iOS · watchOS
Ish Clock
The internet's oldest fuzzy clock. Tells you roughly what time it is, in plain English.
What it does
Instead of showing a precise time, Ish Clock tells you roughly where you are in the day — "It is about quarter past nine in the morning." No numbers, no hands, no stress.
The clock rounds to the nearest five minutes and expresses it naturally. It updates automatically and cycles through gentle pastel colours.
The Apple Watch app includes a complication so ish time is always visible on your watch face.
Coming soon.
App information
- Developer: dubar.com / Roger Dubar
- Contact: info@dubar.com
- Platforms: iOS, watchOS
- Price: Free
- Source: github.com/rdubar/ish-clock
- Privacy: privacy policy
- Support: support page
Screenshots
History
Ish Clock started in 1994 as a Perl script — a version of a 'joke' utility I saw on a Unix box at the University of Strathclyde around 1990 or so. My first web version appeared in JavaScript in 1996. It has been running quietly on the internet, in various forms, ever since.
| Version | Language | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Original | Perl | 1994 |
| Web | JavaScript | 1996 |
| Script | Python | 2020 |
| CLI | C | 2023 |
| iOS / watchOS | Swift | 2026 |
The full source for all versions is on GitHub.
How it works
The clock rounds the current time to the nearest five-minute interval and expresses it in natural language:
| Time | Ish Clock says |
|---|---|
| 9:02 | It is about nine o'clock in the morning. |
| 9:14 | It is about quarter past nine in the morning. |
| 9:31 | It is about half past nine in the morning. |
| 9:44 | It is about quarter to ten in the morning. |
| 21:55 | It is about ten o'clock in the evening. |