Comparison

TrueOffset vs Tick Sync

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

Head to head
About

TrueOffset

This app precisely measures your device's clock accuracy against global time servers. It offers multiple clock faces, time scales, and audible time signals, including radio time codes. Analyze time source quality with detailed charts and compare IPv4/IPv6 responses.

Highlights
  • NTP server comparison
  • Multiple clock faces (analog, digital, NTP offset)
  • UTC & TAI time scales
  • Audible time signals and radio time codes
  • Dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 comparison
  • Flexible time source selection
  • Quality analytics charts
Features
Read full description

TrueOffset measures how far your iPhone or iPad's clock is from the world's time servers, and which way. Compare Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers with one another, see how far apart they are, and set any of them as your reference. FIVE CLOCK FACES - 12-Hour Classic — Traditional analog display - 24-Hour Scientific — Full day on one dial - NTP Offset — Dual second hands show device vs. true time - Digital — Large display with millisecond precision - Time Code — A radio time code spelled out second by second UTC & TAI TIME SCALES Show Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and International Atomic Time (TAI), 37 seconds ahead of it, beside your local time, with deadbeat second hands that step on each second. TIME SIGNALS Hear the true second. Optional pips are timed against your NTP reference, so the start of each one marks the real second, not your device's idea of it. Choose from the classic broadcast signals, synthesized to their published pitch and timing: Six Pips (Greenwich Time Signal), WWV, WWVH, CHU, Jihō, Moscow Six Pips, and Australia's VNG. Sound them on the hour, every 15 minutes, or every minute. Bluetooth or AirPlay speaker running late? Measure its delay with the microphone and TrueOffset compensates. RADIO TIME CODES A clock sold as "atomic" is a radio listening to a distant station that spells out the time one second at a time. TrueOffset plays the codes of WWVB, DCF77, MSF, JJY (40 and 60 kHz), and BPC and shows each second being decoded as it is sent. Try setting a radio-controlled watch with it (beta), or switch on the DCF77 weather seconds to hear how Germany's station once sent a forecast. TRUEOFFSET MASTER CLOCK Our tribute to the U.S. Naval Observatory's telephone time service. A tick sounds every second while a voice announces your local time and then Universal Time, each ahead of a beep that lands on the true second. Prefer it quiet? Switch the voice off and keep the ticks. TrueOffset is not affiliated with the U.S. Naval Observatory. DUAL-STACK COMPARISON Ask one server over IPv4 and IPv6 side by side, to catch two different machines behind one name or a network that answers for both. FLEXIBLE TIME SOURCES Compare against Apple, Google, Cloudflare, NIST, US Naval Observatory, global NTP pools, or add your own servers. The default reference, ntp.trueoffset.app, is a Safran SecureSync 1200 with its own rubidium atomic clock. Set any source as your reference. QUALITY ANALYTICS Eight chart pages show the character of your time sources: - Overview — Every server at a glance - Offset History — Track drift over time - Offset Histogram — How the offsets are spread - Offset Range — Compare consistency across servers - Round Trip and Offset — See whether network delay moves the offset - Clock Sources — Decode reference clocks (GPS, PPS, Rubidium, Cesium) - IPv4 and IPv6 — Compare one server's two addresses - Rankings — Servers scored by jitter and round-trip time, with the steadiest named HELP IN THE APP What an offset is, why your clock drifts, what UTC and atomic time are, and what each screen shows, explained in the app. For anyone who cares how accurate their time really is, and wants to see the difference, not just trust it. Also on Apple TV. FOR TIMEKEEPERS: TRUEOFFSET FOR MAC Run your own time servers? The Mac app, free in this same listing, reads what they record about themselves and charts it, from six hours to a year: - NTPsec, ntpd, chrony, linuxptp, gpsd, Safran SecureSync, and Timebeat - Logs from a folder, or collected over SSH every hour, read-only - Offset, frequency, Allan deviation, temperature, peers, PTP, GNSS sky plots, and each machine's real-time clocks - Restarts, steps, and holdover found and marked, not averaged in - Your servers compared side by side as a fleet More at trueoffset.app/timekeepers --- In appreciation of Emerald Sequoia's Emerald Time.

About

Tick Sync

Features
Read full description

When standard time radio signals do not reach your area, or walls and interference prevent your watch from receiving them—Tick Sync provides another path to the correct time. Start with radio-controlled watch assistance. Place the watch near the built-in speaker of your iPhone or iPad and begin manual reception. Tick Sync generates time codes for JJY 40/60, WWVB, MSF, DCF77, and BPC, helping the watch attempt synchronization over a very short distance. For explicitly compatible Bluetooth watches, pair and connect the watch, wait until it is ready to sync, and then send the current local time manually. With Advanced Features, Tick Sync can maintain an eligible Bluetooth connection in the background. When the watch reconnects and becomes ready, Tick Sync normally obtains a fresh NTP correction and sends the time automatically, reducing the need to open the app for every sync. Background timing is determined by iOS or iPadOS and watch connection events rather than an exact schedule. Your time source is not limited to the device’s system clock. Free Single NTP mode queries a server you choose. Multi-NTP mode compares at least three independent sources, finds a majority-agreed time range, rejects inconsistent responses, and displays estimated uncertainty. HIGHLIGHTS • Very-short-range JJY 40/60, WWVB, MSF, DCF77, and BPC radio-controlled watch assistance • Manual and background automatic Bluetooth time sync for explicitly compatible watches • System Time, Single NTP, and Multi-NTP sources • NTP server management, optional location preselection, outlier rejection, and uncertainty estimates • Watch battery level display • No account required Radio assistance, manual Bluetooth time sync, System Time, and Single NTP are free. Background automatic Bluetooth sync and Multi-NTP features require an auto-renewing annual Advanced Features subscription. Tick Sync is an independent utility and is not affiliated with any watch manufacturer. Bluetooth compatibility depends on the watch model and firmware, while background operation depends on iOS or iPadOS and watch connection events. A successful Bluetooth write does not guarantee that the watch applied or displayed the new time. An iPhone or iPad does not transmit a normal 40–77.5 kHz longwave broadcast. Radio-assisted results vary with the device, watch hardware, volume, placement, and interference. Always verify the final time independently before relying on it. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Supplemental Terms of Use: https://ticksync.dishangti.com/legal/en/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://ticksync.dishangti.com/legal/en/privacy.html

Screenshots

TrueOffset4 screens
Tick Sync4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: TrueOffset at none against Tick Sync's 1. Tick Sync's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Tick Sync sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per year. TrueOffset asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TrueOffset ships an update fortnightly, Tick Sync weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
TrueOffset versus Tick Sync: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrueOffsetTick Sync
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (8 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB5 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperRichard BollarJIFENG LUO

In-app purchases

None

TrueOffset

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Tick Sync

Subscriptions1
  • Tick Sync Advanced$1.991 Year

Questions

Is TrueOffset free?
TrueOffset is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Tick Sync free?
Tick Sync is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do TrueOffset or Tick Sync have ads?
Neither TrueOffset nor Tick Sync shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TrueOffset or Tick Sync?
TrueOffset ships an update fortnightly, and Tick Sync weekly. Most recently, TrueOffset was updated on October 31, 2026 and Tick Sync on October 24, 2026.

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