Pomodoro timer app with sessions and a daily tally

The cycle, and the settings worth exposing

The classic technique is 25 minutes of work, a 5-minute break, and a longer break after four rounds. Plenty of people prefer 50 and 10, or 90-minute blocks for deep work. A good timer makes the cycle visible and the settings few:

Work length: Default 25 minutes, adjustable in whole minutes.
Short break: Default 5.
Long break and interval: Default 15 to 30 minutes after every fourth session.
Auto-start: Two switches: start breaks automatically, start the next session automatically. Many people want the first on and the second off, so they choose to begin again.
Daily goal: A number of sessions, shown as filled dots for the day.

Resist adding a to-do list, ambient soundscapes and statistics pages in the first version. The timer screen should show the time left, what phase you're in and one button.

Timing that stays accurate

Browsers slow down timers in background tabs and on locked phones to save battery. A timer that counts down by subtracting one each second will be minutes off after you switch tabs. The fix is to store the moment the session will end and work out the remaining time from the clock each time the screen draws. Ask for exactly that in your description, and test it: start a session, switch to another tab for ten minutes, come back and compare with your phone's clock.

The same stored end time lets a session survive a page reload. If you close the tab mid-session and reopen it, the timer can pick up where it should be, or tell you the session finished while you were away.

Sound and the end of a session

Sound files from other sites can't load in Anticode's app sandbox, so a chime is generated in code with the browser's audio. That works well for a soft bell or a short rising tone. Two cautions: browsers only allow sound after you've tapped the page at least once, which the Start button covers; and a phone that's locked or muted may not play it. Test the end-of-session sound on the device you'll use.

Visual cues help when sound fails: a change of background colour between work and break, and the remaining time in large type that's readable from across a desk.

A description to start from

"A pomodoro timer app for studying. 25-minute focus, 5-minute break, 20-minute break after every fourth. Big countdown in the middle, the phase name above it, one Start/Pause button and a Skip link. Daily tally of completed sessions as dots, with a goal of 8, resetting at 4 a.m. Keep accurate time when the tab is hidden. A soft chime made in code at the end of each phase. Calm dark theme, works on a phone held sideways."

Anticode's model writes it as one app. Ask for adjustments in words afterwards, such as "show yesterday's count too" or "make the break screen pale green".

Installing it, and the website question

Once published, the timer can be installed on a phone or desktop with its own icon, which suits a tool you open many times a day. The daily tally is saved in that browser on that device.

People searching for a pomodoro timer for a website often want it inside an existing site. Published Anticode sites can't embed other pages, and a published Anticode app can't be embedded in another website. Publish the timer as its own small app and link to it from your site, or build the whole site in Anticode with the timer as part of it.

Limits

No notifications. The app can't alert you through the system when the browser is closed. Keep the tab or the installed app open.
No sync or shared sessions. Study-with-me rooms and group timers need a server; this sandbox has none.
No blocking other sites. A web page can't stop you opening social media; that needs a browser extension or your device's focus settings.
History stays local. Clearing site data resets the tally. Ask for an export if you want to keep a long record.

If what you actually want is to log hours against clients or projects, a time tracking app is the better shape, and a study planner covers what to work on in each session.

Questions people ask

Will the pomodoro timer app keep time with the screen off?

It works out the time from a stored end time, so it's right when you look again. Whether a sound plays while the phone is locked depends on the device.

Can I change the session lengths?

Yes. Ask for the settings you want, or have them editable in the app and saved in your browser.

Does it work offline?

Installed published sites have an offline fallback. Test the timer with your connection off before relying on it.