Pomodoro Timer for the Windows 7 TaskBar

EDIT:  The code is now open source on codeplex, on http://pomodorotaskbar.codeplex.com There's a new version available for download there too.

If you’re into the Pomodoro technique and looking for a pretty simple out-of-the-way timer which sits in the Windows 7 taskbar and is controlled from the Win7 JumpList, this one might be worth trying out.

NOTE: Icon overlays will NOT work if you're using small TaskBar icons!

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That’s the timer looking like a tomato, with the remaining session minutes written out dynamically as icon overlay.

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The timer has a couple of JumpList Tasks which you can use to control it. The program works well when “pinned” to the taskbar if you prefer it.

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You can also control the timer from the main window with one large action-button (stop, start, stop ringing and restart session).

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When the timer is stopped, you can just click on the remaining minutes-textbox and change the default session length to whatever you like. The value is stored.

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When the session is ended, the window flashes, the tomato shakes and a ringing sound is played a few times to get your attention.

Note, this is a very simple program which I’m planning to release as open source when I’ve received some feedback. I prefer to keep it simple, but may add session logging. The name as well as the looks may change. .NET 4.0 is required.

7 Comments

  • Nice App. I'll test it and give some feedback. Are you looking for feedback in a particular area?

    And will you be adding features in future? I do realize that you said that you would like to keep it simple. And I'm fine with that. And I've tried out a few PT apps and while they have some features that I like they are not all in the same app. A full-featured PT app would be great.

    One that syncs with GTasks or Outlook to assign tasks to time periods. But that would be a hell of a lot of work. And I don't even know if a market exists for this kind of app. It would suck to create a product for a market of 1.

    Anyways I'm happy that you're making it open-source.

  • I cannot get the jump list to work on my machine. Have you got any clue as to why? Get back to me on Twitter if you like!

    Cheers,

    Magnus

  • @Jay - thanks mate. Feedback on anything you like or not :) and yes, I could add lots of more features, but I will keep this one simple and release the source soon. After that people may fork as much as they like.

    @Magnus - no idea why. I've installed it on other machines at home without probs, but there may be something else? I'm using some .NET 4 features for the jumplist. Can you see the jumplist items at all?

    Johan

  • I like it and could be an user :-)
    Some observations.

    1. If you have a session going on and you click on the windows close button it ends the application(as expected). I did so "by mistake" which ended my session, an idea could be to ask if you want to exit or just minimize.

    2. The text pause timer and resume timer can eventually be better than start and stop.

    3. You can "resume" the timer when on 0 minutes, nothing happens so it's not a problem.

    Like Jay writes a link to Outlook GTasks would be nice. Since you want to keep it simple ... what about just dumping it to a iCalendar file ? Get back to you on that I could eventually write that ;-)

    Samuel

  • Downloaded yesterday, trying it out today.

    It would be nice with an option to have tick-sounds. Like an old time wall clock. To remind you of the passing of time

  • If one pomodoro is complete the bell rings.
    You stop the ringing and take a break.
    If you now start a new pomodoro "Start Timer" it goes from 0 to -1 to -2 ...
    It would be nice if it restarted from the original pomodoro value (25) instead.

  • Huh? I hope you use the latest version on codeplex :) How did you stop the ringing? From the jumplist taskbar or the button?

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