timerz is a focus timer that you keep open on a second screen or in a tab while you work or study. It shows a large pomodoro, countdown or stopwatch over an animated scene, with ambient sounds you can mix, a task under the clock and a few stats at the end of the day.
It started as a gift. I built it for my girlfriend, who studies with a rainy window and the sea in the background, and then opened it to anyone. That is why the scenes come first and the settings stay out of the way.
What timerz does
- Three timer modes
- Pomodoro with focus, short break and long break cycles; a free countdown; and a stopwatch. The timer derives everything from the clock, so it survives a reload and keeps counting while the tab is in the background.
- Eleven animated scenes
- Seven illustrated scenes rendered with WebGL (rainy window, fireplace, night library, under the sea, snowfall, city lights, shoreline) and four minimal animated gradients (dusk, ocean, ember, paper). Each scene loads a suggested sound mix.
- Ambient sound mixer
- Eleven tracks you can layer with individual volumes: rain, thunder, wind, fireplace, ocean waves, stream, birds, brown noise, pink noise, white noise and café chatter. All but the café are synthesized in the browser, so nothing is downloaded and they loop without seams; the café is a short CC0 field recording that loads only when you turn it on.
- Tasks and stats
- A simple task list with one active task shown under the timer. Each finished pomodoro counts on the active task. Stats show sessions and minutes for today, a day streak and the last seven days.
- Music
- YouTube playback inside the page with four preset stations (lofi hip hop, jazz piano, dark ambient, classical) or any link you paste.
- Notifications and tab alerts
- A chime when a phase ends, optional system notifications, and the remaining time shown in the browser tab title with a progress ring in the favicon. When a phase ends, the tab title blinks until you come back.
- Mini timer on top
- In Chrome and Edge on desktop, press P to pop the timer out into a small window that stays above your other apps, with the scene behind it and a play button. It keeps counting while you work anywhere else.
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Space to start or pause, R to reset, N for the next phase, C for clock mode, F for fullscreen, P for the mini timer, X to mute everything, and one key per panel.
- Installable and offline
- timerz is a progressive web app: install it on desktop or phone and it works without internet. While a timer runs, the screen stays on. Scenes and sounds are cached after the first visit.
- Private by design
- There is no account and no server. Settings, tasks and stats live in your browser. Music is the only feature that needs internet, because it plays through YouTube.
The scenes
- Rainy window
- A window at night with the city blurred outside, rain falling, drops sliding down the glass, steam rising from a mug and the occasional far lightning.
- Fireplace
- A cabin living room with a stone fireplace. The fire is animated, embers rise, the light on the walls flickers and a cat sleeps on the rug.
- Night library
- A private library at night: tall shelves of old books, a desk with a green banker's lamp and an open book, an arched window with the moon. The lamp light breathes, dust floats in the light and a shooting star crosses the window now and then.
- Under the sea
- Sun rays through the water, jellyfish drifting up, a school of fish, a sea turtle, a seahorse and two clownfish, with bubbles and caustics.
- Snowfall
- A frozen lake in a pine forest with a lit cabin, snow falling in three layers of depth and an aurora moving across the sky.
- City lights
- A night skyline seen from a rooftop, bokeh lights floating over the city, a low haze and a plane crossing the sky now and then.
- Shoreline
- A beach at sunset. The foam runs up the sand and pulls back every few seconds, the wet sand dries, and the sun glints on the water.
- Dusk
- Warm color clouds that slowly flow, from purple to orange.
- Ocean
- Teal bands of water rolling in slow motion.
- Ember
- A dark red glow that breathes, with sparks rising.
- Paper
- A light cream paper texture with a warm light drifting across it. The one light scene.
How it is built
The app is a single page built with React and Three.js. The seven illustrated scenes are WebGL: a painted background, sprites with real depth and parallax, and shaders for the fire, the rain, the caustics, the aurora and the foam. The minimal scenes are one shader with four modes.
The ambient sounds are synthesized with the Web Audio API: filtered noise, envelopes and a few oscillators. That is why they weigh nothing, never stutter and loop without a seam. The one exception is café chatter, a CC0 field recording, because voices do not synthesize well.
The timer engine is pure and tested: it stores an epoch timestamp and derives the rest, which is what keeps it honest across reloads and sleeping tabs.
Supporting timerz
timerz is free and will stay free. Two ways to support it, both optional: a tip on Ko-fi, or a one-time supporter purchase on Gumroad, pay what you want from 5 dollars. Supporters unlock their own photo as a scene and two extra fonts for the clock. The license key from the Gumroad receipt is verified once in the browser and stays there. No subscription, no account.
What timerz does not do
It has no accounts, no sync between devices and no shared rooms. It does not track you and it does not send anything to a server. It does not play Spotify: the embed only plays 30 second previews without a login, so music goes through YouTube.
Questions
Who made timerz?
Nahuel Soria, a developer from Buenos Aires, with Claude Code. The backgrounds of the seven illustrated scenes were generated with ChatGPT and the animation on top of them is code.
Can I use timerz on my phone?
Yes. The layout adapts to phone width, the panels open full screen, and you can install it from the browser menu as an app.
Is timerz free?
Yes. Every scene, sound and feature is free, with no account and no ads. If it helps you, you can leave a tip on Ko-fi, or become a supporter once (pay what you want, from 5 dollars, on Gumroad) to unlock your own photo as a scene and two extra fonts. There is no subscription.
Does timerz work offline?
Yes. timerz is a progressive web app. After the first visit the app, its scenes and sounds are cached, and you can install it on your desktop or phone. Only the YouTube music needs internet.
Where is my data stored?
In your browser, using localStorage. Settings, tasks and session history never leave your device. There is no server and nothing to sign up for. You can export your history as JSON or erase everything from settings.
Does the timer keep running if I switch tabs?
Yes. The timer stores when it started and derives the remaining time from the clock, so a background tab, a sleeping laptop or a page reload do not make it drift. The remaining time also shows in the tab title.
More ways to use timerz
Ready made timers: 5 min · 10 min · 15 min · 20 min · 25 min · 30 min · 45 min · 1 hour · 90 min