Instant Timer
howeaj
Watchapp
Description
A polished combination timer, alarm and stopwatch.
Designed for quick-launch to set everyday timers for cooking, reminders and alarms.
Packed with unique, detailed behaviour to optimise frequent use.
Specifically, this does 3 things I couldn't find anywhere else:
- Start counting immediately on launch
- Show all 4 relevant values (alarm time, duration, remaining, elapsed) at all times
- Modify the duration at any point without any pause or confirmation
Full feature list:
- One-press operation; starts counting immediately on launch.
- Single interface works simultaneously as an alarm, timer and/or stopwatch; no
switching between modes (nor running them separately)
- Modify the timer/alarm duration immediately anytime without a pause, restart or confirm.
- Timer modification controls optimised for speed:
Increment by 1h, 5m or 1m. For very short timers can also increment by 30s (<5m) or 15s (<2m).
- Battery saving:
- Automatically switches between per-second and per-minute updates based on activity:
- Synchronised with system backlight (lit by button presses, tap/shake, battery charging).
- Keeps full-rate whenever alarm is ringing, first minute of stopwatch, and whenever
the timer/alarm duration is below 2 minutes.
- Zero power usage when running in background (no background worker, Wakeup API alarm)
- Automatically stops alarm vibe after 1 minute
- Runs in background, auto-opens for alarm.
- Counts overtime after the timer/alarm elapses.
- After expiry, set a new alarm from the same base just by increasing the duration again
- Short vibe on start/stop for blind operation.
- Alarm time or start time shown in system app menu.
- Pause, resume, restart, reset
- Supports all pebble platforms.
Planned updates:
- Faster setting with touchscreen
(I'll implement this as soon as a touch screen API is available)
- User configuration to set colours, disable/modify battery saving mode,
and any other requested options
Controls:
- Select/Back to choose which timer digit(s) to modify.
Note the available digits change as the duration increases.
- Up/Down to increment/decrement. Hold to repeat. Press down at 0 to wrap up.
- Select Long-press (or press while action bar shows the play/pause symbol)
to toggle pause/resume and enter "control mode":
- Up (rewind icon) to restart the timer (i.e. set elapsed time to 0)
while retaining the timer/alarm duration
- Up Long-press to reset the entire app to 0
- Select (play/pause icon) to pause/resume counting
- Down (X icon) to discard timer/alarm and exit the app
- Back to return to timer modification
- Back while at the largest digit to exit with options:
- Up/Back (save icon) to save and exit
- Down (X icon) to discard timer/alarm and exit the app
- Select (> icon) to return to timer modification
- Back Long-press to save and exit
- When alarm goes off, any button to dismiss it
This app is great if you want to:
- Instantly set a stopwatch/timer running without looking in the middle of cooking,
and then change it as you go along
- Often quickly set an alarm to remind you about something in the near future
- Quickly set a wakeup alarm at a varying time just before you go to sleep
- Do all of the above with a single app using one quick-launch slot
Use (a) different app(s) if you want:
- More than one alarm/timer/stopwatch at once
- To slowly set a timer/alarm to a long but precise time
- Automatically repeat alarms daily/weekly
- Millisecond precision
- Sports-stopwatch split times / lap times
- A history of previously set times
- Voice control
This is based on an unreleased app I made just for myself for an android smartwatch years ago, which ended up being the only thing I ever used it for, daily. Watches are primarily for dealing with time after all, and I just can't find any other timer app that does what I want! Now redesigned and polished for release on pebble in the hope that I'm not an alien freak and this is useful for someone else too :P.
Suggestions for further improvements welcome.
Thanks for checking this out! Let me know if you end up using it :)- Developerhoweaj
- CategoryTools & Utilities
- PlatformsOG Pebble, Steel, Time/Time Steel, Time Round, 2, 2 Duo, Time 2, Round 2
- Updated2026-04-09
- Version1.3

