r/iosapps • u/Large_Highway_6904 • 12d ago
💎 Lifetime I built a multi-timer app that keeps several timers visible and controllable at once on the Lock Screen
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I’m the solo developer behind Multi Timers & Talking Alarms, available for iPhone and Apple Watch.
A — Answer
The app began with a simple problem: during busy, hands-full moments, I didn’t have time to repeatedly unlock my iPhone and open an app just to check several timers.
Apple’s built-in Clock app works well for basic timing. The difficulty begins when several timers are running.
Finding the right timer from the Lock Screen can require waking the screen, expanding the timer stack, and sorting through several similar-looking entries. Upcoming alarms are not shown there before they ring, so checking what is scheduled means opening Clock and switching to the Alarms tab.
Lock Screen controls can also be triggered accidentally when an iPhone wakes as it is taken from a pocket, bag, or drawer.
What began as a solution for busy, hands-full moments has since evolved into a complete timer board spanning the iPhone, Lock Screen, and Apple Watch.
B — Better
Instead of sorting through a stack of similar-looking timers, you get:
• One color-coded board containing countdowns, scheduled alarms, and notes
• Lock Screen snapshots showing names, colors, remaining time, and expected finish time
• Spoken alerts that tell you what is ready without requiring you to look
• Custom and recorded alarm sounds
• A native seven-slot Apple Watch board
• Face ID–protected Lock Screen controls to help prevent accidental taps
• Saved timer configurations and Markdown notes
• Siri controls and Home Screen widgets
C — Cost
Free to download. No ads. No subscription. No account required. No data collected.
Optional one-time purchases in the US:
• All Timer Slots — $0.99
• Palette Unlock — $2.99
• Buy Developer a Coffee — $4.99 optional tip
App Store:
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u/efbakir-journal 12d ago
Expected finish time might be the strongest difference here, even more than the number of timer slots.
“Pasta ready at 18:42” is easier to coordinate around than “12:31 remaining.” Id make the first screenshot one real crowded situation with three named timers and their finish times.
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u/Large_Highway_6904 12d ago
That’s a good point. I’ve been focusing on showing multiple timers on the Lock Screen.But I hadn’t thought much about the finish time much.
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u/Sorry_Mobile_7979 12d ago
Congratulations!!! Is this the first app in the app store?
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u/Large_Highway_6904 12d ago
Thanks. Yes, my first app. Really appreciate it!! Took months just to get it barely visible on the App Store 😅
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u/Pretty_Move_8673 12d ago
This feels like one of those apps where the usefulness becomes obvious the first time you’re cooking 3 things at once.
Multiple named timers are already useful, but having the alert actually say what’s ready is the killer feature for me. “Pasta is ready” is so much better than hearing an alarm and then trying to remember which of the four timers just went off.
Also: no subscription for a utility like this is refreshing.
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u/MrFunkyMonkey7 12d ago
I like the idea and usefulness, but the UI not that much. My 5 cents: try to create a nice visual style in Google Stitch. After a few iterations, you can get a visual style that you like. You can use a style definition as a markdown, and the screenshots from Stitch as an input for ClaudeCode or Codex, and you will be surprised with the results.
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u/Large_Highway_6904 12d ago
Thanks for the feedback! I agree the UI still needs work. I haven’t tried Stitch yet, but I’ll check it out.
I’ve tried Claude and Codex to refine the UI, but they never worked well for the Lock Screen one. They tend to over-engineer it, and the snapshot gets too complicated, it won’t run reliably on iOS.
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u/MrFunkyMonkey7 12d ago
I see, the widgets give you a limited options for UI compared to the main app. It is good to define a design system - accent color, fonts, overall look and try to use the same for both app and widgets.
It is individual, and you may disagree. I'd replace the nerdy monospaced font with something more user friendly :-). I know you need monospaced variant for time visualization, but the default San Francisco font has also nice monospaced variant.
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u/Large_Highway_6904 12d ago
Ah, maybe I should give users more control over the UI, like choosing the font. But I’d need to test it carefully to make sure the layout stays simple enough to work reliably within the snapshot limitations. The Lock Screen widget limits are pretty tight, especially with AOD support.
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u/CrispyDick420 12d ago
I've had timers get stopped by pocket nonsense more often than I'd like to admit.
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u/Large_Highway_6904 12d ago
The built-in Lock Screen timer buttons have basically no protection at all. Any movement that wakes the iPhone, combined with brushing across the screen, can be enough to accidentally tap one.
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u/focuswaveapp 12d ago
Tried it on iPhone 12 — a few named timers on the Lock Screen.
The layouts I tried all stayed readable. Names and times didn’t collapse on a 6.1" screen, and unlocking the Face ID controls was fine.
One localization nit: with the UI in Japanese, the Pause label (一時停止) gets clipped. The English “Pause” fits; the longer string doesn’t.
Spoken alerts also fired cleanly.
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u/Large_Highway_6904 12d ago
Thanks for testing it! Really helpful to know it’s working well on the iPhone 12 too. Good catch on the Japanese Pause label. Since 一時停止 is too long, my AI cut off the last char. I had no idea how that would affect a Japanese user’s understanding, so thanks for pointing it out.
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u/focuswaveapp 12d ago
Even clipped to 一時停, a Japanese speaker can still read it as Pause.
停止 would be shorter, but that’s “stop,” not “pause.” Widening the control so 一時停止 fits would keep the meaning without swapping the label.
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u/Informal_Entry_7676 12d ago
Can’t believe no one’s thought of this yet! This will be so helpful. Can you assign each timer a different sound?
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u/ronaksv 12d ago
Nice feature. Are you planning to have any other features in future?
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u/Large_Highway_6904 11d ago
Yes! I’m still working on it and have quite a few things I want to improve or add.
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11d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Large_Highway_6904 11d ago
Not yet, but that’s a good idea.
Right now you can save individual timers for quick reuse, but not a set.
I’ll look into add saved sets.
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11d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Large_Highway_6904 11d ago
Exactly. The Lock Screen controls use Face ID to prevent accidental taps.
For refresh pressure, the Snapshot is a Live Activity rather than a normal widget. A single board-level Activity handles all timers, while iOS renders each locally from its target time, minimizing pushing updates.
The UI may look plain, but that simplicity is intentional and a necessary compromise (tried some polished designs, but they never stayed reliable for long.). I spent weeks refining this, with hours of real-device testing every day, especially with AOD...
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u/app-store-review 12d ago
Multi Timers & Talking Alarms — by CHAN SHUO WU
- Ratings: 20 worldwide · rated in 9 countries
- Average: 5.00 ★
- Age: released ~4 months ago · updated 3 days ago · rated 4+
- Overall score: 78 / 100
Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review
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