About

Shot Timer Reviews compares shot timers and the phone apps that try to replace them. Each review answers one buyer’s question: which timer or app should I use, and why?

There are two kinds of review, and each one is labelled under its title so you always know how it was made.

Shot timer tests

Hardware shot timers are tested on the range. The first tests are coming soon. Each test looks at:

• Shot detection. Does it catch every shot, and does it ignore shots from the next bay?
• Timing. Are first-shot and split times consistent from string to string?
• The start beep. Can you hear it clearly through ear protection?
• Handling. Buttons, menus, and how readable the screen is in bright sun.
• Battery and build. How long it lasts and how well it survives range days.
• Price and extras. Par and drill modes, app support, Bluetooth, and what you pay for them.

These reviews are labelled Range tested.

Shot timer app reviews

• Find the apps. Search the App Store (31 countries) and Google Play, plus every app other guides mention.
• Collect the facts. Prices and in-app purchases, ads, account requirements, privacy labels, ratings, download counts and update dates, all from the store listings on a stated date.
• Read the complaints. One- and two-star reviews show how a timer fails: missed shots, phantom shots, paywalls, crashes.
• Score with a published rubric. Every weight and rule is printed in the review, so you can re-weigh it to suit yourself.

These reviews are labelled Data review.

How this site started

Shot Timer Reviews started with a search for a good shot timer app. App after app was reviewed, and most of them got in the way: subscriptions for a timer, ads between strings, sign-ups before the first beep, data collection, and detection that missed shots. That search ended with building a new app, Simple Shot Timer.

The idea behind it: a shot timer app should be free, private and simple.

• 100% free. No price, no in-app purchases, no subscription. Every feature is free.
• Open source. The source code is public (GPL-3.0).
• No ads, no account, no tracking. Your strings stay on your phone.

Honest reviews

Shot Timer Reviews and Simple Shot Timer come from the same developer. The reviews are still 100% honest, and as unbiased as humanly possible. Simple Shot Timer is judged by the same rules as every other app: the same store data, collected on the same day, scored with the same published rubric. Every source and every weight is printed in the review, so you can check a ranking or re-weigh it yourself. Any review that includes Simple Shot Timer says so at the top.

Photo credits

• Hanging Shooting Target by Noah Wulf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons