Count the steps most timer apps require: open the app, find the timer feature, click into a duration field, type or scroll to a number, click Start. That's five actions for something that conceptually should be one. Each extra step is a small tax, and paid dozens of times a week, that tax adds up to real friction — friction that quietly discourages you from using a timer at all when a task would benefit from one.
The ideal version of this interaction has exactly one step: an action that both sets the duration and starts the countdown at the same time.
Why typing and scrolling both fall short
Typing a duration requires clicking into a field, switching to number input mentally, and often pressing Enter or clicking a separate Start button — three actions minimum. Scroll wheels are arguably worse, requiring separate scrolling for hours, minutes, and sometimes seconds before a Start button appears. Neither approach collapses into a single motion.
The fix: Tickpull
Tickpull collapses setting and starting into one physical gesture. Click the menu bar icon, drag downward — further for more time — and release. The timer is already running the instant your hand lets go. No separate Start button, no confirmation dialog, no field to click into first.
Speed for repeated use
If you set timers dozens of times a day — cooking, work blocks, short breaks — the difference between a five-step process and a one-gesture process compounds into real time saved and far less annoyance.
No precision required
The drag distance maps to duration visually as you move, so you can eyeball "about 10 minutes" without needing to land on an exact number the way a text field would demand.
Works the same every time
There's no menu to navigate or mode to select first. The gesture is identical whether you need 2 minutes or 90, which means it becomes muscle memory almost immediately.