A talking clock for blind and low-vision iPhone users

If you use VoiceOver you already have a talking clock of sorts. Touch the top of the screen and it reads the time. Ask Siri and you get the time. Both work, and both need you to ask.

A scheduled talking clock fills a different need: knowing the time without stopping what you’re doing. Cooking, a long call, getting out of the house. Before smartphones, people used a talking watch and pressed its button. A talking clock app does the same thing on a timer.

Setting up Voice Clock with VoiceOver

1. Open Voice Clock. The main controls are labelled, so swipe through until you reach the interval setting.
2. Pick an interval. Every 15 or 30 minutes suits most of the day. Every 5 minutes helps when you’re on a schedule.
3. Choose Clock Aligned if you want to hear real clock times (10:00, 10:15).
4. Double-tap Start. You can now lock the phone. It keeps speaking.

The time is spoken with iOS voices, so if you have a preferred voice in VoiceOver, you can use a matching one here. Everything runs offline.

das ist wunderbare app für blinde, funktioniert tadellos, danke ❤️

harika bir uygulama, görmeyenler rahatca kullanabilir. ❤️

Translation: Title: "This is a wonderful app for blind people, works flawlessly, thanks." Body (Turkish): "A great app, people who can't see can use it comfortably."

★★★★★ App Store review, Germany, 19 February 2025, cevdet hincal · App Store

Won’t it talk over VoiceOver?

It speaks through the same audio as your other media. If VoiceOver is reading something at the moment an announcement is due, you’ll hear both. Most people settle on a longer interval during the day so it rarely clashes, and a short one only when they’re watching the clock.

Night time

Use Quiet Hours so it stays silent while you sleep. If you want the time at night, ask Siri or touch the status bar instead.

Apple Watch

The watch app taps your wrist before speaking, which helps in noisy places. It keeps going when you lower your arm.

Other places it helps

The same set-up works for older relatives whose eyesight is going, and anyone who can’t easily read a small screen. See speaking clocks for kids and seniors.

If something doesn’t read well with VoiceOver, please email [email protected] and say which screen. I fix accessibility bugs first.