How-to Guide

How to use the timer

Quick guide

1. Start:
   
   • click icon, OR
   • press Ctrl+Shift+1 (on Mac, Cmd+Shift+1)
2. Stop:
   
   • right-click and select “Reset timer” in context menu, OR
   • press Ctrl+Shift+2 (on Mac, Cmd+Shift+2)
3. Pause/Resume:
   
   • there is no capability to pause and resume the timer.
   • if you put your computer to suspend/sleep, the timer will likely pause and resume when you wake it up.
4. Sound alerts:
   
   • go to the Options page to turn on/off and modify speech and sound.
5. Change default period:
   
   • go to the Options page to change the default timer period.

Starting and stopping

The timer extension(app) has a toolbar icon at the browser’s top right corner. This is typically between the address bar and the browser menu icon (the one with 3 horizontal strokes).
Initially, the timer icon shows a number on a pink background. This number is the default countdown period in minutes. You can change the default period under Options.

Click the timer icon to start the countdown

To start the timer, click on its icon on the browser toolbar. You can also press Ctrl+Shift+1 (Cmd+Shift+1 on Mac) on your keyboard. When the countdown has started, a little badge indicates “ON”:

Timer has started countdown with "ON" indicated

The number on the icon will be reduced every minute to reflect the remaining minutes in the countdown.

When the countdown has finished, the timer will stop. A desktop notification will pop up to alert you. (Read on below for more information on the desktop notifications.)

The icon will show zero(0) and the “ON” status badge will be changed to “done”.

Countdown has finished and "done" is indicated

To stop an on-going countdown before it has ended, right-click anywhere on your browser page (or the timer icon) and select “Reset timer” from the context menu. You can also press Ctrl+Shift+2 (Cmd+Shift+2 on Mac) on your keyboard.

Use the context menu to reset/cancel a countdown

Notification alerts (countdown completed)

When the timer countdown has completed, a desktop notification will appear. The exact location of the notification on the screen depends on your computer operating system and configuration. On Macs, it is usually the top right corner; on Windows and Linux computers, it's normally the bottom right.

Countdown has finished and a desktop notification alert pops up

The notification offers a few options, you can click on:

1. Main message :- to restart the timer (using the default period).
2. Clear :- to clear the message and reset the timer.
3. More options :- to open the documentation page to get help on usage as well as start the timer on other ad-hoc periods.

Turning off/on speech and sound alerts

The timer can speak and play soundclip alerts to warn you at the start, end and 5 minutes before ending. These can be individually switched off/on in the Options page where you can also select different soundclips.

Customise your preferences in the Options page

Feedback and latest updates

Visit https://taskbreaktimer.blogspot.com to provide feedback and get the latest updates on this app.

Acknowledgements

• Speech using Google Chrome APIs
• Soundclips:
  • various public domain sounds
  • NASA
  • http://soundbible.com/1367-Grenade.html
  • http://soundbible.com/1847-Bunker-Buster-Missile.html
  • http://soundbible.com/1807-Explosion-Ultra-Bass.html
  • http://soundbible.com/914-Metronome.html