Comparison

Real Hourglass vs Dot It Down

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

Head to head
About

Real Hourglass

A minimalist sand timer app that offers a realistic hourglass animation for focus, relaxation, and time management. It's designed to provide a distraction-free experience for various daily activities.

Highlights
  • Realistic hourglass animation
  • Intuitive interface
  • Focus sessions
  • Meditation aid
  • Daily routine timer
  • Distraction-free design
Features
Read full description

Experience the calm and clarity of a traditional hourglass, reimagined for your smartphone. This app offers a beautifully animated sand timer that helps you stay focused, relax your mind, or manage your daily activities with ease. Whether you're studying, meditating, cooking, or taking a short break, the hourglass provides a gentle and distraction-free way to keep track of time. Features - Smooth and realistic hourglass animation - Simple and intuitive interface - Perfect for focus sessions, meditation, stretching, or daily routines Bring a touch of calm to your day with this minimalist hourglass timer. Enhance your productivity with a clean and distraction-free hourglass timer designed for focus, study sessions, meditation, and daily routines. This simple sand timer app provides a realistic hourglass animation, making it perfect for Pomodoro-style focus, mindfulness, relaxation, and time management. Use it as a study timer, focus timer, meditation timer, or a calming visual timer to help you stay on track. Its minimalist design ensures a smooth experience whether you're working, reading, stretching, or taking a break.

About

Dot It Down

This task management app helps you organize everyday chores and habits without overwhelming you with overdue reminders. It automatically carries forward incomplete tasks and allows for flexible rescheduling, designed to reduce mental load and work offline.

Highlights
  • Automatic task carry-forward
  • Flexible future date resetting
  • Customizable reminders
  • Quick task addition
  • Offline functionality
  • Privacy-focused, local data storage
Features
Read full description

DiD is a simple task app built for those who don't want a whole system to manage their everyday. It's built around a simple idea: your task list should work the way your mind does. Not a graveyard of overdue reminders, but a running list that moves forward with you. Designed for home managers, busy parents, and scattered thinkers, use it for: ... The bill you nearly forgot.
 ... The wet laundry in the washer. ... The habit you’re TRYING to build.
 ... A book you were recommended. ... The detergent you need to buy.

 Key Features: 
 ... Incomplete tasks from today are automatically carried forward to tomorrow if "Push if incomplete" is on for the task. No overdue or RED notifications. Life is random, and you shouldn't feel guilty about not being able to keep up ALL THE TIME. DiD keeps up with you!

 ... "Reset future dates on completion" for pushed repeating tasks to adjust the future dates based on when you actually complete it. Some days you need a break from routine and want to jump back in without resetting the whole system.

 ... Only set reminders for the tasks you want so you're not bombarded with notifications. DiD is designed to free up your mental load, not add to it.

 ... Had a random chore pop into your head. Don't break the flow. Add a task quickly on the homepage without getting sucked in. DiD is designed for quick use, not to maximize your time in the app.

 ... Privacy first. Your data lives on your phone. No data collection or selling. You have total ownership over your data.

 ...That means it works completely offline. On a hike. In a plane. In that corner of your home the WIFI doesn't reach.

 ... No subscription. Just a one time payment to buy the offline app, and use it for life.

Over time, you’ll notice patterns in your one-off tasks and turn them into routines. Changing towels. Watering plants. Swapping toothbrushes. All the small things bouncing around in your mind finally have a place to live.

DID helps you stop juggling tasks in your head and start living in the present.

Screenshots

Real Hourglass4 screens
Dot It Down4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Real Hourglass at free against Dot It Down's paid. Dot It Down's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). On price, rating, in-app purchases and device support 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. Real Hourglass sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Dot It Down 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 Real Hourglass against 5.0 for Dot It Down. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Real Hourglass ships an update weekly, Dot It Down every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Real Hourglass versus Dot It Down: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReal HourglassDot It Down
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerakira ohmachiAmmani Nair

Customer experience

Real Hourglass

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Dot It Down

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Real Hourglass

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99
1 purchases

Dot It Down

One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$14.99

Questions

Is Real Hourglass free?
Real Hourglass is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dot It Down free?
Dot It Down is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Real Hourglass or Dot It Down?
Real Hourglass and Dot It Down are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do Real Hourglass or Dot It Down have ads?
Real Hourglass shows ads; Dot It Down does not.
Which is updated more often, Real Hourglass or Dot It Down?
Real Hourglass ships an update weekly, and Dot It Down every 3 days. Most recently, Real Hourglass was updated on October 20, 2026 and Dot It Down on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons