Mostly looks, little substance

This app is stylish and feels solid, well-written, but it doesnt really offer any significant functionality over the built-in timer in the Clock app. It feels like the developers focused on slick aesthetics over usability.

For a meditation timer, I want a wide selection of sounds, various bells and bowls, and very customizable ring times. "Ring three times in 30 seconds, then once after ten minutes, then once 30 minutes later, then three more times 40 minutes later." I want all the options exposed easily in a nice, usable UI.

Meditation timer offers basically none of that. You can set a preparation time, after which it rings once, and then rings once more after your set meditation time. There is only one sound. Also, while this is subjective, I found the sound harsh, and it ended far too soon; I like listening to the tail of the singing bowl noise. In this app, it rings for a few seconds and then cuts out.

You can do essentially all of this with the built-in clock timer, except the preparation period, but its not that hard to just get set up and then lean out and hit Start.

Furthermore, the UI for this app goes for looks over functionality. When you launch it, you get the very attractive timer screen. But theres no functionality on it. You need to double-tap to get to settings. In fact, you always need to double-tap every time you launch the app because the timer doesnt auto-restart, so when you launch its at 00:00. In Settings theres a Restart button which you always have to hit.

Theres no reason to have the pleasant purple or green timer screen at all, though, unless you meditate while staring at your phone. I meditate with my eyes closed, or barely open, or else looking at the ground while I walk. Having the timer screen at all is just a nuisance, since it means you have to double-tap to go to Settings all the time to do anything.

Im disappointed in this application: I dont mean to be mean, but I cant understand what the developers were thinking. It offers so little functionality beyond the built in Clock timer, and exposes it in an obfuscated way... it just feels like they wanted to make something that looked nice, but didnt really think about how meditators might want to use it.

bhsharp about Meditation Timer