Show IH: I built a "random timer generator" app as a fun little side project

Hey everyone, I created a pretty simple mobile app that allows you to set a minimum and maximum time, then start a random timer somewhere within that range.

Here are the links to it 👇

randomtimergenerator.com

iPhone app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/random-timer-generator/id1621894479

Android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oneupp.randomcountdowntimer

THE STORY

A while back, I was playing a variation of the game "Catch Phrase" with my family, where whoever was holding the game when the timer went off would be eliminated (there is an electronic version of the game, but we were using the old-school manual version).

Rather than using a normal timer, we wanted to find a random timer generator where the timer would go off randomly anywhere between 1 and 60 seconds — and to NOT know when that would happen.

I tried finding something that did this, but everything I found was pretty crappy, so I decided to create it myself.

Some of the use cases for the random timer generator app might be:

• any Hot Potato type game where you don't want to be the one holding the ball at the end of the timer, like a random timer bomb or random dynamite timer

• exercise, where you want some variability and randomness in how long you need to do each exercise

• meditation. It can be hard to get into flow if you know exactly how long you will be meditating for. Using a random timer generator can make it easier to get lost in the moment, rather than thinking about how much meditation time is remaining.

FEATURES

• Fully configurable random countdowns with adjustable seconds, minutes, and hours

• Supports timer durations from 0 seconds to 24 hours

• The timer and alarm will still run properly even if your screen is locked or you have another app open

• Enable or disable ticking or other countdown noise options

• Enable or disable showing how much time is left while the random timer is going

• Sounds an alarm when the timer hits 0. Choose from different alarm noise options, or go silent with vibrate-only option

• Animates and vibrates when going off, so you'll notice the timer expiring in a noisy situation

• Loop mode - set a random timer to go off repeatedly, so the next random timer starts again after one ends

It's also great as a random timer for studying and learning while using the Gap Effect or Spacing Effect that Andrew Huberman has talked about.