You are boiling pasta at the stove and your MacBook is on the kitchen counter playing a recipe video. You need an eight-minute timer — right now. Unlocking your phone, opening the Clock app, scrolling the minutes wheel, and tapping Start feels absurd when the water is already rolling. By the time the timer is set you have lost fifteen seconds and splashed sauce on your phone screen.
People who cook near a computer — whether in a home kitchen, a studio, or a break room — run into this constantly. The Mac is right there, but macOS makes timers needlessly slow to start.
Why the built-in options fall short
The macOS Clock app buries its timer behind a tab and a scroll picker. Siri works hands-free, but in a noisy kitchen with a fan and sizzling pan, recognition is unreliable. Web timers require finding a tab and clicking Start. None of these let you go from "I need a timer" to "timer running" in under a second.
The fix: Tickpull
Tickpull was built for exactly this kind of moment. One drag from the menu bar icon sets the duration. Release to start. The whole interaction takes less than a second and you never leave the screen you are on.
Pasta, rice, eggs
Drag to 8, 12, or 6 minutes. The ring fills in the menu bar while you watch your recipe video. When the timer ends, a notification and haptic tap tell you it is time — no need to keep checking.
Multiple dishes at once
Roasting vegetables for 25 minutes while rice needs 15? Start two timers. Tickpull handles parallel countdowns, each with its own ring and alert. No more mental math about which dish went in first.
Bread proofing and slow cooks
Drag further for longer durations. Set a 45-minute proof timer or a 90-minute slow braise. The ring steadily fills so a glance tells you if you are halfway or almost done.
Cooking timers should be fast, visible, and forgettable once set. Tickpull handles all three.