Meditation Timer apps

Very lightweight question here, and I thought we discussed this before but I cannot seem to find mention of it: what does everyone that times their sits use as a meditation timer? Personally, I have been using Insight Timer for a very long time (based on a recommendation by Jackson, if memory serves). It is quite a nice app, and they are attempting a bit of social networking as well by hooking up people meditating at the same time, or in your locale, etc. A bunch of Buddhist Geeks used it too.

My problem with IT is purely a technical one: it is an absolute PIG on CPU, that I am only noticing now that I am doing a lot more sitting for longer periods. In one sit of 45 minutes, it can drain my battery by 7-8%, which is absolutely stupid for a timer app. Just now, I sat with the built-in clock timer on the iPhone, and my battery went down 0%. Niente.

So, I am all set to simply write something for myself because, well, I can. I have an idea for the Last Meditation Timer anyone (or me, at least) would ever need, that is extremely simple but adds the truly useful things that the built-in clock timer does not do, and that IT used to do well but seemingly has lost its way. Before I do that, I wanted to canvas what other people use in case there is something great I am missing.

Maybe it will become the "awaketimer"...dunno. Depends on feedback, I suppose. But this battery madness has to stop.

Tom, I just use the Apple Clock app timer that comes with the iPhone. Not sure what I would need anything else. All I want is something to "ding" or "gong" or "quack" or whatever, when the time is up. All the other stuff, the CPU hogging stuff, the finding friends, the nice images and graphics and the special sounds - all of that is superfluous, at least IMHO.

Just FYI, you can download or create any timer ringtone you desire for your iPhone. No need to settle for what comes with. I have a whole series of nice Zen tones that I use.

Regarding tones, Ona, you can convert sounds to ring tones pretty easily. Just Google it to find out. You can also, I think, do it in iTunes now. Haven't done it in a while.

As to the question of "what else do I need it to do", there are two useful enhancements beyond just a "bing" at the end. The first is interval timers, where you can have it make a sound at x minutes from the start, or y minutes from the end, or every z minutes. Doesn't have to be super elaborate but, depending on how you structure your sit it is useful. I know that at your level, Chris, that is really fluffy but I think most users of meditation timers are at lower stages of practice.

The second useful thing is to be able to overplay something from your music library. The main use here is to have, say, a 10m guided meditation to start with, and then you continue on with the rest of your session. Similar, someone here (I don't recall who) was listening to Tibetan throat singing a while back. It would be nice to be able to play/loop through that and still have a finite end point.

Those are the two major features that I would make use of. I don't need a lot of stored presets, I don't need a log, and I don't need a social network. And I DON'T need to have the countdown, by second, of my time. Minutes left is fine, thanks.

I bow to your desires. You should have whatever features you want.

Eran wrote: I use Equanimity. It's simple and has all the features I need. I like that it has an integrated journal so I can jot some notes after a session.

Re battery, do you allow the screen to go blank during a sit or do you make it stay on the whole time? I can see it being a bit of a drain if the screen remains at full brightness for 45 mins.

I have tried locking the screen, to no benefit. My guess is that they are doing an unusual amount of network activity in the background.

ETA: Wow, 5 bucks for a timer app? Does it really go easy on battery?

No doubt reporting your meditative states and progress to the NSA and FBI.

It pained me to do so, but I forked out the $5 for Equanimity. Very nice app, way too expensive for what it does, and I am a little surprised there is no option to personalize the ring tones. That said, I used it this morning and a sit that would purge 7-9% of battery using Insight Timer did not budge my battery indicator with Equanimity. Yay! I will stick with it for now since I bought it and see if there is anything about it I would want to change badly enough to write my own.

However, having an AwakeNetwork branded timer would be pretty sweet.

Yes, that app was what started this thread (the iOS version, mind you). My issue was that it was a pig on battery life, and I found Equanimity to be far superior. Fast forward to today, and since I upgraded to iOS 7 I have been plagued with battery issues on my 4s, and recently I have begun to suspect...you guessed it...Equanimity. It seems like it keeps working in the background after my session is done, and I have seen better battery life if I explicitly stop the task after my session is done.

But Insight Timer has, apparently, a huge installed base, if a somewhat goofy interface.