MR TIME MAN
A production timer, free to use
Mr Time Man is a countdown and timing app for live events. I built it because I wanted a timer that did the job properly and stayed out of the way. It's free — download it, use it on your shows, keep it. Nothing is locked, there's no account, and it doesn't expire.
About
A timer I built for a use case I haven't seen yet.
Why it exists
Live events run on time or they don't run at all. If you've operated a show you know the moment: a speaker overrunning, someone talking in your ear, and the timer app choosing right then to want an internet connection or hide the controls you need.
I wanted something that starts fast, is readable from the back of a room, does exactly what you tell it, and doesn't care whether the venue Wi-Fi is up. Nothing I tried quite did that, so I made this.
It's free because it's more useful that way. There's no licence key, no sign-up, no trial that runs out halfway through an event. Download it and it's yours.
Where it goes next
I'd rather build this with the people using it than guess at what's needed. If something is missing, awkward, or broken on your setup, say so on the subreddit and it goes on the list. Plenty of what's here already came from that kind of feedback.
If it saves you some grief and you want to put something toward it, there's a way to do that below. Entirely optional, any amount, and it changes nothing about the app — everyone gets the same thing either way.
AT A GLANCE
PEOPLE USING IT
GET IN TOUCH
Features
Everything in the app right now, and why each part is there.
Remote Control
Run the timer from any phone, tablet or second machine on the same network. Start, pause, reset and adjust without being sat at the show computer — handy when you're on comms at the back of the hall, side of stage, or in another room entirely.
- MOBILE BROWSER
- SAME-NETWORK
- NO LATENCY
- MULTI-OPERATOR
Multiple Timers
Run more than one countdown at a time. Each segment can have its timer set up in advance, so you're not building a countdown live while someone waits on stage.
- PARALLEL TIMERS
- PER-SEGMENT
- PREPARED AHEAD
Multi-Phase Sequencing
Chain segments into a run of show — talk, Q&A, changeover, break — and step through them in order. Each phase keeps its own duration, so the sequence runs the way it was planned rather than the way it was remembered.
- RUN OF SHOW
- CHAINED PHASES
- PER-PHASE DURATION
Custom Branding
Put a logo, colour scheme and event artwork on the timer displays, so the output looks like part of the show instead of a piece of software borrowed for the day.
- LOGOS
- COLOUR SCHEMES
- EVENT ARTWORK
- PER-EVENT PRESETS
Works Fully Offline
No internet needed at any point. Venue Wi-Fi is usually the least reliable thing in the building, so nothing in the timing path depends on it. The app runs locally and keeps running.
- NO INTERNET NEEDED
- LOCAL ONLY
- NO CLOUD DEPENDENCY
Display Output
Send a clean full-screen countdown to a second monitor, projector or confidence screen while the controls stay on your display. Large high-contrast type that's still readable from the back of a room.
- SECOND SCREEN
- FULL SCREEN
- HIGH CONTRAST
- STAGE READABLE
Three parts, one system
The app is organised into three linked pieces that work together during a show.
Download
Mr Time Man runs on the Windows machine you use for your events. Download it, run it, done — there's no sign-up and no key to enter.
Windows Installer
Free · 64-bit desktop appThe installer isn't published yet. This page is ready — the button switches on by itself the moment the setup file goes up.
INSTALLING
- Download the setup file to your show machine.
- Run it. Windows may warn about an unrecognised publisher — choose More info → Run anyway.
- Follow the prompts through to the end.
- Open Mr Time Man and set up your first timer.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
FOR REMOTE CONTROL
THE CATCH
Community
The app gets better when people say what they actually need. That conversation happens on Reddit.
The subreddit
There's a subreddit for Mr Time Man. It's the place to suggest features, report anything broken, ask how to do something, or show how you've set it up for your own events.
Feature requests genuinely do get built. If you're running a kind of show I've never operated and the app doesn't fit it, that's exactly the sort of thing worth posting — I can't fix what I don't know about.
Open the subreddit REDDITSupporting the project
The app is free and stays free. If it's saved you some trouble and you want to put something toward keeping it going, you'll be able to do that here — you choose the amount, and there's no wrong one.
To be clear about what it gets you: nothing extra. No features behind a wall, no supporter build, no badge. Everyone runs the same app. It just helps cover the time and the hosting.
Support the project STRIPECard payments through Stripe aren't connected yet. The button goes live once that's done — until then the subreddit is the best place to help out.
ON THE SUBREDDIT
SUPPORTING
Take it and use it
Download the app, run your show, and tell me on the subreddit what should change.