You shouldn’t have to pay to get closer to Allah

1. 01

   Paying to pray

   What people sayA subscription for the widgets, the full adhan, the month’s timetable, tajweed colours, and in a few apps the prayer times themselves. About one in four low App Store reviews of prayer apps (345 of 1,456), and reviewers have a name for it: “pay to pray”.

   In Khalis

   Nothing is locked and there is no premium version. The widgets, the full adhan for each prayer, the month as a PDF, tajweed colours, six reciters and offline audio are all simply there.

   What it costs
2. 02

   Adverts in the way of prayer

   What people sayThe most common complaint of all. Adverts came up in about one in three low App Store reviews of prayer apps (513 of 1,456): before the prayer times, over the adhan, in front of the Qibla and during recitation.

   In Khalis

   There are no adverts in Khalis, anywhere. The app has no advertising code at all, so there is nothing to skip and nothing to wait through.

   What it costs
3. 03

   Adverts you’d never want seen in the masjid

   What people sayGambling, music and immodest adverts, often noticed while people were in the mosque. They come up in 91 low App Store reviews of prayer apps, and in 11% of the low reviews we read from South Asia.

   In Khalis

   With no adverts, nothing can appear on your screen or play out loud when you open Khalis in the masjid.

   What it costs
4. 04

   An adhan that never sounds

   What people sayThe top complaint about prayer apps on Android (522 of 4,157 low reviews): the adhan doesn’t fire, stops after a few days, or is cut off after 30 seconds on iPhone.

   In Khalis

   The Reminders screen checks your phone and says what is set up, including exact timing and battery settings on Android, with a guide for your make of phone. Test buttons play the adhan in 10 seconds or a minute. iPhone stops notification sounds at 30 seconds, so Khalis tells you, and opening the notification plays the whole adhan. For Fajr and tahajjud you can set an alarm that rings even on silent: on Android, and on iPhone with iOS 26 or later.

   Adhan and reminders in Help
5. 05

   Times that don’t match your mosque

   What people sayThe wrong calculation method, the wrong Asr, a mistake when the clocks change, a Hijri date a day out. 391 low reviews across both stores.

   In Khalis

   Choose from 13 calculation methods and Hanafi or standard Asr, move any prayer by up to an hour, and add iqama times. If your mosque publishes its timetable as a spreadsheet, load the CSV and Khalis follows it. The Hijri date moves by up to two days to match your local sighting.

   Prayer times
6. 06

   Paying, then losing what you paid for

   What people sayLifetime purchases taken back, free trials charged as a full year, adverts still shown after paying to remove them. 55 low App Store reviews of prayer apps, and some of the angriest.

   In Khalis

   There is nothing to buy in Khalis, so there is no purchase to lose and no trial to cancel.

   What it costs
7. 07

   Bookmarks and progress wiped by an update

   What people sayDownloads, bookmarks, streaks and memorisation lost after an update. 144 low reviews of Quran apps.

   In Khalis

   Your prayer record, bookmarks and memorisation stay on your phone, and you can save them as a backup file whenever you like. On iPhone you can also sync them with your own iCloud.

   Privacy
8. 08

   Your location, sold on

   What people sayBetween 2020 and 2022, four investigations found prayer and Quran apps passing precise location to data brokers. In 2026 the biggest advert-funded apps still carried 11 to 15 trackers.

   In Khalis

   Khalis has no account, no analytics and no trackers. Your location is used on your phone to work out the times. It isn’t sent to us, because we have no server to send it to.

   Privacy
9. 09

   Questionnaires and sign-ups before you can pray

   What people sayLong questionnaires that end on a trial screen, and accounts asked for up front. 47 low App Store reviews are about the start of an app alone.

   In Khalis

   No account and no questionnaire. The welcome is three short steps, where you pray, the call to prayer and finding the Qibla, and you can skip it.

   Getting started in Help
10. 10

    Asked for money in the middle of worship

    What people sayDonation prompts every day, and in one app more donation notifications than Quran reminders in Ramadan.

    In Khalis

    Khalis never asks you for money. There is no donate button and no prompt.

    What it costs

How we counted: we read the public low reviews of 14 prayer apps on the App Store and 15 on Google Play, ten Quran apps, and regional apps in eight languages, plus press reports and tracker scans. The numbers come from matching words, so treat them as a guide. Most of these apps still average well over four stars, so these are the complaints of a minority, but they are the same complaints, over and over. We haven’t named any app here: this page is about what Khalis does, not about anyone else.