Fifty-Five and Five

The Basics

Fifty-Five and Five reminds you to take breaks every now and then. After 55 minutes, it will play a sound and show a notification on your phone or tablet that it's time to rest. Five minutes later, it will let you know that it's time to get back to work. After that, it starts the 55-minute timer again, and keeps reminding you to take five minute breaks once an hour until you stop it.

What makes Fifty-Five and Five different from a kitchen timer, or the timer that comes with your phone, is that most timers ring once and then you need to reset them. Fifty-Five and Five will keep cycling through the timers, even if you don't touch your phone. You can set your phone somewhere to the side, or leave it in your pocket, and not bother responding to the alerts. Fifty-Five and Five will keep running.

Can I change the timers?

Certainly! The default timers are a "Work" timer for 55 minutes, and a "Rest" timer for 5 minutes, but you can have as many timers as you want, with whatever times you want, up to 24 hours each. The app will cycle through each of them in turn.

To change the timers, click the "i" button (in the bottom-right corner of the top half of the screen), then click "Edit" (in the top right of the screen).

Why?

For whatever reasons you want! Maybe you have an injured joint that you need to ice now and then. People lifting heavy boxes need to take a break to rest their spines to prevent injuries. Computer workers need to rest their wrists and eyes for good health. People exercising with interval training may want to be notified of when to switch exercises.

While the name "Fifty-Five and Five" is catchy, a 55-5 timer rotation isn't right for every situation. Be sure to set the timers to the right times for whatever your needs are. If you're not sure, talk to your doctor, coach, or other qualified professional.

What will I see and hear?

If the app is running on the screen, the background color will change so you can see it from a distance. You'll also see a message appear that lets you dismiss or snooze the alarm. (Remember, you don't have to respond to the message. Fifty-Five and Five will keep running your timers even if you don't touch the screen.)

If the app isn't visible, you get notifications the same way you see text messages or other app notifications. By default, a banner will appear at the top of your screen. Pull down on the banner to see options to snooze the alarm for five minutes, or to stop running the timers altogether. If your phone is locked, you can swipe left on the message to see the same options. You also can tell Fifty-Five and Five to pop up a message box in your device's Settings screen.

The default alarm sound is a 30-second tune. You also can switch to a short "ding" sound. You may prefer the short sound if you are using short timers, such as for interval training.

If your device supports vibration, or you have a smart watch, you'll also be notified that way.

Support or Contact

Having trouble with Fifty-Five and Five? Check out our documentation or file a support issue.

Legal

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

If you're a developer, you are welcome to check out the source on GitHub. Be aware that forking does not currently allow you to distribute this program through the App Store; see COPYING.notice for details.

The above examples of using this applications are ideas only, and are not medical advice. This application is not a medical device, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. Any use is at the user's own risk and discretion, and should only be done under proper medical supervision.

Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.