks and three backgrounds are usable for free! ◎ Best used on a MagSafe charger, but also works on phones without it. ◎ Shortcuts support to allow Clocks to open automatically when connected to a charger Does Clocks open automatically? Not by default, but within Settings there's a tutorial on how to set it up using Shortcuts. Does Clocks replace Standby mode? We think Clocks is better fitted for daytime use and the official Standby for night time. Will you release more packs in the future? Yes! I plan on designing more backgrounds and clocks in future updates, some which will be free some which will be paid (but affordable). Roadmap - Coming soon: - Timers - More font options and settings

About

Punctum

Features
Read full description

Punctum is a dot-matrix clock for your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Every character is drawn dot by dot, in a typeface made for the grid, with the weight and roundness of the dots in your hands. A CLOCK THAT STAYS OUT OF THE WAY Time and date, a timer, your next calendar event, the song that is playing, and the battery. Pick what the display shows and how it moves. Dot size and shape are yours to set, and the display rolls from one value to the next. FULL DISPLAY Dock your iPhone and Punctum fills the whole screen, dimmed and quiet, as a bedside clock. Nothing but the dots, with a slow drift that protects the screen. WIDGETS AND WATCH Small Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, an Apple Watch app, and an Apple TV app, all in the same dots. PUNCTUM PRO, ONE PURCHASE Unlock everything once and keep it, shared with your family: - Live weather with 17 dot-drawn icons - Phosphor green and Night red inks, and a night schedule - Up to four timers, five rotating messages, and a live timer on the Lock Screen - Medium and Large widgets, and Apple Watch complications - Alternate app icons No account, no ads, no tracking. Punctum collects no data. Try everything free for 7 days. Then unlock the full app with a single one-time purchase. No subscription.

Screenshots

Clocks4 screens
Punctum4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Punctum at 4 against Clocks's 2. 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. Clocks sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Punctum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Clocks ships an update every 5 days, Punctum every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Clocks versus Punctum: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClocksPunctum
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (469 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews59.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings469 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.417.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size100 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDaniel DestefanisJiajia Zhang

Bugs and requests

Clocks

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • Infinite loop of pop-up ads when trying to use the app

Requested features

3 requests
  • Timer with start/stop functionality
  • Numbered screen savers for easier selection
  • Widget support

Punctum

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Clocks

One-time1
  • Clocks Pro Pack$3.99
1 purchases

Punctum

One-time1
  • Punctum Pro Lifetime$3.99

Questions

Is Clocks free?
Clocks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Punctum free?
Punctum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Clocks or Punctum have ads?
Neither Clocks nor Punctum shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Clocks or Punctum?
Clocks ships an update every 5 days, and Punctum every 4 days. Most recently, Clocks was updated on October 28, 2026 and Punctum on October 24, 2026.

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