Pomodoro Timer
A Pomodoro timer that keeps exact time even when the tab is in the background. Work in focused sprints, take real breaks, and watch your finished sessions add up day by day.
How to use Pomodoro Timer
- Type what you are working on so the finished session gets attributed to the right task.
- Adjust the focus, short break and long break lengths if the classic 25/5/15 does not suit you.
- Press Start (or the space bar) and work until the ring closes and the alarm sounds.
- Take the break the timer gives you — that recovery is what makes the next sprint work.
- Check the stats panel for pomodoros completed today, this week, total focus minutes and your streak.
About Pomodoro Timer
The Pomodoro technique works because it changes what you are agreeing to. “Write the report” is unbounded and easy to postpone; “work on the report for 25 minutes” is a promise you can keep even on a bad day. The timer supplies the external boundary so you do not have to keep making the decision yourself, and the break at the end is what stops the method collapsing into ordinary overwork. This Pomodoro timer keeps the classic structure — 25 minutes of focus, a five-minute break, a longer break after every fourth sprint — while letting you retune every number.
Accuracy matters more than it sounds. A timer built on a naive setInterval loses time the moment the tab is throttled, and every modern browser throttles background tabs hard: a 25-minute countdown can finish several minutes late. This one stores the absolute end time and recomputes what is left from the system clock on every frame, so the countdown is exact whatever the browser does with the tab. The alarm is synthesised with the Web Audio API rather than loaded as an audio file, which means it fires instantly, cannot be blocked by an autoplay policy and works with no connection.
What turns a timer into a habit is the record it leaves behind. Every finished sprint is logged against the task you named, so the stats panel can show pomodoros completed today and this week, total focus minutes and the number of consecutive days you have shown up. That streak is deliberately the most prominent number on the page — for most people, protecting an unbroken run is a far stronger motivator than any productivity score. Everything is stored locally in your browser, so the data is yours and nobody else ever sees it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Pomodoro technique?
It is a time-boxing method created by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s: work in fixed intervals of about 25 minutes, take a five-minute break after each one, and take a longer 15–30 minute break after every fourth interval. The fixed boundary is the whole point — it converts an open-ended “work until I am tired” session into a short, finite commitment that is much easier to start.
Does the timer keep running in a background tab?
Yes. The remaining time is calculated from an absolute end timestamp rather than counted down frame by frame, so browser throttling cannot make it lose time. If you switch away for ten minutes, the timer is exactly ten minutes further along when you return. Only the on-screen redraw pauses, never the countdown itself.
Will the alarm sound if my phone is locked?
Usually not. Mobile browsers suspend a page once the screen locks or you switch apps, and a suspended page cannot make a sound. On a desktop the alarm plays reliably from a background tab. If you need an alert on a locked phone, use your phone's own clock app; on desktop, switch on browser notifications here as a visual backup.
Can I change the 25/5/15 lengths?
Yes — focus length, short break, long break and how many focus sessions happen before a long break are all adjustable, and your settings are remembered in your browser. Common alternatives are 50/10 for deep work and 15/3 when you are struggling to start.
Is my session history private?
Completely. Session logs, task names and settings are stored in your browser's local storage and never sent anywhere. There is no account and no server-side record — clearing your browser data clears the history.
What should I do if I get interrupted mid-Pomodoro?
Cirillo's rule is that an interrupted pomodoro does not count: either defer the interruption and finish the sprint, or reset and start again. Press R to reset the current phase, or S to skip straight to the break — only completed focus sessions are logged.
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