Timer by App Cubby launched as an inexpensive way to quickly and easily set single or multiple count-down timers on the iPhone. Since Apple's built-in Clock app only allows for a single timer at once, Timer was well worth the $0.99 it originally cost. Recently, however, App Cubby made it free. And now they're further upping the ante with Timer 2.0. It's still free, but the new version comes with the option to add even more features via in-app purchase.
Thanks to the iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5 16:9 display, you still get the same 12 pre-set timers, as well as 2 customizable timers. Any of them, and all of them, available at the tap of a button.
Among the options for Timer 2.0 are theme packs at $0.99 each, including anodyne, halcyon, dulcet, incandescent, brazen, clicky, midnight, glimmer, and gallery. Sound packs, also at $0.99 each, include serene, nature, and future. The glyph pack is $1.99 and includes 400 symbols to use in your timer labels. If a la carte feels too expensive or too involved, you can also pick up all sound bundles for only $1.99, all themes for only $4.99, or the ultimate bundle for only $9.99. And bundles include not only current content, but future content as well. Buying any of the in-app purchases also removes the ad (an icon, middle bottom, that suggests other apps you might like to try).
The free version of Timer, without a single in-app purchase, is fully functional. The in-app purchases are just icing on the cake -- a way to liven up the app after having used it for a while, and to tip the developers for a job well done.
Timer 2.0 is a great app and an interesting App Store experiment. It lets users try before they buy, removing the fear of purchasing, and still gives them an option to pay real money to support the developer and ensure work on the app continues.
I had a chance to talk to David Barnard, App Cubby's producer, about all the work and the thought process that went into making Timer 2.0, and into how to best sell it on the App Store. If you're interested in development and the App Store economy, it's a must-listen:
Timer 2.0 is available now on the App Store at the low, low price of free. Give it a try.
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