How to Choose an Adhkar App
There are dozens of apps in the store called “Adhkar”, and most copy the same texts from the same place. So what actually separates them?
These are practical tests, and we hold our own app to them the same way — a comparison whose author always wins is not a comparison.
1. Does it cite the source?
This is the first test and the most important. An app that shows a supplication without naming a book and a hadith number is an app you cannot verify — and one that has not verified itself.
Many supplications circulating in these apps have no basis, and some are fabrications attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. Good intentions do not authenticate a forged text.
Quick test: open any dhikr. If there is no book name and number beside it, close the app. Apply the same test to us: every dhikr in the morning adhkar carries its source, and our sources page sets out how each text is checked before it is published.
2. Is the Arabic fully vowelled?
Vowelling is not decoration. A supplication is read with the tongue, not the eye, and a single mark changes a word’s meaning and its addressee. Unvowelled text makes the reader guess — and guessing at a prophetic text is not a small thing.
Add to that a large, clear type option. Many of the people reading adhkar are elderly. See the evening adhkar for what fully vowelled text at a readable size looks like.
3. Where are the ads?
An ad on a list screen or a home screen is understandable; free apps are paid for somewhere.
The line that should not be crossed is the interleaved ad: between one dhikr and the next, between one verse and another, or anywhere it interrupts the reading or sits under your finger while you are counting. That placement is not for sale.
Where Khalily actually stands, in detail rather than as a slogan:
- The Qur’an screens in the app carry no advertising at all — no banner, nothing, in the mushaf, the memorisation view or the khatma.
- The adhkar reader in the app shows one banner below the reader for anyone without a subscription. It does not come between the adhkar, it does not move as you swipe, and there is a deliberate gap between it and the counter so a tap meant for the count cannot land on it.
- This website carries no advertising at all as of writing.
- The subscription removes advertising from the app entirely.
We spell it out because an article that claims something its own author does not do is not a comparison — and the first person to find out is whoever installs the app after reading it.
4. Does the counter keep your place?
A dhikr with a set count (33, 100) needs a counter that survives leaving the app or answering a call. A counter that resets every time you switch away is worse than none, because it quietly makes you start again. The tasbih adhkar here keep a counter beside each dhikr that holds your place for as long as the day lasts.
5. Are the reminders at the right time?
“Remind me for morning adhkar at 8am” is not a smart reminder. The window for morning adhkar is tied to Fajr, and Fajr moves every day and every city. An app that computes your prayer times and builds the reminder on them is one that understands what you are doing.
6. Does it work offline?
The complete adhkar texts do not exceed a few hundred kilobytes. If an app needs a connection to show you a dhikr, what is loading is usually not the dhikr.
Where Khalily stands
| Test | Khalily |
|---|---|
| A source for every dhikr | Yes — book name and hadith number |
| Fully vowelled text | Yes, with a large-type option |
| Ads interleaved between adhkar | Never |
| Ads on the Qur’an screens | Never |
| Banner below the adhkar reader | Yes, without a subscription |
| Ads on this website | None |
| Counter that keeps your place | Yes |
| Reminders built on your prayer times | Yes |
| Works offline | Yes |
| Free | Yes, with an optional ad-free subscription |
What actually distinguishes Khalily is not in that table at all: it is built for two. You choose one companion, and each of you sees the other’s day — which is what keeps a habit alive after the enthusiasm fades.
If you want to try before installing anything, the complete adhkar are on this site with no sign-up.
