Simple Sailing Countdown Timer vs Lifted Sailing
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Simple Sailing Countdown Timer
This app provides a clear, audible countdown for race starts, ideal for sailing and other sports. It offers customizable intervals, spoken prompts, and a distinct air-horn sound at zero, ensuring a precise start every time. Designed for simplicity and readability, it's suitable for organizers and individual participants.
- Quick-set race start intervals
- Large, high-contrast display
- Spoken prompts and audible tick
- Audible air-horn sound at zero
- Adjustable horn volume
- Clean, distraction-free interface
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NO ADVERTISEMENTS Simple Sailing Countdown Timer helps race organisers and individual sailors start every race perfectly by counting down the time out loud. Also suitable for any other sport or occasion when an accurate countdown to the start is required. Set your preferred start sequence with one tap, choose from common countdown intervals, and get clear visual and audible cues right through to the final horn. Designed with simplicity and precision in mind, this timer is easy to read even in bright sunlight and offers the reliability needed on the water. Whether you are an organiser or an individual racing remote controlled yachts, dinghies or yachts, Simple Sailing Countdown Timer ensures that you can organise a race or hit the start line perfectly at the beginning of every race. Features * Quick-set race start intervals (10:00, 5:00, 3:00, 2:00, 1:00) * Large, high-contrast display * Spoken prompts every minute and then every 10 seconds during the final minute * Audible tick for every second in final minute * Spoken countdown for final 10 seconds * Audible air-horn sound at zero seconds * Adjustable horn volume * Clean, distraction-free interface Simple. Accurate. Audible. Gets you off to a perfect start. PLEASE NOTE: Sound on Apple Watch requires either a paired Bluetooth speaker/headphones, or an Apple Watch model that supports media playback through the built-in speaker. Apple Watch SE models may require Bluetooth audio.
Lifted Sailing
This app acts as a sailing race start timer and real-time tactics computer for Apple Watch and iPhone. It provides live GPS data, wind shift calls, and detailed post-race analysis with interactive replays. Races are stored in your account for easy access and online analysis.
- One-press start and sync
- Live GPS readouts (SOG, COG)
- Lift and header calls
- On-device wind estimation
- Interactive race replays
- Tack and gybe detection
- Leg-aware analysis
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A race-start timer and a tactician — on your wrist and in your pocket. Lifted turns Apple Watch and iPhone into a dedicated race-start timer and live sailing tactics computer. Run your start without looking away from the line — one press starts and syncs the countdown — race with live speed, course, and wind-shift calls at a glance, and replay every race afterward. You can look around before you sign in — a built-in demo race shows the whole replay. To record and keep your own races, sign in with Apple or an email code: your races are stored in your own Lifted account, so you can get them back on a new phone and analyse them online. ON THE WATER • One-press start and sync — the Action button on Apple Watch Ultra, an on-screen button on every other Apple Watch, or right on the iPhone race screen • Set your start line by pinging the pin and committee-boat ends • Live GPS readouts: speed over ground (SOG) and course over ground (COG) • Lift and header calls — Lifted learns your baseline on each tack and tells you when you're lifted or headed • On-device wind estimation, seeded by real forecast data • Records every race as a Sailing workout, with your GPS track, wind history, and start line WATCH AND PHONE, ONE RACE Race from the watch alone, the phone alone, or both: start on the watch and the phone mirrors it live. No watch handy? The iPhone app is a complete race timer on its own — and a built-in demo race lets you try the whole flow ashore. AFTER THE RACE • Interactive replays — an animated boat on your actual track with a time scrubber • Color the track by SOG, VMG, or lift/header to see exactly where the race was won and lost • Tack and gybe detection, with distance lost per maneuver • Scrub-linked charts of speed, heading, VMG, wind direction, and true wind angle • Leg-aware analysis: the race is split into upwind and downwind legs, so VMG means what your tactician means • Inferred wind direction and shift attribution across the whole race — see the shifts you caught and the ones you missed • Share any race as a data package for deeper offline analysis YOUR RACES, IN YOUR ACCOUNT Every race you record is stored in your own Lifted account and kept on your iPhone as well, so replays open on the water with no signal and a lost or replaced phone doesn't lose a season. Races you sail on the watch reach the iPhone by themselves. Each race is also saved as a standard Apple Health workout on your own device — Lifted asks only for permission to write it, never to read the rest of your Health data. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Lifted Sailing at Free against Simple Sailing Countdown Timer's $1.99. Lifted Sailing also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.0) and review sentiment (100% vs 60%). Simple Sailing Countdown Timer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). On ratings volume 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
Lifted Sailing is free to download; Simple Sailing Countdown Timer costs $1.99 up front. Lifted Sailing sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $39.99 per year. Simple Sailing Countdown Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.
Lifted Sailing holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Simple Sailing Countdown Timer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Lifted Sailing's.
Simple Sailing Countdown Timer ships an update every 3 days, Lifted Sailing weekly. Both last shipped on October 28, 2026.
| Parameter | Simple Sailing Countdown Timer | Lifted Sailing |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Freemium — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DAVID ANTHONY KING | Frederick Lawson |
Customer experience
Simple Sailing Countdown Timer
Lifted Sailing
In-app purchases
Simple Sailing Countdown Timer
No in-app purchases
Lifted Sailing
- Lifted Pro (Annual)1 Month trial$39.991 Year
Questions
Is Simple Sailing Countdown Timer free?
Is Lifted Sailing free?
Which has better reviews, Simple Sailing Countdown Timer or Lifted Sailing?
Do Simple Sailing Countdown Timer or Lifted Sailing have ads?
Which is updated more often, Simple Sailing Countdown Timer or Lifted Sailing?
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