Screen Soft Light / Timekeeping / 2 MINUTE TIMER

02:00

Space starts or pauses, R resets, F goes fullscreen.

No. 001 · 2 MINUTE TIMER

2 minute timer — a two-minute countdown with alarm

  • 01 Brushing-length countdown
  • 02 Large, kid-friendly digits
  • 03 Alarm at zero

A two-minute countdown with large digits and an alarm at the end. Two minutes is the length dentists recommend for brushing, and it is a common slot for short breaks, warm-ups and timed answers.

Other timers —
1 min3 min5 min10 min15 min20 min30 min1 hourClassroomCustomAlarm clockSunrise alarmOK-to-wake
§ 01

A brushing timer for kids and adults

The American Dental Association recommends brushing for two minutes, twice a day. Most people stop well short of that when they guess. A visible countdown makes the full two minutes easy, and children in particular tend to keep going when they can watch the numbers and the progress bar move.

§ 02

Two minutes is long enough to stand up, stretch and reset, and short enough that it does not break concentration.

Short breaks and warm-ups

Two minutes is long enough to stand up, stretch and reset, and short enough that it does not break concentration. It is also a common length for warm-up drills, rest periods between exercise sets and timed answers in practice interviews.

§ 03

Readable from across a room

Fullscreen makes the digits as large as the display allows, which helps when the screen is on a counter or shelf rather than in your hand.

Procedure

Three moves to peak output

  1. 01

    Press Start

    The timer is set to 2:00. Press Start or the space bar.

  2. 02

    Prop the screen where it can be seen

    Put a phone or tablet on the bathroom counter or desk and go fullscreen.

  3. 03

    Stop at the alarm

    The alarm plays three short beep sets, so it can be heard over running water.

Inquiries

Questions worth asking

Q.01 How long should you brush your teeth?
The American Dental Association recommends brushing for two minutes, twice a day. This timer is set to exactly two minutes.
Q.02 Why does the screen change color?
The timer is a light as well as a clock. It starts as cool 6500K daylight and warms through the color temperatures of a sunset — 4000K, 3000K, 2200K — to an ember red at zero, so you can tell roughly how much time is left from across a room without reading the digits. Turn off Color light for a plain dark timer.
Q.03 Does the timer keep running if I switch tabs?
Yes. The countdown is calculated from the clock rather than counted tick by tick, so it finishes on time even when the browser slows down a background tab. The alarm plays when it ends, as long as the tab is still open and the sound toggle is on.
Q.04 Will my screen turn off while the timer runs?
On browsers that support the Screen Wake Lock API (Chrome, Edge and recent Safari), the timer asks the device to keep the screen on while it runs, and releases that request when you pause or the countdown ends.
Cross-reference

Try adjacent plates