The problem
Some tasks need a countdown, others need a stopwatch. I wanted both in one small app that was pleasant to keep in view all day.
The idea started with a pair of eyes that watch me work. The challenge was turning that character into a useful timer that didn't district from the task at hand.
Designed, built, and published by me. Designed in Paper, built with Swift and SwiftUI using Claude Code.
Setting a time shouldn't take time!
I first tried a slider with five-minute increments up to ninety minutes. That meant eighteen stops, each a small target. When I already knew the time I wanted, dragging to find it felt unnecessarily fiddly.
I replaced it with five large preset buttons. Custom durations are set by clicking the time display. That kept the interface clean, but I wasn’t sure people would find it. So, I tested it.
A cleaner interface with hidden controls
Would people know they could click the time to edit it? I tested a working build with two people, asking them to set a timer for 17 minutes.
Both found the hover interaction after some exploration. I kept the interaction, accepting some first-use friction for a cleaner interface in daily use. Once you know, you never un-know it. Try it yourself below.
Making the way back obvious
Testing also exposed a simpler problem: people struggled with the small back chevron beside the Settings title.
I gave it a larger hit area and added “Back”. The control gained a clear label instead of relying on the icon alone.
What shipped
The eyes began as a bit of fun, but they also communicate state. Closed eyes mean idle, open eyes follow the cursor while time runs. Wider eyes and a green icon signal that time is nearly up.
A menu bar app should be easy to live with. Monospaced digits keep neighbouring icons from shifting as the seconds change. The animation clock stops when the timer is idle, and cursor tracking works without asking for accessibility permission.
