Comparison

Visual Timer vs Chip

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

Head to head
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.

About

Chip

Read full description

Chip is the to-do app for people who hate to-do apps. One task at a time, right on your lock screen, with distracting apps blocked until it's done. No projects. No tags. No inbox to process. No methodology to learn. Type the one thing you want to do, and start. When it's done, mark it done. That's the whole app. Chip puts your active task — your chip — on your lock screen, in the Dynamic Island, and on home-screen widgets, where you'll actually see it. Focus Mode quietly hides the apps that would pull you away. When you finish, the next chip in your queue takes its place automatically. No reorganizing. No weekly review. No tax for using the tool. WHY THIS WORKS The hardest part of most to-do list and task manager apps isn't doing the work — it's maintaining the app. Tagging, sorting, re-prioritizing, processing the inbox, keeping the system "current." That overhead is invisible until you've spent twenty minutes managing your task manager and not done a single task. Chip removes the overhead entirely. There's nothing to maintain because there's nothing to organize. One chip is active. Up to ten can queue behind it. Five routines, five scheduled reminders — caps on purpose. The structure is small so you don't end up curating it instead of using it. WHAT'S INSIDE • One chip on your lock screen, in the Dynamic Island, and on home-screen widgets • Focus Mode — an app blocker that hides distracting apps while a chip is active • Routines — recurring tasks that put a chip on your lock screen at the times you choose • Scheduled chips — one-off reminders that fire at a specific date and time • A daily planning prompt that gently asks "what's your one thing today?" • Siri Shortcuts to start a chip by voice • A 7-day chart of what you've actually done BUILT FOR ADHD BRAINS, USEFUL FOR ANYONE ADHD brains know the failure loop: install a productivity app, set it up beautifully, never open it again. The setup is the work, and the work is exhausting. Chip removes the setup entirely — an ADHD-friendly task app with zero maintenance. If you don't have ADHD, Chip is still the calm, single-tasking home for the thing that matters today. No streaks. No 47-item list. No "productivity system" demanding your attention before you've done anything. DESIGNED FOR iOS Chip lives where your attention already is — the lock screen, the Dynamic Island, the home screen. The Live Activity shows your active chip with a one-tap "done" button. Widgets in medium and large sizes let you complete chips without opening the app. Everything syncs across your iPhone and iPad through iCloud. FREE AND PRO Chip is free forever. The free tier covers the active chip loop, the queue, widgets, the Live Activity, stats, and Siri Shortcuts. Chip Pro unlocks: • Routines — recurring chips on the schedule you choose • Scheduled chips — one-off reminders at a specific date and time • Daily prompt — the morning nudge for the one thing today • Focus Mode blocking — the actual app-blocking Available as a monthly or annual subscription. Cancel anytime. Privacy: Chip stores your chips locally and syncs through your private iCloud account. We don't sell your data, run ads, or track you across the web. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Visual Timer4 screens
Chip4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Visual Timer at 18.4 against Chip's 26.0. 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. Visual Timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Chip sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Visual Timer ships an update every 2 weeks, Chip every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Visual Timer versus Chip: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVisual TimerChip
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (46 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings46 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.4 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApplorium Ltdjames jager

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Visual Timer

One-time1
  • Visual Timer Unlock$5.99
3 purchases

Chip

Subscriptions3
  • Chip Pro Weekly$0.997 Days
  • Chip Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Chip Pro Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Visual Timer free?
Visual Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chip free?
Chip is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Visual Timer or Chip have ads?
Neither Visual Timer nor Chip shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Visual Timer or Chip?
Visual Timer ships an update every 2 weeks, and Chip every 10 days. Most recently, Visual Timer was updated on September 20, 2026 and Chip on September 17, 2026.

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