6 ms·

Google Timer

56 points by franze 12y ago

serf 12y ago
well, this blows steep.it/3minutes out of the water for my regular tea timer. Thanks. I had wondered why Google hadn't added this before.
- DaFranker 12y ago
  It's been there for a while. I've been typing "timer 15 min" in my Chrome quicksearch for well over a year, according to my browsing history. They just never really did much fanfare about it - this came around the time where Wolfram|alpha was an online sensation because of its smart parsing, IIRC.
  - k-mcgrady 12y ago
    Yeah this has definitely been around quite a while. I still find it much easier to just open a timer app on my phone. It provides a much nicer UI for selecting a time (scroll wheel) as opposed to typing it. This is handy when at a computer but I could see myself accidentally closing the tab/window and losing my timer.
- matthewcanty 12y ago
  I like the look of steep.it. Not that steep tea that but it's a nice idea and is more colourful than Google.
cvburgess 12y ago
You must be logged in to use a timer? Pass... Edit: Here's what I see http://imgur.com/0bA7aJ3 http://imgur.com/0bA7aJ3
- kyrra 12y ago
  Opening in Incognito/Private-browsing mode yields the same results for me as well.
- Someone1234 12y ago
  That's actually new-ish. Google's timer used to work just via JavaScript. If you closed the page you lost the timer. The strange thing is that the timer STILL works like that. If you close the page you lose the timer. The login seems to do absolutely nothing.
- jffry 12y ago
  You can also use DuckDuckGo: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=timer https://duckduckgo.com/?q=timer https://duckduckgo.com/?q=timer+4+minutes+33+seconds https://duckduckgo.com/?q=timer+4+minutes+33+seconds
  - jastanton 12y ago
    Ha I love that DDG changes the title of the window, so you can be on a different tab and still see the timer. Awesome. This is what I see: http://i.imgur.com/zHyPyYX.png http://i.imgur.com/zHyPyYX.png Also it will say [Done!] and play an alarm. Very cool.
  - cvburgess 12y ago
    I actually do use DDG prolifically and have come to love all the widgets. I just think its silly for google to demand that you log in to use a glorified egg timer. Why do you need me to log in for that?
    - michaelmior 12y ago
      Presumably they do this because there are other widgets which require login and they haven't bothered to separate the two.
- ryandvm 12y ago
  I hate to be an apologist for what looks like a login-grab, but Google Now is closing in on platform transcendence (browser, phone, watch, etc). I could easily see a timer you set on your desktop triggering a notification on your phone or watch if you've left the computer. I hope that's where they're going with this...
  - cvburgess 12y ago
    I see where your coming from, but if you want a cross-platform timer solution, relying on a google widget seems like a reach. At the vary least they should let anyone use the timer and only force you to login if you wish to continue the session on another device.
richbradshaw 12y ago
https://www.google.com/?q=remind+me+to+upvote+this+comment+in+60+minutes https://www.google.com/?q=remind+me+to+upvote+this+comment+i... is also useful, and will set it in Google Now, so your phone/tablet/Chromebook/normal computer will all remind you. Annoyingly you can't do it too soon, (e.g. less than an hour away) - I guess because they are concerned it won't sync in time.
- rock8y 12y ago
  They might have fixed it. I just was trying it out and it let me set a reminder 40 minutes away. But threw a message for 10mins. Thank you for the information though. Really helps me.:)
- michaelmior 12y ago
  Hmm, this doesn't work at all for me. I can see how this would be useful though.
  - Guillaume86 12y ago
    Google Now on desktop don't work on others languages than en-US. Same thing with hotword (Ok Google) detection on any screen and when screen off on android. Disapointing given Google have a pretty good history in the area of providing same features everywhere.
    - michaelmior 12y ago
      Ah, you're right. That seems to be the problem. I added &hl=en to the end of the URL and the timer showed up.
serve_yay 12y ago
Just looks like a regular Google search here.
herf 12y ago
Or, Siri for this: "5 minute timer" works great.
- bookwormAT 12y ago
  Or, "Ok Google, set a timer for 5 minutes" on Android
  - Guillaume86 12y ago
    Do you get the countdown in that situation? I get an alarm (trying in french but don't think it's the issue).
nanoscopic 12y ago
You can google "timer 4 minutes" or "timer 200 seconds" to get equivalent timers. The reverse also works "3 minute timer" as described by herf. Google bug: "Timer 4:50 minutes" gives you a timer for 450 minutes. Also "timer 450" gives you a timer for 450 minutes. Oddly "timer 62" does not give you a timer at all. "timer 6h" gives you a timer for "19h 28m 55s". What? 1a = 2 27 06 1h = 14 26 24 1o = 2 25 56 1p = 2 25 37 1 = 2 24 59 1! = 2 24 04 1@ = 2 23 51 1# = 2 23 36
- wcoenen 12y ago
  > Google bug: "Timer 4:50 minutes" gives you a timer for 450 minutes. "timer 4 minutes 50 seconds" works fine. I think that "4:50 minutes" is not a proper way to specify that time span. It would confuse me as well.
kraig 12y ago
I use DuckDuckGo's version of this every morning when I make tea.
- bryogenic 12y ago
  http://steep.it/ http://steep.it/
  - Tenhundfeld 12y ago
    Too bad it uses Flash, especially when it doesn't seem necessary – at all.
    - bilalhusain 12y ago
      I was suspecting that it was from old times when audio wasn't supported in browser and you had to rely on Flash. The decompiled code[1] for the swf file[2] hints that sound is being used. [1] http://pastie.org/9637758 http://pastie.org/9637758 [2] http://steep.it/timer/steep.it.swf http://steep.it/timer/steep.it.swf
lmg643 12y ago
how about google stopwatch? I was using a stopwatch the other day to time some complex GUI stuff where I couldn't quickly or easily put a software timer in.
jlas 12y ago
Initial trigger has a noticeable lag until the timer starts. Otherwise, beautiful interface & the full screen feature is pretty neat.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
bratsche 12y ago
Doesn't seem to work with decimals. I tried "timer 4.5 minutes" and it started at "5h 01m 54s"
shacharz 12y ago
This was posted like a year ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6429564 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6429564
liviuchircu 12y ago
It seems you can toggle start/stop with "Space". However, there is no mapping for the "Reset" command. You had two buttons, Google! And you failed...
swframe 12y ago
During your 9-to-5, you should probably take a break/exercise every 50 minutes for 10 minutes

56 points by franze 12y ago

serf 12y ago

well, this blows steep.it/3minutes out of the water for my regular tea timer. Thanks. I had wondered why Google hadn't added this before.

DaFranker 12y ago
It's been there for a while. I've been typing "timer 15 min" in my Chrome quicksearch for well over a year, according to my browsing history. They just never really did much fanfare about it - this came around the time where Wolfram|alpha was an online sensation because of its smart parsing, IIRC.
- k-mcgrady 12y ago
  Yeah this has definitely been around quite a while. I still find it much easier to just open a timer app on my phone. It provides a much nicer UI for selecting a time (scroll wheel) as opposed to typing it. This is handy when at a computer but I could see myself accidentally closing the tab/window and losing my timer.
matthewcanty 12y ago
I like the look of steep.it. Not that steep tea that but it's a nice idea and is more colourful than Google.

cvburgess 12y ago

You must be logged in to use a timer? Pass... Edit: Here's what I see http://imgur.com/0bA7aJ3 http://imgur.com/0bA7aJ3

kyrra 12y ago
Opening in Incognito/Private-browsing mode yields the same results for me as well.
Someone1234 12y ago
That's actually new-ish. Google's timer used to work just via JavaScript. If you closed the page you lost the timer. The strange thing is that the timer STILL works like that. If you close the page you lose the timer. The login seems to do absolutely nothing.
jffry 12y ago
You can also use DuckDuckGo: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=timer https://duckduckgo.com/?q=timer https://duckduckgo.com/?q=timer+4+minutes+33+seconds https://duckduckgo.com/?q=timer+4+minutes+33+seconds
- jastanton 12y ago
  Ha I love that DDG changes the title of the window, so you can be on a different tab and still see the timer. Awesome. This is what I see: http://i.imgur.com/zHyPyYX.png http://i.imgur.com/zHyPyYX.png Also it will say [Done!] and play an alarm. Very cool.
- cvburgess 12y ago
  I actually do use DDG prolifically and have come to love all the widgets. I just think its silly for google to demand that you log in to use a glorified egg timer. Why do you need me to log in for that?
  - michaelmior 12y ago
    Presumably they do this because there are other widgets which require login and they haven't bothered to separate the two.
ryandvm 12y ago
I hate to be an apologist for what looks like a login-grab, but Google Now is closing in on platform transcendence (browser, phone, watch, etc). I could easily see a timer you set on your desktop triggering a notification on your phone or watch if you've left the computer. I hope that's where they're going with this...
- cvburgess 12y ago
  I see where your coming from, but if you want a cross-platform timer solution, relying on a google widget seems like a reach. At the vary least they should let anyone use the timer and only force you to login if you wish to continue the session on another device.

richbradshaw 12y ago

https://www.google.com/?q=remind+me+to+upvote+this+comment+in+60+minutes https://www.google.com/?q=remind+me+to+upvote+this+comment+i... is also useful, and will set it in Google Now, so your phone/tablet/Chromebook/normal computer will all remind you. Annoyingly you can't do it too soon, (e.g. less than an hour away) - I guess because they are concerned it won't sync in time.

rock8y 12y ago
They might have fixed it. I just was trying it out and it let me set a reminder 40 minutes away. But threw a message for 10mins. Thank you for the information though. Really helps me.:)
michaelmior 12y ago
Hmm, this doesn't work at all for me. I can see how this would be useful though.
- Guillaume86 12y ago
  Google Now on desktop don't work on others languages than en-US. Same thing with hotword (Ok Google) detection on any screen and when screen off on android. Disapointing given Google have a pretty good history in the area of providing same features everywhere.
  - michaelmior 12y ago
    Ah, you're right. That seems to be the problem. I added &hl=en to the end of the URL and the timer showed up.

serve_yay 12y ago

Just looks like a regular Google search here.

herf 12y ago

Or, Siri for this: "5 minute timer" works great.

bookwormAT 12y ago
Or, "Ok Google, set a timer for 5 minutes" on Android
- Guillaume86 12y ago
  Do you get the countdown in that situation? I get an alarm (trying in french but don't think it's the issue).

nanoscopic 12y ago

You can google "timer 4 minutes" or "timer 200 seconds" to get equivalent timers. The reverse also works "3 minute timer" as described by herf. Google bug: "Timer 4:50 minutes" gives you a timer for 450 minutes. Also "timer 450" gives you a timer for 450 minutes. Oddly "timer 62" does not give you a timer at all. "timer 6h" gives you a timer for "19h 28m 55s". What? 1a = 2 27 06 1h = 14 26 24 1o = 2 25 56 1p = 2 25 37 1 = 2 24 59 1! = 2 24 04 1@ = 2 23 51 1# = 2 23 36

wcoenen 12y ago
> Google bug: "Timer 4:50 minutes" gives you a timer for 450 minutes. "timer 4 minutes 50 seconds" works fine. I think that "4:50 minutes" is not a proper way to specify that time span. It would confuse me as well.

kraig 12y ago

I use DuckDuckGo's version of this every morning when I make tea.

bryogenic 12y ago
http://steep.it/ http://steep.it/
- Tenhundfeld 12y ago
  Too bad it uses Flash, especially when it doesn't seem necessary – at all.
  - bilalhusain 12y ago
    I was suspecting that it was from old times when audio wasn't supported in browser and you had to rely on Flash. The decompiled code[1] for the swf file[2] hints that sound is being used. [1] http://pastie.org/9637758 http://pastie.org/9637758 [2] http://steep.it/timer/steep.it.swf http://steep.it/timer/steep.it.swf

lmg643 12y ago

how about google stopwatch? I was using a stopwatch the other day to time some complex GUI stuff where I couldn't quickly or easily put a software timer in.

jlas 12y ago

Initial trigger has a noticeable lag until the timer starts. Otherwise, beautiful interface & the full screen feature is pretty neat.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

bratsche 12y ago

Doesn't seem to work with decimals. I tried "timer 4.5 minutes" and it started at "5h 01m 54s"

shacharz 12y ago

This was posted like a year ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6429564 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6429564

liviuchircu 12y ago

It seems you can toggle start/stop with "Space". However, there is no mapping for the "Reset" command. You had two buttons, Google! And you failed...

swframe 12y ago

During your 9-to-5, you should probably take a break/exercise every 50 minutes for 10 minutes