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The one app I use more than any other on my iPhone is the timer. It’s great to be able to fully concentrate on the task at hand while waiting for a future task to be ready for action. Here’s just a few things you can use your iPhone timer for:
- Expert Tea Steeping
Any tea lover knows, you don’t want to steep your green tea for too long – or else it gets bitter. But when you’re having a hectic day, you can get distracted within the 2-3 minute window that makes a good green. You can also use your timer to remind you that you’re heating up water for said tea – so you don’t accidentally leave the stove on and melt the handle on your roommate’s pot. - Parking Meter Mate
How nerve wracking can it be to try to remember that your car is parked at a meter that is going to expire in 30 minutes? Srsly, lots. Just set your iPhone timer to a few minutes before your meter expires, and your mind can be at ease while you go shop, eat lunch, or have an extensive conversation with your butcher about the many tasty ways to enjoy head cheese. - Lazy Laundromat
Where is everyone? They're waiting for their iPhone timers to go off!
If your clothes are anything like mine, guarding them at the laundromat just isn’t worth it. So after you throw your rags in the wash, set your iPhone timer for a few minutes before they’ll be finished. Then you can go home and vacuum or make some tea (if only you could have multiple iPhone timers!) without having to worry about ending up with a plank of hard-dried clothes. - Appointment Reminder
Got a dentist appointment you need to run to in an hour, but want to get focused on your herb garden? You’ll remember to make it to that “tooth hurtie” appointment if your iPhone starts singing at 2:15. - Layover Alert
Want to go grab a beer at the Jackalope Flats during your layover at Sky Harbor, and not have to keep checking the time while you learn about the pleasures of having a pet tortoise from your bartender, Olaf? Just set your iPhone timer and you don’t have to turn on your bionic ears to listen for the boarding call for your flight. - Dinner Table Tracker
Go ahead and grab one – or three – Flaming Dr. Peppers from Mugshots while you’re waiting for your table at Ruth’s. Your iPhone will tell you to get back to the restaurant on time – unless you’re too drunk to notice it. You should have paced yourself. - Train Catcher
Absolutely have to catch the 4:32 BART train to hit the CalTrain in time to make the SV New Tech Meetup? You can concentrate on other things, and your iPhone will let you know when it’s time to go. - Running Reminder
If only she had set her iPhone timer, she wouldn't have run into this desert
Want to get your 30 minutes of cardio in for the day, but not sure how far to run before it’s time to go back. You can still listen to music while you jog, but if you set your iPhone timer for 15 minutes, you’ll be reminded when it’s time to backtrack. You also use the timer to check your pulse: just take the number of beats in 6 seconds, multiply it by ten, and compare it to your target heart rate. If only the iPhone had data-in for a heart rate monitor app.
The basic idea is to put your mind at ease so it’s not worrying about the task you have to do in the future, so you can concentrate on the task you’re doing now. Otherwise your brain keeps asking you “are my brownies burnt yet?” while you’re trying to troubleshoot that .htaccess file – and everyone knows brownies and .htaccess just don’t mix. What do you use the timer on your iPhone for?
Laundromat photo by eddiequinones
Jogger photo by dafydd359
Mary said,
July 2, 2008 @ 8:14 pm
Well, Mister State-of-the-Art Techno Hoity-Toity-Miniaturized-Gadget Guy, I guess those of us who don’t HAVE iPhones, who can’t AFFORD iPhones, who just found out what an iPhone IS about a month ago, will either have to resign ourselves to burned brownies, jogging in deserts, having our aircraft take off without us, etc., OR will have to go to Walgreen’s and spend $3.99 for a watch that is black and plastic and ugly but DOES have a timer and, as a bonus, is WATERPROOF, PLUS its name has the logical, traditional arrangement of upper- and lower-case letters and thus it is not spelled uGly wAtch.
Matt said,
July 21, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
I also use the iPhone timer to get out of dates. I set the timer for 30 minutes into the date and set the alarm to my ringtone. If the date is going well, just ignore with “Oh, I’m sorry, should’ve put it on vibrate. How rude of me.” If the date is going badly, turn that baby up on high whilst it’s in your pocket (or purse, I guess) and let the acting begin. “I’m sorry, I told my friend to call me if she found out anything about her cat, etc.”
Love it!
kadavy said,
July 21, 2008 @ 4:09 pm
Wow, Matt – that’s ingenious! The same idea could be used to get out of all sorts of pointless meetings
Steve Greenley said,
April 23, 2009 @ 3:51 pm
You might like to try my talking countdown timer for the iPhone, VoiceCount. It makes spoken announcements during the countdown which means that you don’t have to keep looking at it to tell how much time is left. Just search for VoiceCount in the iTunes App Store or follow this link.
Mario said,
July 18, 2009 @ 10:45 pm
The timer is one of the few apps on the iPhone that continues to run even if you close out the app and are working in another app. This feature is especially beneficial to me as I am a professional speaker. As I’m being introduced I start the timer then switch over to Docs to Go where my notes are stored. The timer discretely lets me know when my time is about up. Perfect! All I need for my speaking gigs is my iPhone!
winston said,
May 14, 2011 @ 12:58 pm
Agreed the timer is a really great tool. But, it seems like all the scenarios you describe involve repeated tasks that you track. Do you really want to set the timer every single time?
Take a look at the Elapsed App (http://www.elapsedapp.com) which lets you track multiple timers concurrently, save frequently used timers as presets for easy reuse and triggers alerts even while the App is not running. You’ll find it a significant upgrade from the default timer that ships with the iPhone.