GTD Two Minute Timer; the Latest GTD App for iPhone
October 16th, 2008 Oliver StarrCategories | Best Practices | Downloads | Getting Things Done | Mobile | Software
Well, the guys over at Morning Paper got the scoop on the latest GTD application for the current “must have” device, Apple’s iPhone. Having read the post, I immediately cruised over to the App Store and ponied up my $0.99 to add this latest tool to my burgeoning toolbox.
Like the post that lead me to this application says, this is a pretty nifty little application. There’s not a whole let to write or say about a countdown timer but what I can say is that there are some nice little touches here that make this one worth the buck it costs. For example, the timer rotates with the screen taking advantage of the accelerometer functionality of the phone and allowing you to get the larger view that the landscape orientation affords.
You can choose the alarm sound at the conclusion of your two minutes (and you can also select any other time you wish to count down from 59:59 to 00:01. The display is clean, the features are intuitive and the wheels make satisfying little clicks when you spin them to set the time. All in all it is a solid little application that will help you keep your two minute tasks within the two minutes you’re supposed to- something that I know this application will be helping me to improve for certain!
Because many applications are iterative and improve over time I thought I would also throw in my $0.02 about what simply improvements I’d sugggest for future updates. Principally there are two: first, I would allow the timer to also be capable of counting up - yep, make it a stopwatch too. That’s easy enough to do and would basically double the utility of the application. Secondly, allow the user to customize the colors. Maybe we want high contrast or perhaps sudued hues, whatever the case this is another very easy upgrade that will make this little tool all that much more appealing.
Why spend the money. The clock that is native to the iphone 3G has a timer built in.
Dave
Have you ever opened the Clock application on your iPhone? A countdown timer AND a stopwatch are right there, plus a world clock and what have you.
I have to admit, I forgot that the clock has those functions. It isn’t quite as much fun to set though.
In all seriousness I don’t mind putting a dollar up to support a developer from time to time.
The interesting thing from my perspective is that this demonstrates how capricious Apple is when it comes to what they’ll allow and what they won’t. This application clearly duplicates the functionality that is already baked into the device but I guess because Apple doesn’t see how they can make a bunch of money off of a timer they let it through.
Just you watch though…if someone comes up with a much more novel clock that does something that people would pay a more substantial sum for - say “alarm tones” or some such, you can bet that Apple would deny that application and then launch one with the same functions themselves (of course it would have already, ahem, been under development and that’s why the independent app was denied, right?)
At least now I know that the developer is going to have some pressure to make his application more novel if he wants it to sell so I bet my color selection option request just got a lot more important to implement.
Editor
Not to pile on, but many developers have repackaged native iPhone capability (the bubble level application comes to mind, which was a demo included in the SDK) to make a buck. Comparing the timer on my iPhone and the screenshot = the same app/functionality.
It’s cheap to use this as an opportunity to bash Apple, when the developer is the one *clearly* the one free riding. I understand people have strong feelings about how Apple manages the AppStore, but your rant in the comments just doesn’t follow.
This $0.99 utility allows you to set timer in one second increments to measure times from 0′01″ to 59′59″ while the built-in clock’s timer can be set in one minute increments from 00:01 to 23:01. So it is possible to set it to 1′56″ and have 31 2-minute intervals in each hour - real boost in productivity!
I’ve been using the build-in timer for my 2-minute tra-las for ages now - maybe I’m missing something about this new App thingummy?
Paul
There’s an iPhone app available called “MyBigAlarm” that’s a digital clock with super-large numbers, and you can customize it to your liking - both with color (type and background), and with your choice of many alarm sounds, including one you can custom record all your own. And it works in either portrait or landscape mode. Nice big numbers, very easy to read. I like it.
cheers,
Graeme