The latest entry in our classic app series rethought timers for iPhone. So let’s explore how it came to be – there’s not a second to lose!
An early version of MultiTimer.
What was MultiTimer?
As its name suggests, an app that let you create and run multiple timers. All of these could be customized to suit various tasks, and set off individually or all at once.
Why was it a classic?
Right up until 2023, Apple’s Clock app could only run a single timer. Which was fine if you wanted to boil an egg. MultiTimer went much further, allowing you to run several timers. But also, it included a range of timer types, making it equally well-suited to carefully preparing a complex meal or doing interval training. Or perhaps even both at the same time.
Where is it now?
MultiTimer has, since its 2015 debut, been regularly updated. You can download the current version for free.
Visit the MultiTimer website or get MultiTimer (free + IAP)from the App Store.
Q&A: a brief history of MultiTimer
We speak to Persapps founder and MultiTimer lead developer Sergey Astakhov about the birth of the app and its ongoing success.
Why did you create a timer app?
During long work hours, I realized a common problem people face: an overwhelming feeling that tasks require too much time. This led to the concept for MultiTimer, a customizable timer app, which would let users intuitively organize time and focus on tasks in a way that made sense to them. It’s this flexibility that set the app apart from others.
MultiTimer offers many timer types.
What drove the different timer types you included?
Most timer apps limit you to a countdown or stopwatch. Some offer multi-phase timers, but tailor them to one specific task. The interval timer and countdown timer were the starting point in MultiTimer – and central to the app’s design. But right from the start, we didn’t want to limit users, who might want different types of timer for cooking, workouts, project management, and more. Our aim was to give them control, whether that meant them using a countdown, a stopwatch, or even a custom sequence of events.
How did you go about designing the interface?
The layout was built in a way intended to make transitions and interactions clear for everyone. The timers were based around circles, which express the idea of time but also unity, infinity, and completeness. And because we are active users of the app ourselves, we are in a constant state of design thinking, optimizing and coordinating all kinds of graphic tricks. Naturally, user feedback has also helped us refine the app, with recommendations and suggestions all collected and carefully processed.
From the beginning, MultiTimer let you customize your timers.
How important was it to let users customize MultiTimer?
People need to be able to show their individuality. While MultiTimer does not have user profiles, it does have plenty of content, and was designed to reflect a user’s intent through color, symbols, and shapes. This is why MultiTimer has individual color settings, names, and icons, and lets you scale timers and change their locations on a board.
What have been the challenges and successes of working on MultiTimer?
When you create a system and it starts working, your eyes light up. When you see a project is alive and has a great future, it really makes you want to work on and improve it. In our case, that meant developing solutions from scratch, since our app’s components are different from the standard ones offered by iOS.
Regarding the completed app, we’ve received amazing recognition from users and App Store editors, who rated it the best timer app for organizing holidays. We have also heard our app established itself during the pandemic as an effective, reliable tool among medical personnel, allowing for the timely provision of necessary care.
The current version of MultiTimer for iPhone.
What’s the secret to your app’s longevity?
Knowing that, even with existing restrictions for third-party developers, an application can implement scenarios built-in applications cannot handle. But the key thing above everything else is to have a sense of the value of what you do, how you do it, and for whom you do it. Making an app is a series of small steps toward a big goal.