Compatible with iPhone
and iPod Touch
ASD Timer
The first thing you should know is that the developer of ASD Timer has not updated this app in a very long time. So it may not be compatible with the latest iOS on your device. That's a big problem.
ASD Timer is an iPhone app that allows you, or your autistic family member, to see time visually, and to see it passing. Time is an abstract idea, so being able to see it pass helps children, like my son with autism, immensely. ASD Timer allows you to see minutes, seconds, and milliseconds as they expire. A large dark red disk represents the minutes. Inside that red disk a smaller blue disc represents the seconds. And inside that blue disk a very small green disc quickly spins around representing milliseconds. Touching the screen toggles the milliseconds on and off, which is useful when your child fixates on it.
Easily the nicest feature of this timer is that you can set the timer by dragging your finger on the clock face! That's the kind of intuitive interface we'd expect on Apple's multi-touch devices. And it's very easy to use! Drag your finger over the red disk to set the minutes and, if you want, drag your finger over the blue disc to set the seconds. Being able to set the seconds allows you to be more precise, which is nice I suppose, though it's not a feature my family uses. After setting the desired time you tap the universal play symbol. Boom - Time is now passing before your eyes literally.
When the set time expires the clock face continually blinks, until you touch the screen, to give you a visual alert that time is up. The app also gives an audible alert, a pleasant beep, as the clock face blinks. If you don't like the sound there are two others you can choose from.
All the option buttons, including pause, are shown on the same screen as the timer. This is a single-screen iPhone app. When my son used ASD Timer he has a habit of accidentally (or intentionally) touching buttons and then he gets frustrated because the timer is no longer displayed or it has stopped moving. It'd be great if this app had all it's options hidden in the device's own settings area where they'd be out of the way. Maybe a triple tap on the screen to pause the timer, rather than using the universal pause symbol right there on the screen?
ASD Timer does not make use of the device's accelerometer either. That means, when you tilt your iPhone it doesn't sense that the device is now in landscape orientation (sideways). Instead, the developer gives you a toggle button to go from portrait to landscape mode. I say use the accelerometer and subtract that button.
But the biggest problem is that this app does not keep the iPhone from entering sleep mode when it's on. Somewhere along the road to the more recent versions of iOS this feature got dropped. That means if you set it for any time longer than a couple minutes your device sleeps and therefore ASD Timer is useless.
In my opinion this app needs a good update to address the issues above. Until then, you'd be wise to avoid it.
