Smart Countdown Timer - User Guide

Smart Countdown Timer is a nifty tool that allows you to use natural language to set, modify and start a countdown on your Mac.

First Launch and Using the App:

Upon first launch, the app presents you with the following screen:

The app will also feature the countdown value on your Mac’s menubar as well as the dock by default.

By default, the countdown timer is set to 30 minutes.

In order to change the time value for the countdown, you can simply use plain English in the text bar below the countdown value. You can type, 2m for 2 minutes, 10s for 10 seconds or even fully write down a value such as ‘1 hour and 30 minutes’.

In the example below, we are setting the countdown value to 2m, i.e. 2 minutes.

You will notice how the value then automatically changes to 2 minutes on the app window.

Simply click on circular ‘Start’ button on the top right corner of the app window to begin the countdown. You will instantly see the countdown begin on the app window, the menubar icon as well as in your Dock. You can click the same button during a countdown to pause the timer as well.

The button to the right of the ‘Start’ button is the ‘Reset’ button. Clicking on it immediately resets the countdown back to the original assigned value. You can also use the spacebar to start and pause a countdown, as well as use Cmd+R to reset the timer.

Another nifty trick is to use the up/down arrows to cycle through previously entered countdowns.

Finally, the ‘Lock’ icon to the right of the ‘Reset’ button toggles whether the app should appear on top of all other windows. When the icon is locked, it will appear above all other windows. If it is unlocked, it will act like a normal app window that is capable of being behind other windows.

Do note that the app window is resizable if you grab the corners of the window and adjust to have the window made smaller and larger. We also incorporate fullscreen support in the app.

Preferences:

You can hit Cmd+, (command and comma) or right click on the menubar/dock icons to open the Preferences panel for the app. You will be presented with the following menu:

Here, you have the option to select when and how the app launches upon startup. You can also change the window opacity, edit the way a countdown starts and how it is displayed, and finally, change the background theme of the app window itself.

Clicking on the Notifications tab within Preferences presents you with the following:

Here, you can change the audio alerts you receive when a countdown finishes, along with its associated volume. You can also toggle whether you would like to receive both an audio and visual notification upon the completion of a countdown or not.