Google has a new fun tool built within their search. If you ever need a quick timer for something, grabbing your phone or a regular timer isn’t always convenient when you’re sitting at your desk – and you might not want to install one of the many web apps that do it.
But now you can type specific search query into Google’s search box, and Google will create a timer for you right on the search results page.
To create your timer, simply type “timer for [duration]” such as “timer for 30 seconds” or “timer for 1 hour 30 minutes”. It has a stop and reset option and it plays a beeping sound when the timer expires. You can have it open in one tab, and use another tab and you will still hear the audio alarm.
Google’s timer will also give you a warning if you have an active timer and you try to close that tab or window. It does seem to work in all browsers, so it’s not exclusive to Google Chrome.
It is unknown how long it has been available for, but it seems to have been first pointed out on Reddit last week.