Comparison

Interval Timer vs Next Up

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

Head to head
About

Interval Timer

Organize your running and high-intensity interval training sessions with ease. Quickly set up custom time intervals for running, walking, warm-ups, and cool-downs. Receive voice and vibration notifications for interval changes, and enjoy background music playback.

Highlights
  • Intuitive design
  • Customizable time intervals
  • Warm-up and cool-down timers
  • Voice and vibration notifications
  • Background music support
  • Foreground/background operation
Features
Read full description

Choose from 25+ ready-made running workouts—or build custom run-walk intervals, HIIT sessions, and cardio workouts in seconds. Customize every step, duration, and repeat cycle, then train with voice announcements and haptic cues. Control workouts from Apple Watch, save completed sessions to Apple Health, and review your workout history. Choose a workout, tailor it if you want, hit Start, and focus on your training—not the clock. EXPLORE 25+ READY-MADE WORKOUTS • Find run-walk sessions, interval runs, sprints, hill repeats, tempo workouts, and more • Choose from curated workouts for different training styles and goals • Start any workout as-is or customize it to fit your training • Save your favorites to My Workouts for quick access BUILD ADVANCED CUSTOM WORKOUTS • Create multi-step workouts with timed intervals and recovery periods • Add warm-up, running, walking, rest, and cool-down sections • Set a duration for each step and repeat cycles for interval blocks • Add custom cues to guide you through each step • Build anything from simple run-walk intervals to advanced training sessions • Save multiple workouts for quick access • Preview your complete workout before you start STAY IN THE FLOW • Hear clear voice announcements at every interval transition • Feel haptic cues when it’s time to change pace • Keep your workout active while your iPhone is locked or the app is in the background • Listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks while you train TRAIN WITH APPLE WATCH • Sync your workouts to Apple Watch • Start, control, and monitor workouts directly from your wrist • Train phone-free with workouts ready on your Watch • Track heart rate, distance, and active energy during your workout • Save completed workouts to Apple Health TRACK YOUR PROGRESS • Browse completed workouts in calendar and history views • Review duration, intervals, distance, and active energy • Follow your training over time • Share your workout results • Export and restore backups of your workout data BUILT FOR EVERY WORKOUT Whether you’re starting a beginner run-walk program, adding speed intervals, preparing for a race, or building a focused HIIT session, Interval Run gives you the flexibility to train your way. Start with one of 25+ ready-made workouts or build your own from scratch. Interval Run handles the timing so you can focus on your training. Some features shown, including the full workout library, advanced workout creation, multiple saved workouts, and full workout history, require Interval Run Pro. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Next Up

Create and customize interval timers with detailed options for reps, sets, colors, and sounds. Offers flexible display modes, quick actions for navigation, and background notifications. Organize timers with folders and choose between light and dark themes.

Highlights
  • Customizable intervals (reps, sets, colors, sounds)
  • Detailed and full-screen display modes
  • Portrait and landscape orientation support
  • Quick actions for navigation and editing
  • Background notifications
  • Timer organization with folders
Features
Read full description

Customize Your Intervals, Your Way A fully customizable interval timer: Create your intervals. Specify reps, sets, colours and sounds. Tailor it to your purpose and needs. Minimal design and easy to use. Options for rep-based intervals and images. Display options: Choose to run your timer in a detailed view that auto-scrolls through intervals or a full-screen mode for a larger, easily visible display. Both modes support portrait and landscape orientations. Visual details: In detailed view, running intervals and sets are highlighted, providing a clear visual cue. For intervals with multiple reps, the highlighted area indicates the percentage completed. Set optional background colours on intervals for a visual cue. Light and dark mode versions are available and will adapt to your preferences set on your device. Quick actions: Set an interim interval that will automatically be added between intervals. Optionally, end your timer with the interim interval. Skip or backtrack through intervals using intuitive arrow buttons. Swipe actions allow for easy deletion and duplication of intervals and sets. --- Interval Timer features: • Interval timers: Create timers with unlimited intervals. • Description, Length, and Reps: Set the details of each interval, customizing it to your precise requirements. • Interim Intervals: Quickly set up timers by adding interim intervals that run between each interval. • Interval Sets: Group intervals into sets and specify the desired number of set reps. • Interval Customization: Differentiate intervals with background colors. • Time Display: View countdown of each interval and total remaining time, with an option to display total elapsed time. • Progress and Highlighting: View progress with highlighted current intervals and reps completed. • Start from Any Interval: Choose which interval to start the timer from, providing maximum control. • User-friendly Actions: Effortlessly manage intervals with swipe actions for deletion and duplication. Duplicate button allows for easy copying of intervals, sets, and timers. Arrow buttons enable smooth navigation between intervals. • Background Notifications: Run timers in the background and receive alerts for interval changes and timer completion. • Organize with Folders: Create folders to organize and easily access your timers. • Orientation and Display: Enjoy portrait and landscape orientations, and full-screen mode for a larger timer display. • Light and Dark Mode: Seamlessly switch between light and dark mode to suit your preference. Upgrade features include: • Unlimited timers: Create as many timers as you like. • Sound Options: Enable countdown beeps, set interval/timer sounds, and/or enable text to speech. • Rep-based Intervals: Option to create intervals based on reps instead of time to offer maximum flexibility. • More Interval Customization: Differentiate intervals with images/photos and sounds. • Edit received timers: Flexibility to modify all timers. Subscription - syncing and sharing timers: • Sync and Share: Sync timers across devices and choose to share timers and folders with other users. Sharing via email includes a direct download link and instructions. --- Privacy Policy: https://alysha.dev/interval-timer-privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://alysha.dev/interval-timer-terms-of-use

Screenshots

Interval Timer4 screens
Next Up4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Next Up at 76% against Interval Timer's 21%. Next Up also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). 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. Interval Timer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Next Up sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Next Up holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Next Up has 2.8K ratings behind it against 534, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 21% of Interval Timer's written reviews are positive against 76% of Next Up's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Interval Timer ships an update every 3 months, Next Up every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Interval Timer versus Next Up: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInterval TimerNext Up
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (534 ratings)4.7 (2.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.1% of reviews76.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5342.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRoma SosnovskyAlysha Kwok

Customer experience

Interval Timer

All ratings534 ratings
Positive86.9%
Neutral3.4%
Negative9.7%
Written reviews95 reviews
Positive21.1%
Neutral8.4%
Negative70.5%

Next Up

All ratings2,831 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral3.0%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews208 reviews
Positive76.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative17.3%

Bugs and requests

Interval Timer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Timer resets or freezes during workout
  • Prompts not working when phone is locked or in pocket
  • Unexpected interval changes or duration changes
  • Compatibility issues with music playback

Requested features

6 requests
  • Option to pause/resume timer
  • Larger time remaining display
  • Apple Watch app
  • Ability to play audio prompts even with screen off
  • More interval options (run/walk/jog)
Show 1 more
  • Congratulatory audio cue at the end

Next Up

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Interval Timer

Subscriptions2
  • Interval Run Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Interval Run Pro Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Full Version$2.99
2 purchases

Next Up

Subscriptions1
  • Syncing and Sharing$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • Upgrade$2.99

Questions

Is Interval Timer free?
Interval Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Next Up free?
Next Up is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Interval Timer or Next Up?
Next Up is rated higher. Interval Timer averages 4.5 out of 5 from 534 ratings, while Next Up averages 4.7 from 2.8K ratings.
Do Interval Timer or Next Up have ads?
Neither Interval Timer nor Next Up shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Interval Timer or Next Up?
Interval Timer ships an update every 3 months, and Next Up every 5 weeks. Most recently, Interval Timer was updated on September 27, 2026 and Next Up on September 28, 2026.

Other comparisons