Start with your practice
Before you compare apps, answer three questions.
- How long do you sit, and does it change? If it changes, setting the length should take a second, not a menu.
- Does your practice have phases? If you switch between sitting and walking, or between techniques, you may need interval bells.
- Do you want anything besides a timer? Guided sessions, courses and talks belong to a different kind of app, which usually means more to scroll past before you sit.
The checklist
- Starting is quick. Count the taps from opening the app to the first bell. Every extra step is a chance to get distracted before you've begun.
- The bell is pleasant and audible. You should hear it without being startled. Check whether you can change its volume or its sound. The meditation bell covers what to listen for.
- It rings when it should. Test it with the screen locked, with the phone on silent and with a Focus on. A timer that doesn't ring reliably is worse than none.
- The screen stays quiet. During a session there should be little or nothing to look at.
- Interval bells, if you need them. Not every timer has them.
- Background sound, if you want it. Steady textures such as rain give the mind less to follow than music does. See Silence or rain sounds?
- Tracking that informs rather than nags. Session counts and totals are useful; a constant stream of prompts isn't. See A daily meditation habit, without the scoreboard.
- What it asks of you. Does it need an account before your first session? Does the price model suit you?
- Language and system. Check that it supports your phone's version of iOS, and whether the interface is in a language you're comfortable with.
Test it in one session
Set a length you know well, lock the phone, put it out of reach, and sit. Afterward, ask yourself one thing: did I think about the app at all during the session? The best timer is the one you forget until the bell rings.
Wondering whether the iPhone's own timer would do? Meditating with the iPhone Clock timer compares the two.
Where Echo fits, and where it doesn't
| If you need | Echo |
|---|---|
| A bell at the start and at the end | Yes |
| Silence between the bells | Yes, by default |
| Rain or wind underneath | Yes, optional and off unless you turn it on |
| Statistics | Yes: day streak, total minutes, sessions, average session, longest streak, and an activity chart by week, month, six months or year |
| To start without an account | Yes, no account is required to begin |
| Interval bells | No |
| Guided meditations or courses | No |
| An interface in a language other than English | No |
| Your phone | iPhone with iOS 26 or later |
| Price | Free |
If the rows marked "No" are things you need, Echo isn't the right timer for you, and that's fine.