Minuteur: Because your Time is Important

I love applications that don’t try to do too many things. Most of my favorite applications are relatively simple; they do one thing and they do it well.

Minuteur is a great example of a simple app that does its job. It’s simply a timer. It can count up (perhaps allowing you to track the amount of time allotted to a particular client). It can also countdown (allowing you to remind yourself to get your laundry in an hour).

On a simple app, interface is always key. I’m sure that there are other timer apps out there, but I’d be very surprised if any look as good as Minuteur. You can customize the color, set Minuteur to float above other apps, set the transparency, go into fullscreen mode, even set a nonintrusive “remaining time bar” to float above other apps.

For a timer app the audio interface is just as important as the visual interface. In Minuteur’s case, it’s just as sleek and customizable as well. You can have Minuter tick-tock the seconds away, beep the last 10 seconds, and pick from a variety of different alarm sounds including “mechanical ringing,” “cuckoo,” and my personal favorite, “AirSiren.”

One of the best things about Minuteur is the way you can just set it and forget it. Before the alarm goes off the iTunes volume will be lowered and Minuteur will be brought to the foreground. To ensure that you won’t miss your alarm because your sound is muted, you can set a Growl notification as well as flash the entire screen white or black.

So whether you need to charge a client for your time or you just don’t want to leave the cookies in the oven too long anymore, give Minuteur a shot. Its genius lies in its simplicity, and it won’t disappoint you.