Debatekeeper is Android-only and doesn't support Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, or Public Forum because of how prep time works in those formats. DebateClock runs in any browser — iPhone included — and handles shared prep pools natively.
Debatekeeper is a well-built open-source app and it's been the default debate timer on Android for years. If you're on Android and judging international formats like British Parliamentary or Australs, it does the job. But two issues come up often enough in debate communities that they're worth naming:
1. There is no iOS version. Judges with iPhones can't install it. The project is maintained for Android only, and there's no public roadmap for iOS. This isn't a criticism of the maintainer — it's just how it is. But it leaves iPhone judges without a comparable tool.
2. It explicitly does not support Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, or Public Forum. This one surprises US judges. The project's own documentation states it doesn't handle those formats because prep time in them is distributed at the teams' election — a shared pool each side draws from across the round, rather than a per-speech countdown. The app's internal model can't represent that, so the formats were never added.
That leaves Android users in the US running Policy or LD with the timer in a fallback mode and tracking prep on paper, or using a separate stopwatch for the pool.
| Feature | Debatekeeper | DebateClock |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on iPhone / iOS | ✗ Android only | ✓ Any browser |
| Runs on Android | ✓ Native app | ✓ Any browser |
| Lincoln-Douglas prep pool | ✗ Not supported | ✓ 4 min per debater |
| Policy prep pool | ✗ Not supported | ✓ 8 min per team |
| Public Forum prep pool | ✗ Not supported | ✓ 3 min per team |
| Parliamentary (POI window) | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Two-device sync | ✗ Single device | ✓ Room code + QR |
| Debater display separate from judge | ✗ | ✓ Full-screen countdown |
| Install required | APK or Play Store | ✓ No install |
| Works offline | ✓ After install | Partial (sync needs internet) |
| Custom formats | XML file sideload | ✓ URL config (shipping V2) |
| Price | Free | Free |
Last verified April 2026. Debatekeeper's format support is described in its official documentation.
No migration needed. There's nothing to export or import — Debatekeeper stores settings locally on your Android device, and DebateClock has no account system at all. Each round is an ephemeral session.
Practical setup takes under a minute:
If you want the debater to have their own display device, tap COPY in the top-right to send them the room link, or have them scan the QR code shown in the sidebar. Their screen shows a large countdown that matches whatever you do on the judge side.
Full prep pool support for LD, Policy, and PF. Works on any phone, tablet, or laptop.