Earth Clock vs Ambient Time
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Earth Clock
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A utility app that combines aerial photography and a clock. Aerial photos are displayed randomly every minute. Aerial photos can be selected from the following: million cities around the world, Japanese cities and towns, World Heritage Sites, and OS X / macOS code names. Supports customization of date and time formats and fonts.
Ambient Time
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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 iPadβfrom 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 β’ Word Clock spells out time in nine languages plus IPA. β’ Cosmic brings the sun, moon, horizon, and zodiac into one quiet astrolabe. β’ Tide follows local predictions and highlights the next high or low. β’ ASCII World Clock wraps global hours around a text-art globe. β’ Moon Track follows the live lunar phase. β’ About Time turns optimistic phrases into the hands of a clock. β’ Inkwell Ledger lets the day unfold as a handwritten journal. β’ 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 ROOMβAND 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.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Ambient Time at every 6 days against Earth Clock's every 3 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Earth Clock ships an update every 3 months, Ambient Time every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Earth Clock | Ambient Time |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 6 days β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Vision Pro | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch β better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 17.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kazuhisa Asakawa | LanguageCraft |
In-app purchases
Earth Clock
No in-app purchases
Ambient Time
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Earth Clock free?
Is Ambient Time free?
Do Earth Clock or Ambient Time have ads?
Which is updated more often, Earth Clock or Ambient Time?
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