Comparison

Ambient Time vs Dial

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

Head to head
About

Ambient Time

Features
Read full description

Put time where it belongs: on your Home Screen, Lock Screen, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac, or the biggest display in the room. Ambient Time is a native collection of clocks and useful glances. Explore 47 ways to read the moment on iPhone and iPad—from precise word grids and binary displays to astronomy, weather, mathematics, and generative art. ONE HOME FOR EVERY SCREEN The destination-first control center organizes Widgets, Apple Watch, TV & Displays, Clocks, and Instruments. Browse what fits each surface, preview it live, and choose starting defaults without pretending to control system-owned placement. CLOCKS WITH A POINT OF VIEW • Word Clock spells out time in nine languages plus IPA. • Cosmic brings the sun, moon, horizon, and zodiac into one quiet astrolabe. • Tide follows local predictions and highlights the next high or low. • ASCII World Clock wraps global hours around a text-art globe. • Moon Track follows the live lunar phase. • About Time turns optimistic phrases into the hands of a clock. • Inkwell Ledger lets the day unfold as a handwritten journal. • Mandaza draws a generative clock that never repeats exactly. WIDGETS MADE FOR THEIR SPACE Ambient Time groups Home Screen clocks and information widgets by size, so every layout stays clear and useful. Because the Lock Screen already shows Apple's clock, Ambient Time adds context instead: moon phase, golden hour, rain, tides, and poetry in Inline, Circular, and Rectangular forms. A CALMER GLANCE ON APPLE WATCH Choose from six legible clocks in the Watch app. Add nine Smart Stack widgets and complications for tides, rain, forecasts, golden hour, moon phase, world moments, words, compliments, and poetry. MADE FOR THE ROOM—AND THE MAC Apple TV offers a remote-first gallery of Ambient clocks and fixed dashboards. Mac brings the same destination control center to the desktop, including fullscreen Ambient Mode, dashboards, and Desktop or Notification Center widgets. Five global color themes are available where a clock supports them. Weather, sun, moon, and tide features use coarse location only with permission. There are no accounts, ads, subscriptions, or purchases, and location is never used for tracking. Built natively in SwiftUI with Reduce Motion support. Made by Luke Steuber.

About

Dial

This app transforms countdowns into a tactile experience with precise haptic feedback and spatial audio. Choose from various material themes and enjoy a focus-designed interface for setting and managing timers across multiple Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Tactile dial with one-second detents
  • Synchronized Core Haptics and mechanical clicks
  • Binaural spatial audio for clicks
  • Multiple material themes
  • Countdown timers up to two hours
  • Cross-device synchronization (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch)
  • Widget and Live Activity support
Features
Read full description

Time should feel as good as it looks. Dial: Haptic ASMR Timer turns a familiar countdown into a tactile, spatial instrument. Rotate the dial through precise one-second detents. Below one minute, choose any whole second. At one minute and above, the dial settles cleanly on :00 or :30. Each adjustment can answer with synchronized Core Haptics and a tiny mechanical click. With compatible headphones, binaural spatial rendering lets each click follow your touch around the dial. On other audio routes, Dial keeps sound quiet and balanced. CHOOSE YOUR MATERIAL • Sycamore — pale figured wood and warm metal • Atelier — rich wood with a private-club glow • Saddle — cognac leather and polished brass • Carbon — forged carbon with cool titanium • Nocturne — piano-black lacquer and chrome DESIGNED FOR FOCUS • Set countdowns from one second to two hours • Start, pause, adjust, and reset with tactile controls • Keep a countdown running when you leave the app • Receive an optional quiet completion notification • Control sound and haptics independently • Finish with a soft, fading tone instead of a jarring default alarm • Use VoiceOver labels and Reduce Motion support TIME ACROSS YOUR DEVICES • Enjoy the full tactile dial on iPhone and the spacious crafted interface on iPad • Turn the Digital Crown to set, start, pause, repeat, and reset timers on Apple Watch • Keep timer state aligned between iPhone and a paired Apple Watch when connectivity is available • Follow a centered, second-by-second countdown from Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets • Launch 30-second, 1-minute, 3-minute, and 5-minute presets from a widget • Keep an active timer visible on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island with a system-driven Live Activity • Add circular, rectangular, inline, or corner complications to your Apple Watch face Timers up to and including five minutes are free. Dial Pro is a one-time, non-consumable in-app purchase that unlocks longer timers. There is no subscription, account, or advertising. When the countdown ends, a theme-matched Time’s Up moment sweeps light across the dial before the instrument quietly comes to rest. Turn the dial. Feel every second. Make time tangible. Privacy Policy: https://mikecerdeiros.github.io/dial-asmr-timer/privacy/ Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Ambient Time4 screens
Dial4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ambient Time at none against Dial's 1. Ambient Time also leads on device support (5 vs 3). 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. Dial sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ambient Time asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Ambient Time versus Dial: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAmbient TimeDial
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB105 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLanguageCraftMichael Cerdeiros

In-app purchases

None

Ambient Time

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Dial

One-time1
  • Dial Pro$3.99

Questions

Is Ambient Time free?
Ambient Time is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dial free?
Dial is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Ambient Time or Dial have ads?
Neither Ambient Time nor Dial shows ads.

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