Mac & Windows
ToastTime
A compact, always-on-top speech timer for club meetings and personal practice. Displays the classic Min / Warn / Max traffic light with audible bell alerts, so timing a speech never means glancing away from the speaker.
How it works
Pick a role from the dropdown to auto-fill standard club timings, or scroll the Min / Warn / Max drums to set custom times. Auto Warn (on by default) sets the warn time automatically to the midpoint of Min and Max. Press Start when the speaker begins, and watch the lights:
Past Max, the light flashes to signal overtime once the grace period (30 seconds by default) has elapsed. The window's title bar can be dragged to reposition it alongside Zoom or another video call, and the mini timer in the corner keeps running even when the full window is minimized.
Preset roles
| Role | Min | Warn | Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impromptu Speech | 1:00 | 1:30 | 2:00 |
| Ice Breaker | 4:00 | 5:00 | 6:00 |
| Prepared Speech (5–7 min) | 5:00 | 6:00 | 7:00 |
| Prepared Speech (7–9 min) | 7:00 | 8:00 | 9:00 |
| Speech Evaluation | 2:00 | 2:30 | 3:00 |
| General Evaluator | 3:00 | 4:00 | 5:00 |
| Custom | Set your own Min / Warn / Max | ||
Installing
Downloads are available from the Releases page on GitHub — a .dmg for Mac, an installer .exe for Windows.
Mac
Open the .dmg and drag ToastTime to Applications. Releases aren't code-signed yet, so if Gatekeeper blocks the app on first launch, run xattr -cr /Applications/ToastTime.app in Terminal, then open it normally.
Windows
Run the installer. If Windows Defender SmartScreen appears, choose More info → Run anyway — installers aren't code-signed yet either.
Options
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| +30s grace | On | Allows 30 seconds after Max before overtime flashes |
| Auto Warn | On | Sets Warn to the midpoint of Min and Max |
Thresholds and options lock while the timer is running, and the info button gives a quick reference without stopping the mini timer.
Open source
ToastTime is built with Electron and open source on GitHub. Building from source requires Node 22+:
git clone https://github.com/bjbyrne/toasttime.git |
cd toasttime && npm install |
npm start — dev mode with hot reload |
npm run make — build an installer for your platform |