Timers are easily one of the most useful iOS features. They’re incredibly handy in the kitchen, but you can also use them to meditate, do a workout routine, or limit your scrolling on social media. The thing is, setting a timer on an iPhone is a bit complicated. You will first need to find the Clock app, then go to the Timers tab before finally starting the timer. Lucky for you, iOS is all about efficiency and offering faster ways to get things done, even for something as simple as setting a timer.
The easiest way to start a timer on your iPhone without accessing the app is to ask Siri. Launch Siri by saying “Siri” or pressing the power button on your iPhone. Then just tell it how long you want to set the timer. For example, say “Siri, ten minutes.” That’s all you need to do. A timer will automatically start on your lock screen or Dynamic Island.
If you’re not a fan of Siri or the voice assistant is disabled, there are two other ways to set a timer on your iPhone without opening the app: with the Timer tile in Control Center and with a Timer shortcut assigned to the action button.
Method 1: Add the Timer tile to your Control Center
Besides Siri, another quick and easy way to set an iPhone timer is to use Control Center. This lesser-known iPhone trick lets you start a timer even when your phone is locked. Here’s how to use it:
- Go to your Control Center.
- Tap the plus icon in the upper left corner.
- Tap Add Control.
- Search for Timer.
- Tap it to pin it to the Control Center.
- Tap the empty space to save your change.
From here, you can now tap and hold the Timer tile to choose a duration. You can choose from twelve preset options: 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 4 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 hour and 2 hours. Simply set the slider to the desired duration and tap Start to start the timer. If you need to pause it, just tap the Pause button on the Timer tile.
Although convenient, this method has one drawback: you can only set one timer. To add more timers, you’ll need to long-press the Timer tile again and tap the plus icon next to the Pause button. This opens the Timer app, where you can create a new timer.
Method 2: Create a timer shortcut and assign it to the action button
Shortcuts are easily one of the best uses of your iPhone’s action button. And luckily, you can create just about any shortcut on the iPhone, including one to run a timer without even opening the app. Follow these steps to configure it:
- In the Shortcuts app, search for timer.
- Select the Start Timer shortcut that appears.
- Tap the Duration field.
- If you want the timer to always run for a fixed duration, enter your preferred duration and change the minutes to seconds or hours if necessary.
- If you want to set custom durations every time you run the shortcut, select Ask every time.
After creating your shortcut, you can assign it to the action button. In the Settings app, open the action button, swipe to Shortcut, and choose the new timer shortcut you created. Then, to activate the shortcut, hold down the action button. If you set a fixed duration for the shortcut, the timer will run automatically whether your phone is locked or not. If you choose “Ask every time”, a pop-up will appear where you can set the duration of your choice. This also works for locked and unlocked devices. Unlike method 1, you are free to start a new timer with the action button even when the first one is still running. This means you can set multiple timers whenever you need them.
