Reading the hourglass
The sand in the top is the time left, by area: when half the time is gone, half the sand has fallen. The small marks on the glass show where the sand line will be with 1, 2, 3 … minutes left (on longer timers, every 5, 10 or 30 minutes), so you can read it from across a room. Near the end the sand turns orange, then red with stripes.
Good for
- Turns in board games and quizzes
- A two-minute toothbrushing timer for children
- Quiet reading or tidy-up time in class
- Cooking steps you want to see from across the kitchen
- Short breaks away from a screen
- Calm countdowns for children who cannot read a clock yet
Tips
- Press Flip to start again from full, like turning a real glass over.
- Open View and hide the numbers so only the sand shows, for a class or a child.
- Full screen makes the hourglass as tall as the screen allows.
Questions and answers
Is the sand exact?
Yes, by area: the top sand is drawn so its share of the glass equals the share of time left, so when half the time is gone, half the sand has fallen. The bulbs have straight sides, which makes that possible to draw exactly. Our release tests measure the drawn sand at half time and check it is within 1 percentage point.
Is an hourglass timer the same as a sand timer?
Yes. Both names mean a glass with sand running from the top bulb to the bottom one. On this page the glass also rings when the top is empty, and you can pause it.
What do the marks on the glass mean?
Each mark shows where the sand line will be with 1, 2, 3 … minutes left; on timers longer than 10 minutes the marks are every 5, 10 or 30 minutes. The caption under the glass says which.
Can I use it on a projector?
Yes. Full screen hides everything except the hourglass, the time and the main buttons. Under View you can hide the numbers too.
Does the timer keep running if I switch tabs?
Yes. TimerNook works out the time left from your device clock and a fixed end time, not by counting ticks, so a background tab is still right. While a timer runs, the page also plays a tone too quiet to hear, so the browser keeps the tab awake; your browser may show a speaker icon on the tab. If you also tick "Notify me", you get a system notification at the end.
Other timers
Guide: Classroom timer tips