Comparison

The Big Timer vs Time’s Up!

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

Head to head
About

The Big Timer

A straightforward timer application designed for simplicity and ease of use. It offers a large, clear display for quick time checks. Ideal for anyone needing a no-fuss countdown or stopwatch.

Highlights
  • Large, clear timer display
  • Countdown functionality
  • Stopwatch functionality
  • Minimalist interface
Read full description

Just a Big Timer.

About

Time’s Up!

This app offers a fun and engaging way to track time with visually appealing countdowns. It's perfect for managing tasks, study sessions, or bedtime routines for both children and adults. Choose from unique visual styles or traditional clocks, and customize alerts for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • Visual countdown styles (Reveal, Pixelate, Puzzle)
  • Customizable alert sounds and colors
  • iCloud timer syncing across devices
  • Live Activities for Lock Screen and Dynamic Island
  • Guided Access for child lock
  • AirPlay and tvOS support for TV display
  • Minute-by-minute audio updates
Features
Read full description

Time’s Up! is a fun, visual timer that you’ll actually want to use. Whether it’s for you, your kids, or someone else, Time’s Up! will make counting down much more engaging. Timers can be used at work and at home, whether you’re making sure you take a break or telling kids it’s bedtime.  Timers exist everywhere, but none of them are fun and visually appealing — and that can be important when you’re dealing with kids big and small! Time’s Up! has the features you need to make time fun again — try it for free, NO ADS. Time’s Up! isn’t just for kids and workaholics, though. The possibilities are endless: • Adults who need to set timers to stop them from working for too long without a break. • Kids who don’t want to do their homework but can be convinced to work in smaller chunks. • Setting reading or other activity timers before bed time. • Helping bigger kids focus on an activity for a set amount of time. • Setting timers for exercises — put Time’s Up! on your TV screen using AirPlay and turn a timer into the focal point for your exercise group. • Anything that’s based on a specific amount of time! What makes a timer fun? Time’s Up! has 5 fun styles to choose from, including:  • “Reveal” a photo from your Photo Library as the seconds tick down.  • “Pixelate” makes a photo more clear as a timer gets closer to completion. • “Puzzle” breaks a photo into jigsaw puzzle pieces and then puts the pieces into their places as time progresses. Alternatively, there are more traditional clock faces if you just want a simple timer. Timers can be customized with their own alert sound and color, too. Other key features include: • Sync your timers between iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV using iCloud. • See your timers on your Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, and Apple Watch with Live Activities (requires iOS 18). • Guided Access to prevent kids from switching apps and changing timers, making sure only you have the power to control time. • Airplay and tvOS support so you can put a timer up on a TV screen. • Get audio updates each minute or countdown the last 10 seconds. • On macOS, you can float the timer window above other apps so it’s always visible. Time’s Up! is a free download with a trial limit of five countdowns. After that, there is a small one-time purchase that unlocks the app on all your devices, forever. ——————— What’s the difference between “Time’s Up! — Visual Timer” and “Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)”? You are looking at the free-to-download version of Time’s Up! that lets you try the app five times before upgrading via in-app purchase. “Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)” is the same app but available paid-upfront with no limits in the app itself. “Time’s Up! Timer (VPP)” exists so educators can purchase the app through Apple’s Volume Purchase Program (VPP) for Education. ——————— Time’s Up! has no ads or data trackers. We believe your data is your own and we don’t collect any of it.

Screenshots

The Big Timer1 screens
Time’s Up!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Big Timer at none against Time’s Up!'s 1. The Big Timer also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 6 weeks). Time’s Up!'s advantage is ratings volume (435 vs 6). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Time’s Up! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. The Big Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for The Big Timer against 4.6 for Time’s Up!. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Time’s Up! has 435 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of The Big Timer's written reviews are positive against 84% of Time’s Up!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Big Timer ships an update every 10 days, Time’s Up! every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
The Big Timer versus Time’s Up!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Big TimerTime’s Up!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (6 ratings) — better4.6 (435 ratings)
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews84.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6435 — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV
Requires iOS15.415.4
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoel KlaboOverdesigned, LLC

Customer experience

The Big Timer

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral11.1%
Negative11.1%

Time’s Up!

All ratings435 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews121 reviews
Positive84.3%
Neutral6.6%
Negative9.1%

Bugs and requests

The Big Timer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Time’s Up!

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Hotkey functionality broken after update
  • Timer not working after app update
  • No sound at the end of timer

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow longer timer durations
  • Add ability to set multiple timers
  • Improve customization options
  • Provide more sound/alert options
  • Add child-proof timer lock feature

In-app purchases

None

The Big Timer

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Time’s Up!

One-time1
  • Time’s Up! Unlimited$5.99

Questions

Is The Big Timer free?
The Big Timer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Time’s Up! free?
Time’s Up! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, The Big Timer or Time’s Up!?
The Big Timer is rated higher. The Big Timer averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Time’s Up! averages 4.6 from 435 ratings.
Do The Big Timer or Time’s Up! have ads?
Neither The Big Timer nor Time’s Up! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Big Timer or Time’s Up!?
The Big Timer ships an update every 10 days, and Time’s Up! every 6 weeks. Most recently, The Big Timer was updated on October 6, 2026 and Time’s Up! on October 10, 2026.

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