Routine vs Timely Timer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Routine
This app offers a fluid calendar, planner, and to-do list on a single canvas. Zoom from your year down to your day with ease, plan multi-day events, and track habits. It provides insights into your time usage and syncs privately across devices via iCloud.
- Fluid calendar canvas
- Zoomable daily to yearly view
- Block planning for tasks and habits
- Multi-day event planning
- Customizable color-coded tags
- Automatic carry-forward of unfinished tasks
- Location-based reminders
- Meeting link integration
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Build the day you want to repeat, and stop rebuilding it every morning. Most days are not new. They have a shape, and your phone should already know it. Welcome to your Routine. No onboarding questionnaire, no streaks to protect, and no collecting of your data. Download it, write out a day once, choose which days it runs, and it fills those days in for you. That's it. Today is the screen you live in. No week strip, no month grid, nothing to navigate. What is happening is in front of you, and anything else that comes up goes straight onto the day. Tomorrow holds every day ahead for a year, already filled in by your routines. Add to any of them. Lift a routine off a single day when life happens, and the rest of the week stays where it is. Someday is for the things with no date yet. Park them, and give them a day when you are ready. Give a block a time, a tag, a reminder, and a place. Name and color your own tags. Ask Siri to run a routine, add a block, or read your day back to you (coming in iOS 27). Put it on your Home Screen and Lock Screen, and open it on iPad and Mac. Your day stays yours. Everything syncs privately through your own iCloud, with no account to create and no one watching. You decide what your days look like, not an algorithm. Build it once, and let it carry you. Download Routine today and see the difference it will make in your life! Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Timely Timer
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Timely is a beautifully designed timer app for structured routines, focus sessions, and interval workflows. Create multi-step timer templates with custom names, colors, and durations. Start sessions quickly, pause and resume with confidence, and keep countdowns visible with Live Activities and Dynamic Island support. Use Timely for deep work, workouts, breathing exercises, study blocks, kitchen prep, and any routine that benefits from clear timing and simple control. Key features: • Multi-step timer templates • Quick timers and reusable routines • Live Activities and Dynamic Island support • Clear running, paused, and active session states • Sign in with Apple for secure account access
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Timely Timer at every 2 days against Routine's every 5 days. Timely Timer also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Routine sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Timely Timer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Routine ships an update every 5 days, Timely Timer every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Routine | Timely Timer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | TD Studios, LLC | Tuan Nguyen |
In-app purchases
Routine
- Routine Pro Monthly Subscription$0.991 Month
- Routine Pro Lifetime Subscription$9.99
Timely Timer
- Timely Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Timely Pro Yearly$19.991 Year
- Timely Pro$39.99









