Ready Time
You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.
Routinery is a really good routine timer. Build a routine as a sequence of steps, press start, and it walks you through them one at a time. Voice announcements are included, so you can keep your hands free. For running a fixed routine, it is polished and well loved.
It runs forward from a start time you choose, and projects ahead to when you will finish. Start at 7:19 instead of 7:00 and you still get walked through every step, just nineteen minutes later than you meant to be done. The app knows the start time you gave it. It does not know your deadline, so figuring out the right start time is still on you.
Ready Time runs the same idea in the other direction. Tell it when you need to be done (out the door, at the gate, dinner on the table) and it works out when each step must start. Then it alerts you at every one. The routine is built around your deadline, so it ends when you need it to.
| Ready Time | Routinery | |
|---|---|---|
| The core idea | Backward from your deadline to every start time | Runs forward from a start time you set |
| Tells you when to start | Yes, computed from the deadline | Reminds you at the time you chose |
| “Ready by 8:15” | Enter 8:15; it finds every start | Do the math, then schedule it |
| During the routine | An alert and countdown per step | Voice guidance per step, really helpful |
| Shared plans | Yes | Friends follow your progress and join in |
| Pricing model | Free; one-time unlock. No subscription | Limited free tier; subscription beyond it |
| Account | No account | Sign in with Apple, Google, or email |
| Sync | iCloud, through your own Apple ID | Signed-in sync across devices |
| Platforms | iPhone & iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Android |
Routinery also does streaks, stats, and a big template library. It is a habit app at heart. Ready Time leaves the gamification out. It has been in the App Store since 2018 focused on the backward math between your deadline and right now.
Stay if the voice guidance is what you want. Being talked through each step is Routinery's best feature, and Ready Time does not do it. Stay too if you are here for habit-building: streaks and stats help when the routine itself is the goal.
Switch if your routines keep finishing late because they started late. That is the start-time math Ready Time handles for you.
Comparing visual timers instead? See Ready Time vs. Time Timer, or browse all comparisons.
“I get so tired of counting backward to when I should start my task. This app is the solution.”App Store review
Ready Time
You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.
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