Comparison

Visual Time vs Needle · Pomodoro Timer

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

Head to head
About

Visual Time

Visualize your progress through the day, week, month, and year with a simple dotted line. Set daily intentions and countdowns to important events. Keep your sense of time tangible and focused across your devices.

Highlights
  • Day, week, month, year progress visualization
  • Daily intention setting
  • Custom countdowns
  • iCloud sync
  • Home screen widgets
  • Mac menu bar app
Read full description

Dotted Line shows you exactly where you are in time, right now, and helps you decide what to do with what’s left. How far through the day are you? The week? The month? The year? Most of us have a vague sense, but Dotted Line makes it concrete. A simple row of dots, a percentage, and suddenly time feels real. Set a daily intention, count down to what matters, and keep your sense of time visible across iPhone, iPad and Mac. WHAT YOU GET · Day, week, month, and year progress. · Daily intention: set your focus each morning. · Custom countdowns for trips, deadlines, launches, birthdays, and anything you’re looking forward to. · Optional iCloud sync between iPhone and Mac. · Daily reminder to keep you grounded. · Clean, minimal design that stays out of your way. · Light, dark, or system theme. · iPhone, iPad and Mac app included. DOTTED LINE PREMIUM · Home screen widgets: glance at your time without opening the app. · Countdown widgets: keep your next event visible. · Custom colors: make it yours. · Mac menu bar app: keep your timeline, intention, or countdown visible from the menu bar. One-time purchase. No subscription. Ever.

About

Needle · Pomodoro Timer

Features
Read full description

Needle is a calm, beautiful Pomodoro timer that helps you spend your time on what matters, one session at a time. Pick what you want to focus on, set the length, and start. When the time is up, take a real break. That's the whole method, proven for decades. FOCUS WITHOUT FRICTION • Set the length on a tape in the middle of the screen, then start in one tap • Focus Lock adds a few seconds of friction before you can give up early — or, set to Locked, refuses to let you stop until the block ends • Tag every session: Work, Study, Code, anything you like • A real alarm at the end of a session that breaks through silent mode and Focus SOUND AND SCENES TO WORK TO • A full-screen focus player opens as your session starts • Quran recitations, free for everyone: choose from up to 14 reciters and listen to all 114 surahs • Lofi tracks across three moods — Ambient & Zen, Chillhop & Jazz, Late Night — bundled and offline, no account, no streaming; one free track in every mood, the full library with Needle+ • 40 ambient sounds — rain, nature, night, travel and more — to layer, each with its own volume (Needle+) • Looping video scenes, or none at all SEE WHERE YOUR TIME GOES • A day view, a week strip, and a full session timeline • Build a daily streak and keep it alive • Set a daily goal that fits your life and watch it fill • Export every session to CSV whenever you want ON EVERY SCREEN YOU OWN • iPhone, iPad and Mac — on Mac, a compact Liquid Glass timer that lives in the menu bar • An Apple Watch app that runs sessions on its own • Control Center tiles • Start, pause and stop the timer from Spotlight, Siri and Shortcuts MAKE IT YOURS • Backgrounds and eight alternate app icons • Eleven languages • Dark by design, easy on the eyes at 2am Needle+ (optional subscription) The full lofi library and all 40 ambient sounds, unlimited tags and colors, detailed stats and insights, and Live Activity with the Dynamic Island. Family Sharing supported, so one subscription covers your whole family. Monthly or yearly; payment is charged to your Apple Account and renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Your time is your most valuable asset. Spend it on what matters. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Visual Time4 screens
Needle · Pomodoro Timer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Visual Time at 17.0 against Needle · Pomodoro Timer's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Visual Time sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Needle · Pomodoro Timer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Visual Time versus Needle · Pomodoro Timer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVisual TimeNeedle · Pomodoro Timer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB136 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNikola NovakovicGaliya Zhenis

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Visual Time

One-time1
  • Dotted Time$1.99
2 purchases

Needle · Pomodoro Timer

Subscriptions2
  • Needle+ Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Needle+ Yearly7 Days trial$5.991 Year

Questions

Is Visual Time free?
Visual Time is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Needle · Pomodoro Timer free?
Needle · Pomodoro Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Visual Time or Needle · Pomodoro Timer have ads?
Neither Visual Time nor Needle · Pomodoro Timer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Visual Time or Needle · Pomodoro Timer?
Visual Time ships an update every 2 weeks, and Needle · Pomodoro Timer every 2 weeks. Most recently, Visual Time was updated on October 6, 2026 and Needle · Pomodoro Timer on October 3, 2026.

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