Is there a good app for set a sleep timer for audio?
Poorly Executed: 17 apps already serve this, and 30 data points mined from real user reviews across 2 sources show where they fall short. The right features exist but the execution is buggy, dated, or painful. Out-execute it.
Data refreshed July 20, 2026 · scores recompute weekly as new reviews are mined, so re-check before you build.
The product here is the licensed music, not the software. Spotify and Apple Music pay the major labels huge guaranteed advances (and gave them equity) to carry their catalogs, and three labels control 70%+ of recorded music. A better player with no catalog is worthless, and a solo dev can't license the world's music — even well-funded Rdio died trying.
Moat: the licensed catalog is the product · why: Spotify pays ~2/3 of revenue to rights holders · 3 major labels control 70%+ of recorded music · labels took equity in Spotify for catalog access · Rdio shut down despite VC funding
What users complain about
The most common complaints behind apps that try to set a sleep timer for audio, mined and clustered from real reviews:
| Complaint area | Type | Mentions | What a user said |
|---|---|---|---|
| app pauses background music | bug | 4 | When I open this app it pauses anything playing in the background. |
| no sleep timer | missing-feature | 3 | I WISH IT HAD A TIMER SO I COULD GO TO SLEEP AND IT WOULD STOP |
| sleep timer fails to stop playback | bug | 1 | Sleep timer often doesn't work and the book will continue playing for hours |
| sleep timer missing on sleep soundscapes | bug | 1 | the sleep timer on the sleep soundscapes disappeared. Can t have the sound on all night |
| audio repeats and wakes user during sleep | bug | 1 | it keeps repeating and won’t stop, it actually has woke me up in the middle of my sleep |
| option to disable sleep timer | missing-feature | 1 | I can't find a setting to totally turn off the sleep timer |
| unwanted auto-play of next track interrupts sleep | ux | 1 | the app starts another track after your selected one ends & keeps going... you’re jolted awake by some jarring sound |
| sleep timer cannot be disabled | ux | 1 | uni ajastimen olisi hyvä saada kytkettyä pois päältä |
| sleep timer multi-chapter support | missing-feature | 1 | Audible has it so you can listen to multiple chapters before the book pauses automatically |
| audio stops while timer runs | bug | 1 | Sometimes it will just stop audio all together but the time will keep ticking forward |
| no 'End of Queue' sleep timer option | missing-feature | 1 | I would really appreciate it if the timer had a “End of Queue” option |
| sleep timer hides remaining time | missing-feature | 1 | I need to know how much time is left on a podcast and how much time is on my sleep timer |
Apps that already serve this
| App | Rating | Ratings | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| To Sleep:App | 4.6 | 113 | Free |
| Sleep Machine | 4.7 | 2,980 | $3.99 |
| Sleep Sounds: relaxing sounds | 4.7 | 1,945 | $2.99 |
| Endel: Focus & Sleep Sounds | 4.6 | 33,274 | Free |
| ShutEye®: Sleep Tracker, Sound | 4.8 | 348,704 | Free |
| White Noise Deep Sleep Sounds | 4.8 | 205,349 | Free |
| SleepStream 2 Ultimate | 4.5 | 188 | $9.99 |
| SleepFan: MyFans - Sleep Aid with Recorder | 4.6 | 28 | $1.99 |
Should you build it?
The right features exist but the execution is buggy, dated, or painful. Out-execute it. Opportunity here scores 65 out of 100 — a function of demand, how crowded the field is, and how badly the existing apps perform. Use the live map to compare it against adjacent tasks.
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