An interval timer that bends to your training

Build any workout out of five kinds of block, put laps inside laps, and read the clock from the other side of the room. Free, without adverts or purchases.

How to use it

Android 6.0 or newer · no adverts · no in-app purchases · no internet permission

The main screen of Sports Timer showing a total time of 4:00 and the next blocks

Why it exists

Sports Timer was written in 2013 for a judo club in Bruges, Belgium. The trainer wanted more science in the training, which meant a different set of intervals almost every session. Off-the-shelf timers could do one fixed work/rest pattern; this one lets you build the session you actually planned, save it, and pull it back next week.

It has been rebuilt for modern Android and everything that used to be a paid extra is now simply included.

What it does

Five kinds of block

Action, rest, stopwatch, a countdown to a wall-clock time, and laps that repeat whatever sits above them.

Laps inside laps

Nest repeats as deeply as the session needs, or set a lap count below one for an endless loop.

Readable across the room

The digits fill whatever screen you give them, phone or tablet, so a whole group can follow one clock.

Your own music

Pick a track or a whole folder with the Android file picker. Different music per block if you want it.

Presets at a swipe

Save the sessions you use often and swipe left on the main screen to load one.

Scheduled start

Have a preset load and start itself at a fixed time on chosen days of the week.

See the full list of features →

The five block types

ActionA countdown for the work interval.

RestA countdown for the recovery between efforts.

StopwatchCounts up to a maximum. Skip when the exercise is done.

ClockCounts down until the system clock reaches a time you set.

LapsRepeats the blocks above the red line, as many times as you say.

In use

A running timer showing the block Prepare with 0:06 left in yellow — Running. The block name, the time left and what comes next.

The edit screen with a sequence of action and rest blocks — Editing a sequence, one block at a time.

The preset window: a grid of tiles, each with a workout name and its total time — Swipe to the left for your saved sessions, with their durations.

The settings menu of the app — Settings, help and everything else.

Sports Timer in landscape on a tablet, with very large digits — Landscape on a tablet. This is the view the whole room reads from.

Made to be read across a room

Sports Timer is meant to be looked at from a distance rather than held in your hand. Stand a phone on a table, prop it against a wall, or use a tablet if you have one: the digits fill whatever screen you give them, so everyone in the room follows the same clock.

The rest follows from that. Blocks carry names, so nobody has to ask what is coming next. Presets keep last week's session one swipe away. And a scheduled start lets the programme run itself.

For clubs and trainers → Ready-made workouts →

Free, and quietly so

Sports Timer has no adverts, nothing to buy and no account to create. It also has no permission to use the internet, so nothing you do in the app can leave your phone. The privacy policy explains exactly what is stored and where.