Comparison

Mindful Timer vs Ground & Return Yoga

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

Head to head
About

Mindful Timer

This app provides a simple, unguided interval timer for self-guided meditation, breathwork, and yoga practices. It features customizable timers, gentle bells, and a distraction-free interface. Save your favorite routines and track your weekly sessions without any ads or subscriptions.

Highlights
  • Multiple automatic timers
  • Customizable interval bells
  • Save preset routines
  • Weekly session tracking
  • Gentle bell sounds
  • Distraction-free design
  • Offline functionality
Read full description

A simple meditation timer for unguided practice. No ads. No subscriptions. No distractions. Just gentle bells to keep time while you practice. Set your session, put your phone down, and let the bells guide you. Mindful Timer is built for people who just want the space to meditate—no courses, no sleep sounds, no content library. Just timers, soothing sounds, and you. Perfect for meditation, yin and restorative yoga, breathwork, zazen, or any self-guided practice. NEW + 20+ curated sounds: singing bowls, bells, and simple voice cues + Choose how many times the bells ring —once, twice, or three times + Practice insights and heat maps to help you build consistency + Sync sessions to Apple Health as Mindful Minutes CORE FEATURES + Sequential timers that flow automatically from one to the next, so you never check the clock + Interval bells at your chosen frequency (e.g. every 5 minutes) + Fully custom timer durations + Save your routines as presets and start them in one tap + Track streaks, weekly and monthly sessions, and lifetime minutes + Play your own music (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) + Runs in the background and while your phone is locked + Large countdown display. DESIGNED FOR CALM FROM DAY ONE + No ads, ever + No subscriptions, ever — one simple purchase, yours forever + No guided meditations, courses, or content to wade through + No social feeds or comparison + Dark mode so it's easy on the eyes + Works fully offline + Gentle sounds to guide you through transitions (unlike most interval timers) PERFECT FOR + Any self-guided or silent meditation + Zen, zazen, vipassana, and insight meditation + Yin yoga and restorative yoga + Breathwork and pranayama + Practicing at home before a vipassana or meditation retreat + Building a daily unguided meditation or yoga habit + Yoga teachers keeping time during class + Interval walking, Japanese interval walking, and Pomodoro focus blocks WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT + Incredibly simple and intuitive design. + Keeps time in the background, so you never pick up your phone mid-practice. + Carefully curated, soothing sounds. No jarring alarms. + No clutter, no distractions, nothing you don't need.

About

Ground & Return Yoga

This app offers a structured 28-week daily yoga program focused on alignment and repetition. It guides users through a progressive syllabus, including beginner modules and pose references, with progress tracking and reminders. It's designed for self-paced practice without follow-along videos.

Highlights
  • 28-week daily yoga syllabus
  • Foundation beginner arc
  • 110 pose references
  • Daily practice player
  • Journey tracking
  • Daily reminders
  • Apple Health integration
Features
Read full description

Ground & Return is a quiet 28-week daily yoga syllabus built around alignment, sequence, and steady repetition. Begin with Foundation, then continue through the complete syllabus day by day. The app tells you what to practice today, lets you move at your own pace, and keeps your place when you return. What is included: - A complete 28-week daily yoga syllabus - Foundation as the first 12-week beginner arc - 110 pose references with illustrations and method notes - A daily practice player with calm, manual pacing - Journey tracking across the full practice arc - Practice notes and daily reminders - Optional Apple Health saving for completed sessions - Light and dark appearance support What this app is not: - Not a follow-along workout video app - Not a calorie or fitness dashboard - Not a subscription Begin with 7 days free. After that, unlock the app once and continue the method on your own rhythm.

Screenshots

Mindful Timer4 screens
Ground & Return Yoga4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Mindful Timer at free against Ground & Return Yoga's free with in-app purchases. Mindful Timer also leads on update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (10 vs 2). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Mindful Timer sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Ground & Return Yoga 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 — 5.0 for Mindful Timer against 5.0 for Ground & Return Yoga. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mindful Timer has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mindful Timer ships an update weekly, Ground & Return Yoga fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Mindful Timer versus Ground & Return Yoga: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMindful TimerGround & Return Yoga
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (10 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings10 — better2
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBurnt Cinnamon LabsColorblast LLC

Customer experience

Mindful Timer

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Ground & Return Yoga

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Mindful Timer

One-time2
  • Premium: Bell Sounds, Insights$2.99
  • Premium: Bell Sounds, Insights$4.99
1 purchases

Ground & Return Yoga

One-time1
  • Full Access$29.99

Questions

Is Mindful Timer free?
Mindful Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ground & Return Yoga free?
Ground & Return Yoga is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mindful Timer or Ground & Return Yoga?
Mindful Timer and Ground & Return Yoga are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 10 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Mindful Timer or Ground & Return Yoga have ads?
Neither Mindful Timer nor Ground & Return Yoga shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mindful Timer or Ground & Return Yoga?
Mindful Timer ships an update weekly, and Ground & Return Yoga fortnightly. Most recently, Mindful Timer was updated on October 12, 2026 and Ground & Return Yoga on October 3, 2026.

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