RetroDotTimer

A full-screen countdown that looks like the dot-matrix displays of vintage arcades and early computing. Set the time, put your iPhone or iPad face up on your desk, and let the pixel grid count down.

ONE TIMER, FULL SCREEN

• A large dot-matrix countdown, readable across the room
• Tap the display to start, pause, or resume — or turn on the Start/Pause button if you prefer one
• Optional landscape mode that fills the whole screen
• Keep the screen awake while a timer runs, with an only-while-charging option

LOCK SCREEN AND DYNAMIC ISLAND

• The Live Activity shows a real dot-matrix face, not a plain text label
• It counts down on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island
• It follows the color scheme you chose in the app, including changes made mid-run
• At zero it morphs into a checkmark and chimes once

WIDGETS, CONTROLS, AND SIRI

• A Home Screen widget that mirrors the timer, display-only
• Control Center buttons to start a Pomodoro or a preset without opening the app
• Siri and Shortcuts: start a timer, a preset, a Pomodoro, or the stopwatch, and pause, resume, or reset

TIMER MODES

• Presets: 5, 10, 25, and 45 minutes
• Custom duration, 1 to 180 minutes
• Classic Pomodoro: 25 minutes of work, 5-minute breaks, a 15-minute long break, 4 rounds
• Stopwatch with a live hundredths-of-a-second sub-display
• Multi-phase custom timers for intervals, rounds, and routines

DISPLAY STYLES

• Dot Matrix — the original pixel grid, with adjustable dot weight and square or round dots
• 7-Segment — slanted LED calculator digits
• Flip Clock — split-flap digits with animated transitions (Pro)
• Big & Small — blocky digits with size-varied segments (Pro)

COLOR

• Transparent, Dark, and Light schemes
• Six premium schemes: Amber, Green Terminal, Blue Glow, VFD Cyan, Sunset, Neon Pink (Pro)
• Any text and background color you like (Pro)
• Multicolored digits with Rainbow, Pastel, Neon, and Sunset palettes (Pro)

WHEN TIME IS UP

• Freeze at 00 or morph into a checkmark
• A notification when the countdown ends
• Sound and haptic alerts between Pomodoro and custom-timer phases

WHAT THIS IS NOT

Retro Dot Timer runs one timer at a time. No task lists, no labels, no session history, no analytics, no cloud sync. It is a single, quiet countdown.

PRIVACY

No accounts, no tracking, no analytics, no data collection. Everything works offline.

FREE AND PRO

The app is a free download and stays useful forever without paying. Presets, custom durations, the Dot Matrix and 7-Segment displays, square dots, Pomodoro, the stopwatch, the widget, Control Center buttons, Siri shortcuts, and the Live Activity are all free.

Pro is a single one-time purchase, never a subscription. On iPhone and iPad it adds the Custom Timer Editor, six premium color schemes, custom colors, multicolored digits, and the Flip Clock and Big & Small displays. Pro is a Universal Purchase — the same payment unlocks the Mac menu-bar app.

Every Pro feature is unlocked free for 14 days, starting automatically at first launch. No signup, no payment details. When the trial ends nothing is charged, Pro features simply return to the free tier, and any custom timers you saved stay runnable.

LANGUAGES

English, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), German, French, Simplified Chinese.

REQUIREMENTS

iOS 18.0 or later. iPhone and iPad.

SUPPORT

contact@andeanbearstudios.com