CLOCKER

Clocker vs SprintTimer

SprintTimer is the app that proved phone timing works, and it has fifteen years of trust behind it. The difference is the workflow: it hands you a photo-finish strip to read, and Clocker hands you a time.

The short version

	Clocker	SprintTimer
Frame rate	240 fps	240 fps
Finds the finish for you	Yes	No. You scroll the strip and tap to place the mark
Starts the clock for you	Yes, hand over the lens	No. Sound cable, walkie-talkie, second device, or manual
Devices needed	One iPhone	One, plus a start trigger
Tripod	Optional	Required, aligned on the line
Several runners at once	Not yet	Yes, that is what a strip is for
Mac companion	No	Yes
Price	$49/yr	$4.99, Pro $4.99/yr or $19.99 once

SprintTimer is the cheaper purchase and it is not close. The question is what you are comparing it against: if the manual marking does not bother you, buy SprintTimer. If you are timing the same athlete twenty times a week and want a number without touching the phone, the alternative that does that today is a pair of timing gates at $649 and up.

What SprintTimer actually does

SprintTimer builds a slit-scan photo finish: it samples a narrow strip of pixels at the finish line over time and assembles them into one long image. It is the same principle as the photo-finish cameras at a real track meet, and it is genuinely good at it. A strip shows every runner crossing, in order, with a readable time axis.

The cost is that reading the strip is your job. The workflow is record, then scroll along the image, then tap to place a time mark on the runner's torso. Its guide is explicit about this. Separately, the timer has to be started by something: a sound trigger through a cable, a walkie-talkie, a second device running the companion Start Sender, the microphone, or your finger.

When SprintTimer is the better buy

If you are timing a race with several runners crossing together, a photo-finish strip is the right tool and Clocker cannot do it, because Clocker times one runner per rep. SprintTimer also has a macOS companion, a decade and a half of refinement, and a one-time purchase option that is cheaper than a subscription if you use it rarely.

Where Clocker is different

Clocker is built for the repetitive case: a parent or coach running the same athlete over the same 20 yards, over and over, wanting a number after each one without touching anything. The start comes from the starter's hand passing over the lens, the finish from the runner crossing a line you pointed at, and both are found by analysing the recording afterwards rather than reacting live.

You still get to check the work. Each mark is shown with the frames on either side of it, and you can move a mark if the detector got it wrong. The difference is that you only do that when something looks off, not every single time.

Neither is certified equipment

SprintTimer's own documentation says it cannot be used to set official records, and the same is true of Clocker. Phones are not real-time systems. For practice reps, that does not matter; for anything official, use gates or a FAT system.

Try it

Clocker times a sprint from one iPhone at 240 frames a second. It finds the start and the finish itself, and shows you the frames either side of each mark so you can check the number rather than trust it.

SEE HOW IT WORKS