Apple’s Clock App Finally Lets You Run Multiple Clocks on Your iPhone at Once

Aside from the addition of the sleep timer five years ago, the Apple Clock app has been largely overlooked in recent iOS software updates. But this is changing with the latest Apple iPhone software. With the updated Clock app, you can set more than one timer to run at the same time.

Before the upgrade, you often had to use a third-party app to install one or more additional monitors. Either that or rely on complicated shortcuts, timers, an iPad or Android tablet, or a HomePod or some other smart device.

Personally, before I bought the HomePod, I used a mixed bag of devices to keep track of time, including my iPhone, iPad, Echo Dot, Google Home, and oven timers. I like timers so I can quickly check them without saying anything, so I often limit my smart speakers to only count at the same time to avoid confusion – and I didn’t want an extra clock app on my iPhone.

This problem is solved by updating Apple’s main software for iPhone and iPad. Now, I can set up multiple timers at once and track them in the Clock app or through Live Activities on the Lock Screen or Notification Center. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Update Your Software

The new time section in Clock is available on iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, which are currently in beta. If you want to get this and more before the official version drops, join the iOS 17 beta or iPadOS 17 beta and install the latest builds on your iPhone or iPad.

Step 2: Set Your First Time

To set up and start your first timer in the Clock app, open the Time tab (formerly “Timer”), then enter the desired hours, minutes, and seconds and change the When Timer Expires text as you normally would.

The difference here is that you can write at any time. That way, you don’t get confused about what time it was. You don’t need a token if you’re just setting up a single counter. Otherwise, click the character field to summarize it, then click Start.

You can also ask Siri to start it for you the first time. If you need a logo, specify it in the command. Once created, Siri will show you an icon, and clicking the icon will open the Clock app on the Timers tab.

Step 3: Add Other Times

When you hit Start, you’ll be taken back to the main Time menu, where you can view your current countdown, select the most recently used countdown, and add a new countdown. You can have as many views as you want. I stopped counting when I added 40 in a quick test.

If you see a recently used calculator that matches a bill, click the start button next to it. Otherwise, click the plus sign (+) above. During the countdown, you will have three basic ways to start the countdown from the new interface:

• Click the preset timer shown below the time selector. These range from 5 minutes to 35 minutes in 5 minute increments and cannot be changed.
• Click Start next to the latest calculator at the bottom of the presets. Just hit Start next to the one you want. It should still have the same characters and words it had before.
• Click the plus sign (+) above. See Part 2 above.

You can also tell Siri to add additional readings, as seen in Step 2 above.

Step 4: Manage Your Working Time

To see how much time is left on all your timers, you can also open the Clock app from the Timers tab. You can also ask Siri how much time is left and see all your notifications as Live Events on your Lock Screen or in your Notification Center. You can pause and stop the timer at any time at any of these locations.

Step 5: Stop Your Every Moment

If you no longer need the timer and it’s still running, you can stop it at any of the locations seen in Step 4 above.

• Hover your finger from the screen to the left from the Timers tab.
• Swipe left on the active counter, then click the Delete button.
• Click Edit on the Timers tab, click the delete button to the left of the active timer, and then click the Delete button.
• Click an active alarm on the Timers tab, then click Cancel.
• Ask Siri to stop a specific timer.
• Click the X on the active timer from Live Activities. (Don’t swipe left there as it will only remove Live Activity.)

Step 6: Adjust Your Timing

From the Timers tab in Clock, you can click on any active timer to change its text or countdown timer. Changing one of these to use a timer does not change the recently saved data. And from what I can tell, it doesn’t create a new entry with updates to your current list.

Step 7: Remove Active and Latest Features

If you want to remove recent readings, which may be unwritten readings or single-purpose readings, you can do the following:

• Move the saved timer from the window on the left from the Timers tab.
• Swipe left on the saved calculator, then click the Delete button.
• Click Edit on the Timers tab, click the delete button to the left of the saved timer, and then click the Delete button.
• Click the plus sign (+) on the Timers tab to add a new alarm, then use one of the controls on the left listed above.