Timers & Alarms

Settings

Accessing Settings

Open Settings by tapping the gear icon in the top-right corner of the timer or alarm list.

Timer Defaults

Set the default name, duration, background color, and alarm sound for new timers. These values are used whenever you create a new timer.

Alarm Defaults

Set the default name, wake-up time, alarm sound, and snooze duration for new alarms. The snooze duration determines how long an alarm is postponed when you tap Snooze.

Features

Enable or disable the repeating timer and interval timer features. When disabled, these options will not appear when creating new timers. Existing timers keep their settings.

Interval Timer Defaults

When the interval timer feature is enabled, you can configure the default name and default duration for Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase 1 and Phase 2 are pre-populated with the names Work and Rest, but you can rename either phase when creating a timer. The Phase 1 duration is independent from the plain-timer default duration in Timer Defaults — set them separately so a new interval timer starts with the right work-phase duration. Enable Per-Phase Sounds to let each phase — including warm-up and cool-down — play its own alarm sound; phases without a custom sound fall back to the main timer sound.

Display

Choose how timers and alarms are sorted in their respective lists. You can also choose to group active timers into a separate section at the top of the list.

Tomato Timer Widget

Customize the Tomato Timer widget. With the control buttons visible, tapping the tomato opens the app — start, pause, resume, and stop stay one tap away on the widget itself. Hide the control buttons to repurpose the tap-on-tomato gesture for start, pause, and resume. Hide the digital display for a pure kitchen-timer look — only the tomato dial communicates remaining time. Stop is always available in the live activity and inside the app.

Appearance

Switch between light mode, dark mode, or automatic appearance that follows your system setting.

Backup

Export timers, alarms, and settings to a JSON file, or import a previous export. Use it to back up data or move it between devices. Importing replaces all current data.

Tip Jar

Leave an optional tip to support continued development. Tips are purely voluntary; the app remains fully functional without them.

Timer Management

Adding Timers

Tap the + button in the top-right corner of the timer list to create a new timer. Fill in the desired settings and tap Save.

Deleting Timers

Swipe a timer row to the left to reveal the delete option. Confirm the deletion to remove the timer permanently.

Controlling Timers

Each timer can be started, paused, resumed, and stopped using the control buttons. In the list view, use the inline buttons on each row. In the detail view, use the larger control buttons below the countdown.

Controlling Repeating and Interval Timers

Repeating and interval timers do not advance automatically. When a round of a repeating timer or a phase of an interval timer finishes, the timer alerts you and waits — the next round or phase will only start after you confirm it. Confirm by tapping the next-step button on the alert notification, in the Live Activity on the Lock Screen or Dynamic Island, in the Home Screen widget, or in the timer's detail view in the app. This lets you take a break of any length between rounds or phases.

Timer Detail View

Tap a timer in the list to open its detail view. Here you see the countdown, current phase, repetition progress, and configuration summary. You can also edit the timer from this view.

Live Activity

When a timer is running, it appears as a Live Activity on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. This lets you monitor the remaining time without opening the app.

Lock Screen Widget

Running timers are shown on your Lock Screen as a widget, displaying the timer name and remaining time. This works automatically when a timer is active.

Timer Configuration

Name

Give each timer a descriptive name to easily identify it in the list and on the Lock Screen.

Duration

Set the countdown duration using the hour, minute, and second picker wheels. This is the total time the timer will run before alerting you.

Appearance

Choose a background color for the timer. The color is shown in the list, the detail view, and in the Live Activity on your Lock Screen. Enable Show Tomato to display a tomato kitchen-timer illustration on the timer's detail view — useful for Pomodoro-style sessions.

Sound

Select an alarm sound that plays when the timer finishes. You can preview sounds before choosing one. For interval timers with per-phase sounds enabled in Settings, each phase (warm-up, work, rest, cool-down) can use its own sound; phases without a custom sound fall back to the main timer sound.

Repeating Timer

When the repeating timer feature is enabled in Settings, you can configure a timer to repeat. Choose between running a fixed number of rounds or repeating indefinitely. After each round finishes, you confirm to start the next one.

Interval Timer

When the interval timer feature is enabled in Settings, you can create timers that switch between two phases — Phase 1 and Phase 2. Each phase has its own name, duration, and optionally its own sound. The names Work and Rest are pre-populated as defaults, but you can rename either phase. When you turn Interval Timer on for a new timer, Phase 1 picks up the work-phase default duration from Settings; a duration you already customised is kept as-is. After each phase finishes, you must confirm to start the next phase. This is ideal for interval training, Pomodoro sessions, or any activity with alternating periods.

Warm-up & Cool-down

Add an optional warm-up that runs once before the first round, and an optional cool-down that runs once after the final round. Useful for workouts (warm up, then cool down) or kitchen timers with a preheat stage. Rename the cool-down to “Long Break” for Pomodoro sessions. For repeating interval timers you can also skip the rest in the last round so the cool-down starts immediately after the final effort.

Sorting

Timers can be sorted by name or duration. Duration sort uses the overall run time — warm-up, every round (work and rest for interval timers), and cool-down — so a short repeating timer can outrank a longer one-shot. Endless timers sort to the end. Change the sort order in Settings under Display. When grouping active timers is enabled, running and paused timers appear in a separate section at the top.

Alarms

Adding Alarms

Tap the + button in the top-right corner of the alarm list to create a new alarm. Configure the desired settings and tap Save.

Deleting Alarms

Swipe an alarm row to the left to reveal the delete option. Confirm the deletion to remove the alarm permanently.

Enabling and Disabling

Toggle an alarm on or off using the switch on the alarm row. When an alarm is enabled, it is scheduled with the system and will fire at the configured time. Disabled alarms are kept in your list but will not alert you.

Dismiss and Snooze

When an alarm fires, you can dismiss it or snooze it. Dismissing stops the alarm immediately. Snoozing postpones the alarm by the configured snooze duration and reschedules it automatically. You can change the snooze duration in Settings under Alarm Defaults.

One-Time Alarms

One-time alarms without repeat days are automatically disabled after they fire or are dismissed. This prevents them from firing again unexpectedly. You can re-enable them at any time.

Alarm Detail View

Tap an alarm in the list to open its detail view. Here you see the alarm time, repeat schedule, and whether it is enabled. If the alarm is currently snoozing, the remaining snooze time is displayed. You can also edit the alarm from this view.

Name

Give each alarm a descriptive name to identify it easily.

Time

Set the time at which the alarm should fire using the time picker.

Weekdays

Choose which days of the week the alarm should repeat. If no days are selected, the alarm is treated as a one-time alarm and will automatically disable after it fires.

Sound

Select an alarm sound that plays when the alarm fires. You can preview sounds before choosing one.

Sorting

Alarms can be sorted by name or time. Change the sort order in Settings under Display.

Home Screen Widget

Overview

The Home Screen widget gives you a quick overview of your timers and alarms directly from your Home Screen, without needing to open the app. You can also control them right from the widget.

Adding the Widget

To add the widget to your Home Screen:

1. Long-press on an empty area of your Home Screen until the icons start to jiggle.
2. Tap the Edit button at the top of the screen, then choose Add Widget.
3. Search for the app or scroll to find it in the list.
4. Choose the desired widget size and tap Add Widget.
5. Drag the widget to your preferred position and tap Done.

Widget Sizes

Two widget styles are available, each in multiple sizes:

Standard widget: shows the timer or alarm name, countdown, and control buttons. Comes in small (single item) and medium (up to three items).

Tomato Timer widget: shows a tomato kitchen-timer for a single timer. Comes in small, medium, and large.

Long-press any widget and choose Edit Widget to pick which timer or alarm it displays.

Tomato Timer Widget

The Tomato Timer widget shows your timer as a classic tomato kitchen-timer. The dial rotates as time elapses, and the pointer above the dial is white while idle and colored while running — green for work, orange for rest, light blue for warm-up, and yellow for cool-down — so you can tell the current phase at a glance.

With the control buttons visible, tapping the tomato opens the app and start, pause, resume, and stop stay one tap away on the widget itself. Hide the control buttons in Settings to turn the tomato into a single tap-to-start, tap-to-pause, tap-to-resume target. For repeating or interval timers, the control row also surfaces a button to advance to the next round or phase.

The tomato kitchen-timer is best suited for timers of up to 60 minutes — the dial covers exactly one hour. For longer timers the dial sits parked at “0” until the remaining time drops under an hour; the exact remaining time is shown in the digital display.

Customize the widget's chrome in Settings under Tomato Timer Widget. Hide the control buttons and the digital display for a minimal, pure kitchen-timer look. With the controls hidden, the tomato itself becomes the start, pause, and resume target; stop remains available in the live activity and inside the app.

What It Shows

The widget displays your timers with their name, duration, and current state. When a timer is running, the widget shows the remaining time and updates in real time. Alarms show their name, scheduled time, repeat schedule, and whether they are enabled.

Controlling from the Widget

You can control timers and alarms directly from the widget without opening the app:

Timers: Tap the play button to start a stopped timer. While running, use the pause button to pause or the stop button to stop the timer. When paused, tap play to resume. When a repeating timer finishes a round, tap the forward button to start the next round, or dismiss the alert.

Alarms: Tap the bell button to enable or disable an alarm.

Medium Widget Layouts

The medium widget offers two layout styles, which you can choose when editing the widget:

Card: Items are stacked vertically as compact cards, each showing the name, countdown, and control buttons in a single row. This layout works well for up to three items.

Side by Side: Items are arranged horizontally next to each other, each showing full details including phase and repetition info. This layout works best with two items.