How to start a timer with a single touch or gesture?

[osplo]

The only thing I miss from my good old Casio watch is the ability to start a timer with a single touch, without the need to be even watching at the watch.

I can set a complication to start the Timers app, even a specific timer (in my case, 5 minutes) but the timer does not actually start, unfortunately. It requires another touch in the "play/start" icon (which forces me to look at the watch).

Is there a way to start a 5-minutes timer with a single touch or gesture? If I could tap my watch three times, for instance, or click the digital crown four times, to get the timer started it would be great. Or at least, when I open the Timers app in the 5-minutes timer it would be great that the timer starts the countdown immediately, not waiting for another tap somewhere.

Is this too much to ask from a smartwatch in 2022?

Thanks!

 

[jz0309]

The only thing I miss from my good old Casio watch is the ability to start a timer with a single touch, without the need to be even watching at the watch.

I can set a complication to start the Timers app, even a specific timer (in my case, 5 minutes) but the timer does not actually start, unfortunately. It requires another touch in the "play/start" icon (which forces me to look at the watch).

Is there a way to start a 5-minutes timer with a single touch or gesture? If I could tap my watch three times, for instance, or click the digital crown four times, to get the timer started it would be great. Or at least, when I open the Timers app in the 5-minutes timer it would be great that the timer starts the countdown immediately, not waiting for another tap somewhere.

Is this too much to ask from a smartwatch in 2022?

Thanks!

Try Siri

 

[Howard2k]

With raise to listen it's zero touch - raise watch, say "Set a timer for 5 minutes"

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Siri's your best bet. Nowadays I just say "10 or *whatever* minutes" and timer is started, as it has learned it is what I use the most.

 

[osplo]

Thanks to you all.

Siri is an option, I know, and I use it sometimes, but in a quiet environment Siri is a bit awkward to use. Plus my iPhone has to be near as I don't have a SIM on the watch. And truth be told Siri does not always respond immediately, sometimes takes some time or ask me to repeat my requests... not good when you need a timer.

There should be a way to do this with a gesture or single touch.

Any other ideas?

 

[Howard2k]

Tapping three times is ok, and tapping once is ok, but tapping twice is not ok?

I'm not following, but no I don't know of a way to make it work with one tap.

 

[osplo]

Tapping three times is ok, and tapping once is ok, but tapping twice is not ok?

I'm not following, but no I don't know of a way to make it work with one tap.

Sorry if I was not clear. Tapping three times in a row without actually looking at the watch is OK, but tapping once in the complication (having to watch to find the exact place of the complication) and then tapping again in the "start" icon of the Timer (having to watch to find the exact place of the icon) is another thing. The latter requires my attention.

Clicking three times on the side button, for instance, is something I could do without watching at all.

Hope I was clearer this time, thanks.

 

[osplo]

Any ideas folks?

 

[JBinPDX]

Could it be done with a shortcut? I'm far from a shortcut expert, so this is just a suggestion. I wouldn't know how to do it.

 

[osplo]

You mean a shortcut that starts the timer automatically right from the complication?

Worth exploring, good idea... I don't know if it is possible either...

 

[JBinPDX]

You mean a shortcut that starts the timer automatically right from the complication?

Worth exploring, good idea... I don't know if it is possible either...

I know you can have a complication that starts a specific shortcut. I played around with it a little bit but I couldn't figure out how to do a timer. Like I said, I'm far from an expert.

 

[MisterSavage]

I haven't done this, but what about a complication that uses the shortcuts app to run a custom shortcut to set a timer?

Run shortcuts from Apple Watch

You can run shortcuts from the Shortcuts app on Apple Watch or from a watch complication.

support.apple.com

And truth be told Siri does not always respond immediately, sometimes takes some time or ask me to repeat my requests... not good when you need a timer.

You're right. Requests like these on the iPhone are done on-device now and are really quick. But on the watch you can really tell that they're not because of this delay that can happen.

 

[Howard2k]

It’s still two touch.

 

[mk313]

you might want to look into assitive touch. I haven't played around with it, but someone just posted a thread in here about how they are able to activate Apple Pay using just hand gesture & not touching the watch at all. Seems like there would also be a way to start a timer doing that.

 

[osplo]

you might want to look into assitive touch. I haven't played around with it, but someone just posted a thread in here about how they are able to activate Apple Pay using just hand gesture & not touching the watch at all. Seems like there would also be a way to start a timer doing that.

I've looked into it, but seemed more cumbersome than beneficial. Let's say it could be a last resort, but I am not very comfortable with the fact that some hand gestures might inadvertently trigger other apps or stuff. Thanks anyway.

Oh, how easy for Apple (and for us, users) would be to enable three clicks on the side button to start an action...!

 

[osplo]

It’s still two touch.

That's what I supposed. Thanks anyway!

I think we need an app that can start a timer right away whenever it is opened.

Then it would be possible to start the timer with one single action or gesture. Still, it would be even better if three or four clicks on the side button could start a user defined action (such as starting that app I described).