ReadyTimer vs Rostrum
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ReadyTimer
This app helps you avoid being late by announcing the remaining time until departure at set intervals. It offers customizable voice announcements, presets for routines, and tracks your on-time streaks.
- Set departure time or duration
- Voice announcements at intervals
- Runs in background
- Multiple voice personalities
- Save routines as presets
- Track on-time streaks
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ReadyTimer is the simplest way to make sure you leave on time. Just enter the time you need to leave — or how many minutes you have — and ReadyTimer will announce the time remaining at your chosen interval. No more losing track while you're getting dressed, packing your bag, or doing your hair. HOW IT WORKS • Set your departure time or choose how many minutes you have • A voice announces the time left every 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 minutes • When you're out the door, tap "I'm Out" (optional) to mark it as on time WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE "Hey, you've got 15 minutes to get ready. Let's go!" "10 minutes left — how are you doing?" "3 minutes left. Wrap it up!" "1 minute! Out the door!" KEEPS ANNOUNCING EVEN WHEN YOU SWITCH APPS ReadyTimer runs in the background — so you can scroll, check messages, or play music and it will still announce your time out loud. It even plays over your music or podcasts without interrupting them. VOICE PERSONALITIES Choose from multiple AI voice personalities — from cheerful and encouraging to no-nonsense — so your reminders actually feel good to listen to. PRESETS Save your recurring routines as presets. One tap and you're ready to go. TRACK YOUR STREAK Every session is recorded in your history. See how many times you made it out on time and track your streak on the scoreboard. Nothing motivates like seeing your own data. ReadyTimer is for anyone who knows exactly when they need to leave but somehow always ends up rushing anyway.
Rostrum
This app provides a silent, visual countdown timer for speakers, with customizable color cues to indicate time remaining. It offers intuitive gesture controls for adjustments and can mirror the display to a larger screen.
- Silent visual countdown
- Customizable color stages
- Gesture-based editing
- External display mirroring
- Never dims screen
- Remembers settings
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Rostrum shows a speaker how much time is left, as a clock large enough to read from the back of the room — or from a phone propped on the podium. The background changes color at times you choose. Green while there's plenty left, amber when it's time to move on, red when it isn't. You decide how many stages there are and exactly when each one starts — most timers give you three fixed colors and no say in the matter. SILENT BY DESIGN No chimes. No alerts. No notifications. Not "sounds turned off by default" — Rostrum contains no code that can make a sound. Your audience never knows the timer is there. THE CLOCK IS THE CONTROL No buttons over your countdown. Tap to start or pause. Pause it and the clock becomes the editor: swipe with one finger to adjust seconds, two fingers for minutes, three for hours. A running clock refuses those swipes on purpose — a hand steadying the phone should not be able to rewrite a talk in progress. Pinch in to leave. A one-time overlay teaches the gestures, and a quiet line along the bottom of the clock keeps the key ones in view whenever the clock is stopped. Mid-talk, nothing but the time. BUILT FOR WHOEVER IS RUNNING THE ROOM Changing a talk length takes one tap. Set your common slot lengths once — 5, 15, 30, 45 minutes, whatever your event uses — and switch between speakers instantly. ON A BIG SCREEN WHEN YOU NEED IT Connect a display with AirPlay or USB-C and the clock fills it while your phone becomes the remote: start, pause, and adjust from your hand while the speaker watches the screen. WHEN TIME RUNS OUT The screen turns red and flashes briefly, then counts upward so a speaker can see exactly how far over they are. Impossible to miss, impossible to mistake for anything else. DETAILS THAT MATTER ON STAGE • The screen never dims while the clock is up • A phone call or a lock screen never stops the countdown — the full time is there when you come back • Digits never jitter or shift as the numbers change • Text color adapts automatically so it stays readable on any background • Remembers your setup between launches Also on the Mac App Store — one free app, both platforms. Free, with no purchases, no accounts, and no data collection of any kind. Rostrum has no network code — there is nowhere for your information to go.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Rostrum at daily against ReadyTimer's every 5 months. Rostrum also leads on device support (3 vs 1). ReadyTimer's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ReadyTimer against 5.0 for Rostrum. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
ReadyTimer ships an update every 5 months, Rostrum daily. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ReadyTimer | Rostrum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chuhe Wu | Scott GREER |
Customer experience
ReadyTimer
Rostrum
In-app purchases
ReadyTimer
No in-app purchases
Rostrum
No in-app purchases









