How accurate is the countdown timer?

It's anchored to your system clock rather than counting ticks, so a busy or throttled tab can't make it drift — when the deadline passes, it fires, even if the tab was in the background.

Will the timer still ring in a background tab?

Yes. Browsers slow down background pages, but SmartClock stores the end time and checks against the real clock, so the chime fires on schedule when the moment arrives.

Can I set a custom duration?

Yes — presets cover 1 to 60 minutes, and the custom field takes anything from 1 minute to 12 hours.

Does it work offline?

Once the page is loaded, yes. The countdown and the chime are both local; no server is involved.

Online Timer — Free Countdown Timer

Countdown timer

Pick a preset or type a custom duration. The display is big enough to read from across the room, and the chime is impossible to miss.

AI assistant: type “timer for pasta” or “alarm at 6:40” and it sets itself — with sensible durations for real-world tasks.

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05:00

Custommin

Press Space to start / pause

Will an online timer work if I switch tabs?

This one will. The end point is a timestamp taken from your system clock rather than a count of ticks, so a browser throttling a background tab cannot make the timer run long, which is the single most common failing of a countdown left in the background. The remaining time also appears in the tab title, so it is readable from the tab strip without switching back.

Closing the tab does end it. Nothing here runs on a server, which is the trade for it needing no account and sending nothing anywhere.

Will it still ring if my computer is muted?

No, and nothing running in a browser can get around that. What does still work is the visual: the timer completes on screen and the tab title changes, and the page holds your display awake while it runs so a phone will not lock and hide it. If the sound matters, check the volume before you rely on it rather than after.

How long should I set it for?

The presets are labelled by what the length is actually good for rather than left as bare numbers, because “3, 5, 10, 25” makes you translate minutes into intent every time. Steeping tea, a quick break, a pomodoro block, deep work. Anything else goes in the custom field, up to twelve hours.

Can I start it without the mouse?

Space starts and pauses. It ignores keystrokes aimed at inputs and buttons, so it will not double-fire when a control already has focus, which matters on a page with a custom-minutes field sitting right there.

Frequently asked questions

How accurate is the countdown timer?: It's anchored to your system clock rather than counting ticks, so a busy or throttled tab can't make it drift — when the deadline passes, it fires, even if the tab was in the background.
Will the timer still ring in a background tab?: Yes. Browsers slow down background pages, but SmartClock stores the end time and checks against the real clock, so the chime fires on schedule when the moment arrives.
Can I set a custom duration?: Yes — presets cover 1 to 60 minutes, and the custom field takes anything from 1 minute to 12 hours.
Does it work offline?: Once the page is loaded, yes. The countdown and the chime are both local; no server is involved.