A lot of Android devices have a built-in timer and stopwatch but what if they’re not as useful as you thought they would be? Wouldn’t it be much better if you could just install a third-party app from the Play Store? Speaking of which, Hybrid Stopwatch and Timer is a free timer and stopwatch app for Android that features a wide range of visually appealing themes.

What Is It and What Does It Do

Main Functionality

Hybrid Stopwatch and Timer is designed to measure time in three different modes – stopwatch, timer and lap counter. Each mode features a modern-themed digital display that can be easily set in just a single press of a button. If you want to use this app as a stopwatch, simply press the button that’s located at the centremost portion of its screen. The elapsed time will then be shown at the top of its digital display. If you want to record laps, simply press the lap counter button which is located at the bottom-left corner of the stopwatch screen. The timer mode, on the other hand, can be used in a similar manner as the stopwatch but instead of counting the elapsed time, you get to set your own custom alarm by dragging the dials to your desired time interval. You can also create your own timer presets.

Pros

• Neat, well-designed and attractive user interface, easy to use
• Can measure time in three different ways
  • Stopwatch – counts and records the elapsed time in hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds
  • Timer – measures and records the time interval needed to complete a certain process, task or event
  • Lap counter – counts and records the total number of laps within a certain time interval
• Custom user preferences – you can use your phone’s ringtone or alarm tone as your default time alarm notification tone, you can also set your preferred alarm duration (the maximum duration is 30 minutes)
• You can use your phone’s volume up/down keys to start or stop your stopwatch or timer
• Features a total of twelve stylish and modern themes – each theme features a unique digital display that resembles a real analog stopwatch or timer
• You can share your recorded laps via Bluetooth, IM, Gmail or SNS. You can also save a copy of your recorded laps as .csv
• Runs as a background application

Cons

• Doesn’t support landscape mode
• Doesn’t support multiple alarms/timers
• No widget support
• It would be nice if it can do those custom voice alerts for the last minute countdown, time remaining, time elapsed, etc.

Discussion

Given its wide variety of stylish and modern themes, Hybrid Stopwatch and Timer is definitely one of the best looking stopwatch and timer apps that I’ve ever tried on my phone. Not only that, it can also measure time accurately and it does a very good job as a stopwatch/timer.

Appearance wise, I don’t have any complaints with this app. As a matter of fact, its themes and animations are very appealing. Furthermore, its stopwatch and timer features a digital display that is very similar to an analog clock. So whenever you need to use its stopwatch, all you need to do is to press the “start/stop” button and then you press it again as soon as you’re done.

If you’re counting laps, you simply press the lap button which is located on the stopwatch’s lower left corner. This way, you can easily monitor and record laps without putting too much effort. You can even send and share your recorded laps via Bluetooth, Gmail, SMS, IM, etc. Aside from this, Hybrid Stopwatch and Timer will also allow you to save a copy of your recorded laps to your local storage or SD card.

What I also like about this app is that it allows you to customize your preferences. This means that you can set your own alarm tone and you can also choose your preferred themes and animations. Even so, this app also has a couple of downsides such as its lack of support for landscape mode. Aside from this, you won’t be able to use this app to set multiple alarms or timers. It would also be nice if this app could feature some custom voice messages so that you’ll be able to know the remaining time or the elapsed time without frequently looking at your stopwatch or timer.

Conclusion and Download Link

Hybrid Stopwatch and Timer is a very responsive and accurate timer and stopwatch app. Not only does it feature a beautiful UI, it also does its job well so you couldn’t really ask for more. It may not be totally free from flaws but if you just need a reliable timer, stopwatch and lap counter, I highly recommend that you install this app on your tablet or smartphone.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 2.0.4

Requires: Android 2.0 and up

Download size: 2.8MB

Hybrid Stopwatch and Timer on Play Store