Disco Timer vs Hourglass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Disco Timer
This app provides a visually intuitive countdown timer for various tasks, from cooking to presentations. Its unique rotary gesture for setting time and large display make it easy to use and read from a distance. Customize alerts and colors for a personalized experience.
- Rotary gesture time setting
- Large, high-contrast display
- Glanceable from a distance
- Disable auto-lock option
- Customizable color combinations (Premium)
- Variety of exclusive alert tones
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Boiling an egg, timing a presentation, or starting your next Pomodoro – Disco Timer is a universal countdown clock for all sorts of tasks. Setting the timer duration is based on 60-minute circle of traditional analog watches – you just wind it up with a single rotary gesture. Then tap the display to run, pause, or reset the timer. Large, high-contrast representation of the remaining time makes it glanceable from quite a distance. And an option to disable the Auto-Lock can keep the device awake while the timer is running. This comes in very handy when keeping an eye on the progress is as important as the finishing time itself. The face of the timer can be customized by choosing from a variety of color combinations (Premium feature). And for the completion alert – you can select from a dozen great-sounding tones, all of which are crafted exclusively for Codulis apps. Give Disco Timer a try, and let us know what you think!
Hourglass
This app offers a simple and user-friendly hourglass experience. Set your desired time, pause it as needed, and enjoy the soothing visual of falling sand. It's designed for moments of calm and focused time management.
- User-friendly hourglass interface
- Set custom timer durations
- Pause and resume timer
- Soothing falling sand animation
- Comforting visual experience
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Simple and user-friendly hourglass app. You can set your desired time and also pause it. Watching the beautiful falling sand is soothing and comforting. standard Apple Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
Disco Timer and Hourglass both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 89% of Disco Timer's written reviews are positive against 30% of Hourglass's. Disco Timer also leads on ads (none vs shown). Hourglass's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.4). On price, rating, ratings volume and in-app purchases 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. Disco Timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Hourglass sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Disco Timer against 4.6 for Hourglass. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 97 and 216 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of Disco Timer's written reviews are positive against 30% of Hourglass's.
Disco Timer ships an update every 5 months, Hourglass weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Disco Timer | Hourglass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (97 ratings) — better | 4.6 (216 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 89.5% of reviews — better | 30.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 97 | 216 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.4 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Codulis | Focaccia, Inc. |
Customer experience
Disco Timer
Hourglass
In-app purchases
Disco Timer
- Disco Timer Premium$2.99
Hourglass
- Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Hourglass Timer Pro$3.99
