Comparison

Earth Clock vs Ambient Time

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

Head to head
About

Earth Clock

Features
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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.

About

Ambient Time

Features
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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 iPadβ€”from 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 ROOMβ€”AND 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

Earth Clock1 screens
Ambient Time4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Earth Clock versus Ambient Time: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarth ClockAmbient Time
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 6 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Vision ProiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch β€” better
Requires iOS18.617.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size5 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKazuhisa AsakawaLanguageCraft

In-app purchases

None

Earth Clock

No in-app purchases

None

Ambient Time

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Earth Clock free?
Earth Clock is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ambient Time free?
Ambient Time is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Earth Clock or Ambient Time have ads?
Neither Earth Clock nor Ambient Time shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Earth Clock or Ambient Time?
Earth Clock ships an update every 3 months, and Ambient Time every 6 days. Most recently, Earth Clock was updated on September 9, 2026 and Ambient Time on September 20, 2026.

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