Productivity · Windows 10 and 11
Countdown timers that ring, even behind other apps
Click 5 min and it is running. Or set hours, minutes and seconds, give it a name such as Pasta or Parking, and press Start. Run as many timers as you need side by side. When one ends, Windows shows Time's up with a looping alarm sound until you press Restart or Dismiss, whichever program you are in and even with Octoolo's window closed.
How to set a timer on your PC
- 1
Open Timer
Open Octoolo's Productivity app and pick Timer under Time.
- 2
Start a quick one
Click 1 min, 3 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min, 30 min, 45 min or 1 hour. It starts at once.
- 3
Or set your own
Type the hours (h), minutes (min) and seconds (s), add a Name (optional) and press Start.
- 4
Adjust it while it runs
Each timer is a card with a ring and the time it ends. Pause holds it, Go on carries on, Reset puts a paused timer back to the start, and +1 min adds a minute. Click the name to change it.
- 5
Stop it ringing
The notification Time's up has Restart and Dismiss. In the app, the finished card pulses with Again and Dismiss.
Why a timer in an app, not a browser tab
A timer in a web page lives and dies with its tab. Close the tab by mistake, or the browser, and it is gone; its sound only plays if that tab may play sound.
Octoolo's timers ring through the app as Windows notifications. They keep counting while you switch to other programs, and when you close Octoolo's window it stays in the corner of the taskbar until the last timer has rung. The alarm sound loops until you press a button, so a timer that ends while you are on a call or in the kitchen is still ringing when you get back.
Each timer is also kept in Octoolo's data folder with the time it ends, so a timer survives closing and reopening Octoolo, and a paused one stays paused until you press Go on.
Example: three timers for one dinner
Say a dish goes in the oven for 40 minutes, the rice needs 18 and the eggs 9, and you start them together at 18:00:
- Type 40 in min, name it Oven, press Start.
- Type 18, name it Rice, press Start.
- Type 9, name it Eggs, press Start.
| Card | Length | The card reads | Rings with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oven | 40 min | Ends 18:40 | Oven is done |
| Rice | 18 min | Ends 18:18 | Rice is done |
| Eggs | 9 min | Ends 18:09 | Eggs is done |
The cards sit side by side in the order you made them, each with its own ring. When the oven dish needs longer, press +1 min on its card as often as needed: the end time moves and the ring adjusts. When the eggs ring, Dismiss stops the sound; for a second batch, Restart runs the same 9 minutes again. Without the names, all three notifications would just say “Timer is done”.
What the notification says
Every timer rings with the title Time's up and its name: “Pasta is done”. If it rang more than a minute late, because the PC was asleep or Octoolo was not running when the time came, it says when it ended instead, such as “Parking ended at 14:05”, so you know how late you are. Clicking the notification opens the timers in Octoolo.
- Restart runs the timer again for the same length, including any minutes added with +1 min.
- Dismiss stops the sound. The card waits at Time's up until you press Again, or Dismiss on the card, which sets it back to its full length, ready to start.
The cross in a card's corner deletes the timer. The Today page of the Productivity app lists running timers with their time left, next to your next alarm.
What it cannot do
- Wake the PC. Nothing rings while the PC sleeps or is switched off. A timer that ended then rings once the PC is on and Octoolo runs again.
- Ring after you quit Octoolo. Closing the window is fine; choosing Quit Octoolo from its taskbar icon stops all ringing until Octoolo starts again.
- Run longer than 99 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds. For a day and a time further away, an alarm or a reminder fits better.
- Repeat on its own or play another sound. A timer runs once, with Windows' looping alarm sound; there is no setting for another. For work and breaks that follow one another, use the Pomodoro timer.
Timer, alarm, Pomodoro or stopwatch?
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| To be told when a length of time has passed | Timer |
| A sound at a time of day, on chosen days | Alarm clock |
| Work and break periods that follow one another | Pomodoro timer |
| To measure how long something takes | Stopwatch |
| The PC to shut down or sleep after a while | Shutdown timer |
| A note of something to do, at a time | Reminders |
Questions, answered
Will it ring if I am in another app?
Yes. It rings as a Windows notification with the alarm sound, over whatever you are doing, also with Octoolo's window closed.
What happens to my timers if I close Octoolo?
Closing the window keeps them running, with Octoolo in the corner of the taskbar. If you quit Octoolo, nothing rings; a timer that ended meanwhile rings when Octoolo starts again and says when it ended.
How long can a timer be?
Anything from one second to 99 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, set in hours, minutes and seconds.
Can I add time to a running timer?
Yes, +1 min adds a minute each time you press it, and the end time on the card moves with it.
Can a timer shut down my PC when it ends?
Not the timer itself. The shutdown timer shuts down, restarts or sleeps the PC after a countdown.
Does it work offline?
Yes. The timers run in the Octoolo app on your computer and need no connection.
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