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Timer with Sections

for iPhone and iPod touch.

Download "Timer with Sections" from the iTunes App Store.

The 'Timer with Sections' supports you during your performance (e.g., a talk or keynote speech, a seminar or lecture, a workout) by providing intuitively visualized timing information.

It allows you to structure time into 'sections'.

During your performance, you can easily adjust the the schedule by moving time across sections, with a swipe gesture (e.g., when feedback from the audience requires you to skip or intensify a section of your performance) or by pressing the pause button (e.g., when a answering a question from the audience requires some extra time).

Features

Structuring a Performance

Available time can be divided into sections.

Visualization of Time

The performance assistant view intuitively visualizes the remaining and elapsed time, both for the current section and the whole performance. Elapsed time is depicted in red, remaining time in green.

An inner disc represents the used and remaining time for the current section. The section title is displayed in the center.

An outer ring represents the used and remaining time for the whole performance. The segments of the ring represent the individual sections.

Paused time (see below on the concept of pause) will is depicted in dark red. Extra time obtained by skipping parts of a section (see below on the concept of skipping) will be depicted in dark green.

Alarm Option

Optionally you can set an alarm at the end of each section. If set a short tick sound will signal the end of a section. Note: The iPhone will vibrate if you have configured "vibrate" in its sound setup.

Managing Time during a Performance

Except for the stop button you cannot interrupt, pause, extend or shorten a running performance. However, there are advanced possibilities to flexibly adjust the length of a section during a running performance, by moving time among sections.

For example, your performance could have a section containing additional results which you might want to shorten or skip in favor of extending another section.

There are three ways of altering the planned schedule during a running performance:

Pausing:
Holding time for the current section, by shortening a later one.
Skipping:
Skipping remaining time of the current section, by extending a later section.
Resetting:
Setting elapsed time to zero for the current section, by shortening a later section.

Pausing a Section

A section can be paused if you configured the performance such that pause time can be allocated from a later section. For this you have to defined a later section as "shrinkable". Pressing the pause button will try to pause the current section countdown by allocating time from a later (shrinkable) section. If there are no more shrinkable sections with unused time then pause has no effect.

Skipping the Remainder of Section

You can skip the remaining time of the current section by a right swipe. The time will not be lost. It will be allocated to another section as extra time and the extra time may be used for pausing a section.

The extra time is first used to fill up all later sections which have been shrunk. What remains is then allocated to the next section which is configured as "expandable". If not such section it is allocated to the last section.

Resetting the Running Time of Section

You can reset the running time of the current section by a left swipe. The time will be re-allocated as pause time.

Note: If there is no shrinkable section from which pause time can be allocated, then reset has no effect.

Stopping the Timer

The stop button stops the timer for the whole performance. You can resume by pressing run (or pause) again. You will use the stop button if your performance is interrupted such that you get additional time at the end. You will use the pause button if your performance (current section) is interrupted, but you still have to finish in time.

Setting the Start Time of a Performance

In the 'Properties' view of a performance you can change its name choose between free and fixed start time. If the start time is set to 'free' then the timer start when you select the performance assistant view (if the timer is already running you are given the option to restart it). If the start time is set to 'fix' then the timer start at the given time. If you choose the performance assistant view before that time, then the clock will first countdown to that fixed start time. If you choose the performance assistant view after that time, then the elapsed time will count from the fixed start time.

Leaving the Application

If you leave the performance assistant view or even the application then the timer continues to count down. If you return to the performance assistant view it will recover its previous state, including the elapsed time. If the performance assistant view is interrupted by pressing the home button or an incoming call, then a running performance is automatically switched to 'pause'.

Logging a Finished Performance

Upon finishing a performance you are ask if you like to log that performance. If you log the performance, then data as the actual time run or skipped is stored for each section. This is allows you to analyze your performance and hence adjust and improve your schedule.

A log of a performance can be viewed at any later time. It can be exported via email.

Tips

Rehearsal

If you are creating a new performance you should use Performance Assistant in a rehearsal:

  1. Create a rough time schedule by allocating a bit more time than available to each section.
  2. Do a rehearsal an use the skip feature to skip any extra time.
  3. Check the log for the actual time used in each section.
  4. Finalize your section layout to fit the time given for your talk.

Buffer Time

Consider adding a shrinkable section with optional topics or just a general discussion sections towards the end of your performance such that it can serve as a buffer. Note that you can pause a section only if such a buffer exits.

Feedback

Please send feedback, error reports or feature requests to email@christian-fries.de.