JoyaTimer

JoyaTimer is a specialized yet simple timer app inspired by a Japanese traditional New Year’s Eve event called “Joya no Kane”.

At many Buddhist temples across Japan, priests strike the temple bell 108 times on New Year’s Eve. The final strike should sound exactly at 0:00 a.m. on January 1st. This app helps you ring the bell at precise timing with sound and vibration (iPhone only).

I originally made this app for New Year’s Eve 2011 and actually used it. It was convenient, so I decided to publish it.

Key Features
• Set the interval (seconds) between strikes (default: 20 seconds)
• Set the number of strikes (default: 108)
• “Joya Mode” (default: ON) automatically calculates and displays when you should start the first strike so that the last strike finishes exactly at midnight
• Sound alerts at the configured interval, plus vibration support (iPhone only)
• If Joya Mode is OFF, you can pause the timer
• While Joya Mode is ON, the Start button disappears after starting to prevent accidental taps
• The device will not sleep while the timer is running (please watch your battery)
• Compass: find north on the timer screen (supported devices only)

Tip
When you press Start, it counts as the first strike. If you plan to ring 108 times, setting the count to 109 and ignoring the first “strike” can make the operation easier.

How-to Video
https://youtu.be/CQwCRaXpC9I

New Features from Ver. 7
• Start Now (Beta): quick-start support for late-evening use
• Game Mode (Beta): timing challenge for accurate bell strikes
• End-time setting: choose when the ringing should finish

Improvements after Ver. 7
• (7.1) Improved judgement accuracy and score display
• (7.1) Enhanced mic threshold tuning and effects
• (7.2) Enhanced scoreboard and high-score effects
• (7.3) Internal code optimization and maintainability improvements

Notes / Important
• Please make sure your iOS device clock is accurate
• Airplane Mode is recommended (the app is configured not to run in the background)
• Test and simulate the timer in advance
• If pressing Start exactly at the first strike is difficult, set the count to 109 and begin from the second alert
• “Time Correction” was added in Ver. 2.9 because it is hard to adjust iOS clocks at the second scale. If your device is 5 seconds ahead of actual time, set it to “-5”. Since Airplane Mode is recommended, network time sync (e.g., NTP) is not assumed; manual correction works best
• If you find any bug, please contact the support page (Facebook page)

Sound List (sound number mapping)
Sound quality is not good yet; we plan to re-record in the future.
1. Electric sound
2. Big bell (Electric)
3. Big bell in Jyousenji temple (bad sound due to a crack)
4. Bell in Jyousenji (Large Kin)
5. Bell in Jyousenji (Medium Kin)
6. Sawari in Jyousenji