Comparison

RetroDotTimer vs Tilly

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

Head to head
About

RetroDotTimer

Features
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A full-screen countdown that looks like the dot-matrix displays of vintage arcades and early computing. Set the time, put your iPhone or iPad face up on your desk, and let the pixel grid count down. ONE TIMER, FULL SCREEN • A large dot-matrix countdown, readable across the room • Tap the display to start, pause, or resume — or turn on the Start/Pause button if you prefer one • Optional landscape mode that fills the whole screen • Keep the screen awake while a timer runs, with an only-while-charging option LOCK SCREEN AND DYNAMIC ISLAND • The Live Activity shows a real dot-matrix face, not a plain text label • It counts down on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • It follows the color scheme you chose in the app, including changes made mid-run • At zero it morphs into a checkmark and chimes once WIDGETS, CONTROLS, AND SIRI • A Home Screen widget that mirrors the timer, display-only • Control Center buttons to start a Pomodoro or a preset without opening the app • Siri and Shortcuts: start a timer, a preset, a Pomodoro, or the stopwatch, and pause, resume, or reset TIMER MODES • Presets: 5, 10, 25, and 45 minutes • Custom duration, 1 to 180 minutes • Classic Pomodoro: 25 minutes of work, 5-minute breaks, a 15-minute long break, 4 rounds • Stopwatch with a live hundredths-of-a-second sub-display • Multi-phase custom timers for intervals, rounds, and routines DISPLAY STYLES • Dot Matrix — the original pixel grid, with adjustable dot weight and square or round dots • 7-Segment — slanted LED calculator digits • Flip Clock — split-flap digits with animated transitions (Pro) • Big & Small — blocky digits with size-varied segments (Pro) COLOR • Transparent, Dark, and Light schemes • Six premium schemes: Amber, Green Terminal, Blue Glow, VFD Cyan, Sunset, Neon Pink (Pro) • Any text and background color you like (Pro) • Multicolored digits with Rainbow, Pastel, Neon, and Sunset palettes (Pro) WHEN TIME IS UP • Freeze at 00 or morph into a checkmark • A notification when the countdown ends • Sound and haptic alerts between Pomodoro and custom-timer phases WHAT THIS IS NOT Retro Dot Timer runs one timer at a time. No task lists, no labels, no session history, no analytics, no cloud sync. It is a single, quiet countdown. PRIVACY No accounts, no tracking, no analytics, no data collection. Everything works offline. FREE AND PRO The app is a free download and stays useful forever without paying. Presets, custom durations, the Dot Matrix and 7-Segment displays, square dots, Pomodoro, the stopwatch, the widget, Control Center buttons, Siri shortcuts, and the Live Activity are all free. Pro is a single one-time purchase, never a subscription. On iPhone and iPad it adds the Custom Timer Editor, six premium color schemes, custom colors, multicolored digits, and the Flip Clock and Big & Small displays. Pro is a Universal Purchase — the same payment unlocks the Mac menu-bar app. Every Pro feature is unlocked free for 14 days, starting automatically at first launch. No signup, no payment details. When the trial ends nothing is charged, Pro features simply return to the free tier, and any custom timers you saved stay runnable. LANGUAGES English, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), German, French, Simplified Chinese. REQUIREMENTS iOS 18.0 or later. iPhone and iPad. SUPPORT contact@andeanbearstudios.com

About

Tilly

Features
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Put a Christmas countdown on your Lock Screen in one tap. Free. TAP THE MOON • Count sleeps instead of days. Every evening from 6 PM the moon on the widget opens: one tap, one sleep closer. • Tap it on the Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island or on the Home Screen, without opening the app. • The number is always recomputed from the date at midnight, so a tap can never break the count. • A quiet "3 nights in a row" on the event screen. No badges, no push notifications. EVERY WIDGET FOR YOUR FIRST EVENT, FREE • Lock Screen: circular, rectangular and inline. • Home Screen: small, medium, large, and an extra-large diary page on iOS 27. • Live Activity in the Dynamic Island, on Apple Watch and in CarPlay. • StandBy while your iPhone charges on its side: a nightlight that counts. • Change the event, color palette and days/sleeps right on the Home Screen. ROLLS OVER EXACTLY AT MIDNIGHT • Every widget carries its own timeline, one entry per local midnight. No stale numbers in the morning, in any time zone, when the clocks change. PRESETS • Christmas, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, plus your local holidays. One tap, and next year the date moves by itself. • Or pick any event from your Calendar: birthdays, vacations, weddings, the baby's due date. ASK SIRI • "How many sleeps until Christmas?" Siri answers and shows the card. NO SNOW, NO NOISE • Paper-and-ink design with the Winter palette: cream paper, evergreen and carmine, a gold moon. • Your data stays on your device and in your private iCloud. No account, no ads, no tracking. PRICING Free: 3 events, and everything (every widget, the Live Activity, StandBy) for your first event. Winter palette free until 6 January 2027. Tilly Pro is a one-time purchase, no subscription: unlimited events, widgets for every event, photo backgrounds, all palettes, share cards without the mark. Privacy: https://ios.service-lab.site/tilly/privacy Terms: https://ios.service-lab.site/tilly/terms

Screenshots

RetroDotTimer4 screens
Tilly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Tilly at every 10 days against RetroDotTimer's every 3 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. RetroDotTimer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Tilly sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RetroDotTimer ships an update every 3 weeks, Tilly every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Ā· 5 level
RetroDotTimer versus Tilly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetroDotTimerTilly
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAndean Bear Studios GmbHDenys Khomenko

In-app purchases

1 purchases

RetroDotTimer

One-time1
  • RetroDotTimer Pro$4.99
3 purchases

Tilly

Subscriptions2
  • Tilly Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Tilly Pro Yearly3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Tilly Pro Lifetime$0.29

Questions

Is RetroDotTimer free?
RetroDotTimer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tilly free?
Tilly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do RetroDotTimer or Tilly have ads?
Neither RetroDotTimer nor Tilly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RetroDotTimer or Tilly?
RetroDotTimer ships an update every 3 weeks, and Tilly every 10 days. Most recently, RetroDotTimer was updated on October 25, 2026 and Tilly on October 29, 2026.

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