Swimmingly vs Time Drops Live!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Swimmingly
Streamline swim meet operations with this app, eliminating paper and reducing volunteer needs. It allows iOS devices to manage roles like starter, timer, stroke & turn judge, and scorekeeper. Approved for sanctioned USA Swimming competitions.
- Sanctioned USA Swimming competitions
- No paper required
- Digital roles: Starter, Timer, Stroke & Turn Judge, Scorekeeper
- iPad required for Scorekeeper
- iOS 16-18 compatible
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Run swim meets faster. Without paper. Swimmingly replaces your entire meet system with in-app timing, officiating, and scoring. No stopwatches. No clipboards. No nonsense hardware. No manual entry. Assign roles across devices: - Starter - Timer - Stroke & Turn Judge - Scorekeeper Each volunteer can simply download the app on their device, setup in minutes, and run the meet. What you get: - Automatic start + timing sync - Real-time judging and DQs - Instant scoring and results - Live publishing to SwimminglyFan App - No data entry after the meet Why teams switch: - Cut meet time - Reduce volunteers needed - Eliminate paper - Improve accuracy Built for real competition & approved for sanctioned USA Swimming competitions. Used by leagues, clubs, and year-round teams. Device support: - iOS 17, 18 & 26
Time Drops Live!
Get instant updates on live swim meet results directly on your screen. This application connects with the Time Drops timing system to provide real-time heat results.
- Instant heat result refreshes
- Connects to Time Drops timing system
- Live updates
- Swim meet information
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This app ties in with the Time Drops timing system. Heat results are refreshed into your screen instantly.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Time Drops Live! at 4.8 against Swimmingly's 4.2. Time Drops Live! also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 75%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 weeks). Swimmingly's advantage is ratings volume (86 vs 20). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Time Drops Live! holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 86 and 20 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Swimmingly's written reviews are positive against 100% of Time Drops Live!'s.
Swimmingly ships an update every 6 weeks, Time Drops Live! every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Swimmingly | Time Drops Live! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (86 ratings) | 4.8 (20 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 86 — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Swimmingly, LLC | TIME DROPS LLC |
Customer experience
Swimmingly
Time Drops Live!
Bugs and requests
Swimmingly
Reported bugs
33 issues- Heat sheets have swimmers never seated right
- Swimmer's times are always wrong and usually random numbers
- The timer starts before the buzzer so the times are always 1-2 seconds off
- The moment someone stops a timer the time disappears from the phone
- Nothing runs smoothly with this app or its web version
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- Every meet we use it at has delays due to the app not working
- Coaches don’t know who is DQed so we have to take breaks to tell them
- Timers continue to struggle and the meet starts and stops for them to reconnect
- There is no flow and kids end up sitting in the sun burning
- I have never seen so many swims have to be redone because the times never started, stopped or they can’t save it
- The starter then reboots and we sit around for 15-30 minutes while they test and talk
- The issues with timing and the app led to an extra few hours for the first meet and today after 5 hours we had just made 50% through it
- Always seems to have issues in the middle of a meet
- Takes a lot of battery life - so you live in fear of losing juice in the middle of the meet
- Easy to make mistakes and enter the wrong swimmer
- So many issues with the app so far
- Meets are basically over by the time race results start coming in
- Doesn’t matter if you’re on WiFi of cellular
- Way too many resets
- Way too many delays
- You don’t want to deal with connectivity & syncing issues in the middle of a meet
- The system has too many failure points to be a viable product
- We stopped using the system after multiple fails (meaning starter getting knocked off of the system; watches/iPhones not starting; timers phones dropping off of the system)
- Meet Central does not integrate with Meet Manager
- It is completely unreasonable to expect timers to not switch out of the app at some point in the meet
- Why does everybody use the same Huddle number?
- What happens if multiple people try to join as “starters?”
- Why does it take so long for you to get 16 timers logged into the system?
- The system is marketed to eliminate volunteers however it takes the same number, requires tech savvy volunteers to run a meet smoothly, and volunteers to print and process ribbons
- It seems difficult to use with a league that has different configuration of pools with regard to the number of lanes and the length of the pools (meter vs yard pool)
- Sprint carrier iPhones are inferior and will not work with the system
- The starter's cord did not work for us
- I have a newer and updated IPad and it it's not compatible
Requested features
10 requests- Coaches tab for splits
- Spectator tab for parents to follow times/scores
- Easily backup data during meet
- Dark mode option
- Ability to enter times manually
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- Improve app ecosystem integration
- Improve starter/meet ref visibility of connected timers/judges
- Reduce time for timers to log in
- Beta version for testing
- Shorten meet lengths
Time Drops Live!
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Swimmingly
No in-app purchases
Time Drops Live!
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Swimmingly free?
Is Time Drops Live! free?
Which has better reviews, Swimmingly or Time Drops Live!?
Do Swimmingly or Time Drops Live! have ads?
Which is updated more often, Swimmingly or Time Drops Live!?
Other comparisons
