Gongfu Tea Timer vs SteepPilot
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gongfu Tea Timer
Master traditional Chinese tea ceremonies with precise steep timing for various tea types. This app offers pre-configured settings and custom profiles to ensure perfect results for every brew, including Lock Screen and Dynamic Island notifications.
- Pre-configured timing for 5 tea types
- Multiple rounds with adjusted steep times
- Rinse step support
- Custom tea profile creation
- Lock Screen timer
- Dynamic Island support
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Master the art of gongfu tea brewing with precise timing for every steep. Gongfu Tea Timer guides you through the traditional Chinese tea ceremony with optimized steep times for different tea types. Whether you're brewing delicate green tea or robust pu-erh, get perfect results every time. FEATURES: • Pre-configured timing for 5 tea types: Green, Black, Oolong, White, and Pu-erh • Multiple rounds with automatically adjusted steep times • Rinse step for teas that benefit from it • Additional steep generation for extended sessions • Create and save custom tea profiles LIVE ACTIVITIES: • See your timer on the Lock Screen • Dynamic Island support for iPhone 14 Pro and newer • Get alerts when each round completes without opening the app DESIGNED FOR GONGFU: Unlike generic kitchen timers, this app understands gongfu brewing. Each tea type has carefully calibrated times that increase with each steep, following traditional gongfu methodology. Perfect for tea enthusiasts who want consistent, delicious results from their gongfu sessions.
SteepPilot
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SteepPilot times every infusion of your tea session. Pick your tea and it sets the water temperature, the leaf for your vessel and how long each steep runs, a few seconds longer every round. Then it times them one by one. GONGFU OR WESTERN Gongfu mode is many short steeps in a small gaiwan or teapot. Set the first steep, the seconds added each round and the number of infusions. Western mode is one long steep in a large mug. EIGHT TEAS Green, black, oolong, white, sheng and shou pu-erh, herbal and matcha each come with their own water temperature and starting steep times. Pu-erh starts with a rinse. Temperatures in °C or °F. LEAF FOR YOUR VESSEL Set the size of your gaiwan, teapot or mug and SteepPilot suggests how much leaf to use, depending on the tea and the brewing method. ICED TEA One switch splits the water into hot water and ice. THE TIMER Each infusion gets its own countdown ring. A soft chime and a vibration tell you when to pour, and the screen stays on. Pause, skip, or let the infusions advance on their own. The timer keeps running when your iPhone locks, and a notification tells you when each steep is done. A running session survives the app being closed. TASTE AS YOU GO Between infusions, tap the flavors you taste and give the infusion stars. Pro adds a short written note for each infusion. At the end, the summary shows how many infusions you made, how long the session took and a rough caffeine estimate. TEA JOURNAL Save a session with its rating and tasting notes and read back through it later. The free version keeps three sessions. Pro keeps them all and exports your journal as a CSV file. MY TEAS Keep your loose leaf teas with origin, vendor and how many grams are left. Save a session with one of them and its leaf comes off what's left, and SteepPilot tells you when a tea is running low. Five teas are free, Pro has no limit. PRESETS Save a setup you like and start it again with one tap. ICLOUD SYNC Your journal, teas and presets reach your other Apple devices through your own iCloud. You can turn sync off in Settings. PRIVACY No account and no SteepPilot server. No analytics, no ads, no tracking. Notifications are scheduled on your iPhone and never pass through a server. FREE AND PRO Free: all eight teas, gongfu and western timers, iced tea, flavor tags and ratings, presets, three journal sessions and five teas. SteepPilot Pro keeps an unlimited journal and tea collection, adds a written note for each infusion and exports your journal as CSV. Pro is available as a monthly or yearly subscription, or as a one-time lifetime purchase. The price is shown in the app before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple ID when you confirm the purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and the renewal is charged within the 24 hours before the period ends. You can manage or cancel it in your iPhone's Settings under your name, then Subscriptions. Help: https://apps.alexgalkin.de/steeppilot/ Privacy policy: https://apps.alexgalkin.de/steeppilot/privacy/ Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Gongfu Tea Timer at none against SteepPilot's 3. Gongfu Tea Timer also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 months). SteepPilot's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. SteepPilot sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Gongfu Tea Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.
Gongfu Tea Timer ships an update every 2 weeks, SteepPilot every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Gongfu Tea Timer | SteepPilot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.2 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | RAYMOND LIU LUO | Alex Galkin |
In-app purchases
Gongfu Tea Timer
No in-app purchases
SteepPilot
- Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
- Pro Yearly$9.991 Year
- Pro Lifetime$19.99
Questions
Is Gongfu Tea Timer free?
Is SteepPilot free?
Do Gongfu Tea Timer or SteepPilot have ads?
Which is updated more often, Gongfu Tea Timer or SteepPilot?
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