Comparison

Flip Clock vs Needless Clock

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

Head to head
About

Flip Clock

Features
Read full description

Your flip clock, reimagined. One screen. Three modes. Zero clutter. A large flip-digit clock that shows time like a retro split-flap display. Swipe left for Pomodoro timer, right for stopwatch. No menus, no tabs, no distractions. FREE FEATURES (forever): • Full-screen flip clock with 12/24-hour display • Optional seconds display — card or mini style • Date and weekday at a glance • Stopwatch with start/pause/reset • Pomodoro timer with customizable duration • 2 alarms • 1 countdown event • Monthly calendar view • Cycle tracker with predictions • Portrait and landscape support • Screen always-on option • English and Chinese PREMIUM (one-time, no subscription): • Multiple color themes • Flip animation styles and sound effects • Custom app icons • Unlimited alarms with repeat rules • Unlimited countdown events with categories • Calendar integration with alarms and countdowns • Week view in calendar • Cycle tracker Face ID lock, reminders, data export Most clock apps bury you in menus or lock features behind subscriptions. SimpleClock gives you the essentials free forever, with a single one-time purchase for power users. 100% offline. No account. No data collection. Your time. Your device. Simple.

About

Needless Clock

This app offers a collection of living, animated clocks that display time through unique visual narratives. Interact with the scenes to alter elements and enjoy a calming visual experience that goes beyond simple timekeeping.

Highlights
  • Living, animated clock designs
  • Interactive visual elements
  • Customizable clock scenes
  • Scheduled display dimming
  • Short clock film creation
  • No ads or third-party tracking
Features
Read full description

People do not open Needless Clock merely to find out the time. More often, they want the glowing screen beside them to grow quiet without becoming empty: something to glance at between tasks, a little light at night, time passing without hurrying anyone along. Needless Clock is a collection of living, animated clocks. They all keep the same real time, but each inhabits a world of its own. Fish turn through water, birds arrive from far away, ants hurry under the weight of a treat, cars follow the painted lines of a car park, and a brush writes numerals in water. At the turn of a minute the picture wakes; once everything has found its place, only small movements, wings, shadows and breathing remain. TIME HAS TWELVE PLACES TO GO Fish gather into figures. Touch the water and those nearby scatter, then swim home along their own curved paths. Birds perch on five wires. Some leave at the next minute, others find a new place, and now and then a distant bird crosses the clouds. Tap once and the sky sinks beneath the sea, the flock becoming fish of different forms. Ants carry biscuits, rock sugar, dried fish, winter-melon candy and leaves. Cars pull into bays. Metal blocks fall one by one. These digits are not displayed; they are made. Water runs from a brush onto stone and disappears first from the finest ends of the strokes. Oracle bone, bronze, seal and clerical scripts sit beside the hands of Wang Xizhi, Yan Zhenqing and Huang Tingjian, letting one numeral travel through centuries. A gnomon casts its shadow among the twelve Earthly Branches, its length changing through the twenty-four solar terms. There is also a wall of cooperating clock faces, a luminous word clock, figures revealed by paper and shadow, and mechanical flaps that fall like those once heard in stations and airports. GOOD JUST LEFT THERE Swipe to move between clocks. Tap to change a material, colour or world. Or choose a few favourites and let them rotate by themselves, from every minute to every hour. At night the display can dim on your schedule. Keep the screen awake, or hide the title, date and time zone until only time remains. It belongs on an iPhone stand, across an iPad, beside a Mac workspace, or spread quietly over the television in a living room. A MOMENT YOU CAN TAKE WITH YOU On supported devices, Share waits for the next minute. It keeps the stillness before the change and stops after the movement has come to rest, making a short clock film to save or send. No account, no advertising and no third-party tracking. The clocks and their calculations stay on the device. Location is off by default and, if enabled, is used only to let the car park grow dark near your own sunset. Supports Reduce Motion and VoiceOver. Made for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. May it do more than tell the time. May it keep the time with you for a while.

Screenshots

Flip Clock4 screens
Needless Clock4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Needless Clock at none against Flip Clock's 1. Needless Clock also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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. Flip Clock sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Needless Clock asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flip Clock ships an update monthly, Needless Clock every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Flip Clock versus Needless Clock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlip ClockNeedless Clock
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB61 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer磊 刘路 林

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Flip Clock

One-time1
  • SimpleClock Pro Edition$2.99
None

Needless Clock

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Flip Clock free?
Flip Clock is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Needless Clock free?
Needless Clock is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Flip Clock or Needless Clock have ads?
Neither Flip Clock nor Needless Clock shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flip Clock or Needless Clock?
Flip Clock ships an update monthly, and Needless Clock every 3 days. Most recently, Flip Clock was updated on September 30, 2026 and Needless Clock on October 10, 2026.

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