A beguiling and novel way of telling time.
This clock features a single vertical hand past which the hours, minutes, and seconds rotate with liquid-smooth precision. The metal dials are rendered so convincingly that you’ll be able to feel their weight.
Watch this mesmerizing digital sculpture “spin up” smoothly to the current time, dial by dial, every time you start it.
If you only want to know what time it is, your iPhone already tells you. But if you want to enjoy knowing, get SpinClock.
Available for iOS and macOS.
The dials rotate counter-clockwise, past the single indicator hand. Like a mechanical clock, the movement is analog, so that all the dials are moving all the time, each at their own rate. When the time approaches the top of the hour, the minutes on the dial refer to the previous hour, not the upcoming hour.
One of the settings is for the style of minute dial. The default shows the minutes counting up from 0 to 59. However, near the top of the hour, this can be confusing at a quick glance. To help with this, you can choose an “Up 30, Down 30” minute dial where the minutes past the hour count up to 30, and then back down to zero after the half hour using visually distinct numerals.
Eternos — Silver engraved dials with a warm center. Classic and refined.
Chronoscope — A striking wireframe design with a transparent background.
Abuelo — Rich golden dials with an antique character.
On iOS, you can choose how long SpinClock should wait before allowing auto-lock. When using it on your nightstand, choose “1 hour” or “Never” and make sure your device is plugged in.
On macOS, use the floating window mode (Window > Toggle Floating Mode, or ⌘⇧F) to keep SpinClock visible on your desktop. Toggle transparent background (⌘⇧T) for a borderless look.
About a year before its original release, my youngest daughter came to me with an idea for a clock where the face spun and not the hands. I thought it was a cool idea and showed her what it might look like, writing a quick Mac OS X program to prototype it. I gave a copy to my wife; a few months later she told me she found it to be an enjoyable desktop utility and was using it daily. By that time I had an iPhone, and I thought it would make a great iPhone app. I added dials for the minutes and seconds, and spent time ensuring perfectly smooth animation. The result was SpinClock.
SpinClock was originally released in 2009. In 2026, it was rewritten from scratch as a modern SwiftUI app for both iOS and macOS.
SpinClock is a simple, self-contained app that requires no account, collects no data, and needs no special permissions.
If you have questions, feedback, or encounter any issues, please contact:
SpinClock does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data. The app stores your preferences (theme, dial style, spin-up time) locally on your device using standard system settings. No analytics, no tracking, no network access.