Countdown timer Timers4Me improves stopwatch, adds alarm clock

Sign of the times

Need a good free countdown timer/stopwatch combination for your Android phone? Go get Timers4Me. It stores multiple timers and you can run 'em together. Minor issue number 1: you have to set the timers with annoying scrollwheels. Issue number two: alarms only sound for one minute or the length of your chosen alarm tone (tip: use a very long mp3). Even so, it's lightyears ahead of the other free timer apps floating around on the Android Market.

Stopwatch

Ultimate Stopwatch used to be the best free stopwatch, but then Timers4Me added a stopwatch of its own. The first attempt wasn't a very good one, so I kept Ultimate Stopwatch next to Timers4Me.

But Timers4Me doesn't waste time. The latest updates improved the stopwatch (now it measures to 1/100th of a second instead of a just a tenth). I uninstalled Ultimate Stopwatch because it's not so ultimate anymore.

Alarm clock

New in Timers4Me: an alarm clock! Not a very good clock, because it only screams for one minute or a single alarm tone duration (a flaw it shares with the countdown timer). A clock that wants to wake me up on an early monday morning after a long weekend of sex & drugs & rock & roll needs to work a lot harder. That's why Alarms Solo is still my alarm clock of choice.

On the bright side, the new alarm clock in Timers4Me doesn't bother you with a scrollwheel like its countdown timer does. It simply lets you punch in the time with your numeric keypad. Transplant that mode of entry to the countdown timer tab and we have a winner. For those who really want to keep the scrollwheel, a simple toggle in the settings menu to choose your favourite input method would do the job.

Times ahead

If Timers4Me upgrades its snooze options and adds alarm tone looping it may boot another competitor off my phone.

Who knows what's next? Maybe Timers4Me will integrate the functions of ClockSync and TM World Clock to build the ultimate app for all times?

• Timers4Me (Android Market)