What to look for in a talking clock app for iPhone

Search the App Store for “talking clock” and you get two kinds of apps. Some show a big clock and speak the time when you tap it. Others keep running in the background and speak the time on their own every few minutes. If you came here because you keep losing track of time, you want the second kind, and it’s harder to build than it looks, so it’s worth testing before you rely on it.

These are the five things I’d check. I make Voice Clock, so I’ll say how it does on each, and you can hold other apps to the same list.

1. Does it keep talking when the phone is locked?

This is the one that matters. Lock the screen, open another app, play some music, and wait. If the announcements stop, the app is only a clock with a speaker button. Voice Clock keeps speaking once you press Start, with the screen off or with another app in front.

A French user noticed when this got fixed in an early version:

Très bonne application

La dernière mise à jour a résolut les problèmes et l’application fonctionne désormais très bien en arrière plan

Translation: The last update fixed the problems and the app now works very well in the background.

★★★★★ App Store review, France, 27 January 2025, Déduire · App Store

2. Can you pick the interval?

Every hour is too slow for a morning. Every minute is too much for an afternoon at a desk. Look for a range. Voice Clock goes from every second (for exercise counts) up to every hour, and you can change it without stopping.

3. Clock time or time since you started?

Two different jobs. “Every 15 minutes” can mean 9:00, 9:15, 9:30 on the wall clock, or 15, 30, 45 minutes after you pressed Start. Voice Clock calls these Clock Aligned and Interval. You want clock time for mornings and meetings, elapsed time for workouts and a timed bath. More on that in the workout guide.

4. Does it play nicely with everything else on the phone?

A talking clock that fights your podcast gets deleted within a day. Check what happens to music while it speaks (Voice Clock turns it down for a moment), whether it stops during calls (it pauses), and whether you can keep it quiet at night (Quiet Hours).

Must need app if you struggle with ADHD time-blindness!

This has helped me stop losing track of time in the morning when getting ready for work. It really helps wonders for ADHD! I set it to clock-aligned every 5 minutes so at every 5 minute interval it will say aloud the time even if you have another app with sound going on or you lock your screen!

★★★★★ App Store review, United States, 23 August 2026, coricloud · App Store

5. Can you live with the voice?

You’ll hear it dozens of times a day. Voice Clock uses the system voices in iOS, so you can pick a different voice or language, and you can add a short chime before each announcement. You can also record your own voice or use an audio file.

What it costs

Voice Clock is free to download and the basic announcements are free. Some features need a subscription. One Indian reviewer gave five stars and still titled the review “Expensive”, so I won’t pretend everyone agrees with the price.

Where to go next

• Every way to make an iPhone say the time, including the free ones
• Setting it up for a morning that ends on time
• Using a talking clock with VoiceOver or low vision