Why are there so many new timers?

[Jteddy]

During the past few days I've seen at least 3 new timer websites/apps. Does anyone know why there are so many?

 

[cuberswoop]

once cubedesk started getting popular ive seen basically one new one a month, im assuming people just realized they could have choices and started making them

 

[ender9994]

Personalization options comes to mind as the main reason. There can be so many different features or modes of operation that different people want l, that a single system cant really implement them all without being bloated or too complex. When someone uses a few different timers and decide they like a few features from each one, they want to incorporate those best features into a new timer.

Plus, with modern LLMs and coding assistants, it is a low barrier of entry for someone to create and deploy their own. I know some people are against "vibe coding", but for low stakes applications like a timer it can be quite useful.

 

[Martyt7777]

During the past few days I've seen at least 3 new timer websites/apps. Does anyone know why there are so many?

If ChatGPT and Claude never existed you would only see 3 new timer websites/apps during the past few years /ex

Dunno why so many vibecoders still think we don’t have enough timers; and the new timers barely even bring new features…

 

[Billabob]

It's entirely due to AI coding. In the past week I've had to ban over 30 people who were spamming their awful Sudoku apps on another site. Worst was 9 new ones in a single day. They all look identical lol

 

[Puzzle Maniac]

It's entirely due to AI coding. In the past week I've had to ban over 30 people who were spamming their awful Sudoku apps on another site. Worst was 9 new ones in a single day. They all look identical lol

You're right—I have been noticing a lot of "AI slop" recently.

 

[cubemastery321]

Yeah, the AI tools explain the flood — a timer is one of the easiest apps to vibe-code, so everyone makes one. But most of them are basically the same stopwatch with a different coat of paint, which is why nobody switches.

The ones that actually get used tend to nail the boring stuff first: proper WCA scrambles, a real 15-second inspection with +2/DNF handling, and Ao5/Ao12 plus session stats you can read at a glance. And ideally no account needed just to keep your own times.

So I don't think we need more timers, we need the new ones to answer "what does this do that csTimer doesn't?" before adding themes and extras.

 

[Martyt7777]

Yeah, the AI tools explain the flood — a timer is one of the easiest apps to vibe-code, so everyone makes one. But most of them are basically the same stopwatch with a different coat of paint, which is why nobody switches.

The ones that actually get used tend to nail the boring stuff first: proper WCA scrambles, a real 15-second inspection with +2/DNF handling, and Ao5/Ao12 plus session stats you can read at a glance. And ideally no account needed just to keep your own times.

So I don't think we need more timers, we need the new ones to answer "what does this do that csTimer doesn't?" before adding themes and extras.