How to Keep a Focus Timer on Your iPhone Lock Screen
A timer you have to unlock the phone to check is a timer that pulls you back into the phone. A Lock Screen countdown solves that.
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Quick answer: Timers that use Live Activities show a live countdown on the Lock Screen, and in the Dynamic Island on iPhones that have one. The Clock app's timer does this for a single countdown. For a focus session with its own length, streak and history, Rise runs its focus timer as a Live Activity, free, for 5 to 120 minutes.
What a Live Activity is
Live Activities are the live-updating panels iOS shows on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island: a delivery on its way, a sports score, a running timer. They update without you opening the app, which makes them ideal for a focus timer: you can glance at the time left without unlocking anything.
The quick option: the Clock app timer
Start a timer in the Clock app and it appears on the Lock Screen. That is enough for a single countdown. It does not know what the time was for, so there is no history, no streak, and nothing that connects the session to the rest of your day.
A focus timer built for it
- Start from your morning alarm, or tap Focus now on the Home screen at any other hour (one session per day).
- Choose a length with the slider. 5, 10 and 15 minutes are free; Pro goes up to 120 and lets you extend a running session by 5, 15 or 30 minutes.
- Start, then lock the phone. The countdown keeps running on the Lock Screen, and in the Dynamic Island if your iPhone has one.
- When it ends, it counts as your session for the day and, with Pro, is saved as mindful minutes in Apple Health.
Does Rise do Pomodoro?
Rise runs one focused block at a time, any length you pick, rather than a fixed 25/5 Pomodoro cycle. If you like Pomodoro, set 25 minutes, take your break, and start another. Many people find that one longer morning block suits deep work better than strict intervals.
To be exact, Rise gives you one focus session a day, so set it to 25 minutes for the first round and run the rounds after it with the Clock app: how to use a Pomodoro timer on iPhone covers the full cycle of rounds, short breaks and a long break after four, with the Clock app, a one-tap Shortcut or StandBy.
The timer shows the time left but does not silence anything, so scheduling focus time on iPhone with a Focus that turns on at the same hour keeps notifications out of the session.