Comparison

AlwaysOn vs ClocksOn

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

Head to head
About

AlwaysOn

Transform a plugged-in iPhone into a convenient desk display. View the time, date, calendar, and weather at a glance. Features a sleep mode for nighttime use and custom display hours.

Highlights
  • Large digital clock display
  • Current date and calendar
  • Upcoming calendar events
  • Local weather forecast
  • Customizable display hours
  • Low-brightness sleep mode
  • Burn-in protection
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPhone or iPad into a beautiful desk and nightstand clock. Free, with no ads and no subscriptions. AlwaysOn shows the time, your calendar, weather and more on a screen you leave docked or propped up, and now on your Home Screen and Lock Screen too. WIDGETS FOR YOUR HOME SCREEN • Time Together, Daylight, Word Clock, Card Clock, Tube Clock, Countdown, Green Room, Moon Phase and Horizon • Home Screen, Lock Screen and StandBy • Tap ▶ to watch a whole day go by in seconds CLOCKS AND BACKGROUNDS • Digital clocks in eight styles, including big iPhone-style digits • Clock backgrounds: Lens, Card (split-flap), Tube, Prism, Stone, Shadow and Green Room • Animated and still backgrounds: Earth, Horizon, Moon Phase, Catnap, Soft Flow, Tide and more • Seasonal backgrounds for holidays and festivals MADE FOR NIGHT • Darker nights with a soft amber clock • Day Mode hours, Smart Dimming and burn-in protection • A sunrise alarm that wakes you with light YOUR LAYOUT • Arrange the clock with Calendar, Up Next, Weather, World Clock, Countdown, Photos and Battery • Separate layouts for portrait and landscape, made for both iPhone and iPad PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account, no tracking, no data collected • Available in English, Spanish and Simplified Chinese AlwaysOn turns a screen you're not using into something calm and useful.

About

ClocksOn

This app transforms your iPhone or iPad into a clear, full-screen bedside clock. It features adaptive brightness that adjusts to room lighting and offers manual control. Choose from light, dark, or system themes, and lock the orientation for optimal viewing.

Highlights
  • Full-screen, glanceable clock face
  • Adaptive brightness adjustment
  • Manual brightness control
  • Light, dark, or system themes
  • Orientation lock (portrait/landscape)
  • No ads or notifications
Features
Read full description

ClocksOn turns any spare iPhone or iPad into a calm, glanceable bedside clock. Full-screen, chrome-free clock face that automatically sizes itself to fill your display — readable from across the room, day or night. ADAPTIVE BRIGHTNESS The screen reads the light in your room and eases itself down as the room darkens, so it's never blinding at 2am and never washed out at noon. Prefer full control? Switch to manual brightness any time. LIGHT, DARK, OR SYSTEM THEME Pick a theme or let ClocksOn follow your device's setting. Your choice is remembered across launches. ORIENTATION LOCK Lock the clock to portrait or landscape, or let it follow the device automatically — useful when mounting an iPhone or iPad on a nightstand or wall dock. NO CLUTTER No accounts, no ads, no notifications competing for attention. Just the time, presented cleanly. Works beautifully on iPhone and iPad — set a spare device on your nightstand, dock, or desk and leave the clock on overnight.

Screenshots

AlwaysOn4 screens
ClocksOn2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: AlwaysOn at every 4 days against ClocksOn's every 2 months. AlwaysOn also leads on ratings volume (16 vs 1). ClocksOn's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ClocksOn holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AlwaysOn has 16 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AlwaysOn ships an update every 4 days, ClocksOn every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
AlwaysOn versus ClocksOn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAlwaysOnClocksOn
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (16 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings16 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWeijin WangCODERWISE INC.

Customer experience

AlwaysOn

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ClocksOn

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

AlwaysOn

No in-app purchases

None

ClocksOn

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AlwaysOn free?
AlwaysOn is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ClocksOn free?
ClocksOn is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AlwaysOn or ClocksOn?
ClocksOn is rated higher. AlwaysOn averages 4.7 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while ClocksOn averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do AlwaysOn or ClocksOn have ads?
Neither AlwaysOn nor ClocksOn shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AlwaysOn or ClocksOn?
AlwaysOn ships an update every 4 days, and ClocksOn every 2 months. Most recently, AlwaysOn was updated on October 28, 2026 and ClocksOn on November 1, 2026.

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