NextBell.app
...displays a countdown of the time until the next bell.
Place it in a little window on the edge of a display, go full screen, or view it on a small display such as a phone; the font size scales automatically to the size of the window. The countdown is also visible in the browser tab, allowing you to keep an eye on the timer whilst it runs in the background. NextBell is a progressive web app that will run offline when installed (normally that is done by adding it to your home screen or by following an install prompt).
List of timers
Homebush Boys High School
FAQ
How do I change font size or colour?
[↑] or [b] (or even [+] or [PgUp]) make it bigger, or you can click or tap towards the top of the window.
[↓] or [s] (or even [–] or [PgDn]) make it smaller, or you can click or tap towards the bottom of the window.
[→] or [n] (or [.]) go to the next colour, or you can click or tap towards the right of the window.
[←] or [p] (or [,]) go to the previous colour, or you can click or tap towards the left of the window.
[↵] or [r] (or even [0] or [Home]) reset the size and colour, or you can click or tap on the middle of the window.
Tapping quickly is causing my screen to zoom. Can you fix that?
You are using Safari on iOS and you declined to follow the instructions in the popup dialogue that appeared when you first visited the site. Installing the web app will prevent double-tap to zoom. Return to the timer and tap the share button and select "Add to Home Screen". Then launch the app from your home screen.
The timer is out. How do I adjust it?
The timer is accurate to one-quarter of a second of the time on your system. If the timer is out, you'll need to adjust your system time. If you are on a device that stays within the network of the NSW Department of Education, then setting your Internet time sever to ntp.det.nsw.edu.au may help your system keep better time.
The timer doesn't reflect the recent change in the bell times. How do I fix it?
Assuming someone informed me about the change and I've updated the settings file, close all instances of the app and start again. A simple reload probably won't suffice, you'll need to close all windows and tabs before loading the app again.
The flashing thing at the start only played once. What's with that?
The instructional animation that plays when the timer is first loaded is set to display again if the site is reloaded after 75 days (the maximum length of a school term).
How do I get a timer for my school?
If you would like your organisation added to the list of available timers, please contact me.
Changelog
v2.2: Jul 8 2023 (iOS UAT Update)
● Placed an inactive (and transparent) bar at the bottom of Android and iOS to shield the navigation bar on those platforms. (The home gesture on iOS was triggering the interface. Android seems to handle this better.)
● Changed the wording in the iOS popup dialogue from, "Tap the share button", to, "Tap the share button on your toolbar". (Users were attempting to tap the illustration.)
v2.1: Jun 3 2023 (Service Worker Update)
● In anticipation of future updates, the service worker will now delete previous caches after populating its own.
● Removed navigation preloads. Chrome was intermittently throwing up navigation preload request errors over poor network connections. (This behaviour is not understood, as Firefox had no complaints, and the code in use was fairly simple and nearly verbatim from the docs.)
v2: Apr 22 2023 (PWA Release)
● Added a web worker to allow the timer to continue to run accurately when in the background.
● Added the countdown to the browser tab (thanks to the above improvement).
● Added a service worker for offline use and use as a progressive web app (PWA).
● Added a manifest to allow for installation as a PWA.
● Added a series of icons to the PWA.
● Added screenshots to the PWA.
● Created an array of interface colours that the user can cycle through.
● Reduced the width of middle button and added two more left and right of it to allow for colour selection.
● Altered the opening animation to include the colour selection buttons.
● Added control keys for colour selection.
● Added persistent cookies to maintain user size and colour selections.
● Increased cookie timeout from 6 days to 75 days (the maximum length of a school term).
● Added a clickable floating ⓘ in the bottom right-hand corner to show information (this page).
● --:-- is now displayed whilst the bell times are being loaded (which is better than looking at a blank screen---especially if something goes wrong).
● Fixed the double-tap zoom bug on Android Chrome and the iOS PWA. Note that this behaviour is not currently preventable in Safari on iOS unless the app is installed as a PWA.
● Added a popup dialogue box for iOS users with instructions to install the PWA to their home screen.
● Updated apple-touch-icon.png.
● Changed the layout from tables to flexboxes (because the internet says flexboxes are cool).
● Overflowing enlarged text now stays centred.
● Reduced the number of control keys shown in the opening animation.
● Reduced the accuracy from 1/5 to 1/4 of a second (let's not be so fussy and save a smidgen of power).
● Fixed [-]/[=] keys only working in Firefox.
● Fixed a bug where, in some browsers, the bell animation would play when returning the window to the foreground, even though the bell time had since passed.
v1: Feb 6 2023 (Initial Release)
● Download the XML file and parse the school name and bell times.
● Scale the interface to the size of the window, and do so again if the window size changes.
● Display a countdown in minutes and seconds of the time until the next bell.
● If this is the first visit in the last six days, play an opening animation that demonstrates how to use the site, and set a cookie with a lifetime of six days. (Assuming non-use on a weekend the animation will eventually play each Monday.)
● When the time has elapsed, display 00:00 for a second and display a flashing animation that inverts the colours.
● Display 00:00 if the last bell for the day has sounded.