# Self-synching timer for iOS?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-synching-timer-for-ios/662869>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 7, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-synching-timer-for-ios/662869 "2013-07-07T15:18:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-synching-timer-for-ios/662869/1 "2013-07-07T15:18:22Z")

</div>

I’m looking for an iOS timer app that synchronizes amid multiple iDevices -start a timer on the phone, for instance, and the same timer starts running on the iPad.

Is there anything g like that out there? My search-fu isn’t working now, mainly because I don’t know what to search for. Sync, synch or synchronize? cloud or iCloud? Etc…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-synching-timer-for-ios/662869/2 "2013-07-07T23:50:36Z")

</div>

I’m not sure this is even possible.  
What kind of precision do you need? Can you assure that both devices will be on and running (i.e. - not asleep)?  
How about having the service run on the web, and the iOs devices simply check it?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-synching-timer-for-ios/662869/3 "2013-07-08T02:55:31Z")

</div>

The multiple devices don’t necessarily need to start synchronously, they just need to be able to pick up the event status whenever they get online with the app.

I’m not a programmer, so whether it runs on the web entirely like an event in  
Facebook, or as a self-contained process doesn’t really matter to me.

The desired end result is for people to be able to get short-cycle events like “the laundry will be moved into the dryer in 25 minutes” or other shared chores like “someone needs to pick up a bag of potatoes for dinner” and the event will stay alive until someone acknowledges it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-synching-timer-for-ios/662869/4 "2013-07-08T03:00:12Z")

</div>

Does the built-in reminders app work for you? It’s not, precisely, a timer, but you can tell Siri, for example “remind me in 25 minutes to move the wash.” These reminders sync via iCloud to all your devices (and supposedly can be shared to other people, although I’ve never done that).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-synching-timer-for-ios/662869/5 "2013-07-08T03:11:59Z")

</div>

I just tried this and it seems to do what you want. It’s also free.

[http://synctimer.calibvr.com/](http://synctimer.calibvr.com/)