Why Every Application Needs a Functional Design as Simple as the Tea Timer App

It may sound simple, but my favorite app lately has been a timer. Specifically, a timer for steeping tea. You may not drink the multiple cups a day that I do, but I want to talk about what makes it a generally outstanding mobile app.

Cuppa Is a Niche But Model App

In my phone, there are two types of apps: ones that are useful and ones I enjoy using. These apps are rarely the same because it seems like every app serving my needs is also designed to do things I don’t want, like hypnotize me with algorithmic entertainment or just sell me laundry detergent.

Cuppa, though, happens to be an app that both serves my needs and is painless, even enjoyable to use. It’s available for free on Android (at the Play Store or where I get it, on F-Droid ) and for iPhone and iPad . There’s also a Mac version . Its one job is timing your tea steeping. You don’t need anything to start using it—not even a login. There are no ads and no splash screen showing off some corporate logo, either. You just open the app, and there are your timers for different tea types you simply tap to start.

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Cuppa is also one of those rare apps that looks humble in presentation but, as you explore it, you discover hidden treats. If you get into the settings, you’ll find a lot of customizability intentionally designed to suit a tea connoisseur. You can add more types and flavors of tea to your timer array, including custom ones, and adjust your preferred steeping times, boiling temperature, and tea-to-water brewing ratio.

Those options might seem extraneous, but I do have a certain brand of Earl Grey tea I prefer to brew for a shorter amount of time than other brands making the same flavor. That granular customization also makes for better insights if you’ve enabled the timer usage stats. I love that feature because it lets me look back proudly on my brewing habits and, dare I say, complex tea palette. On that note, there’s no network connectivity, either; no one is spying on your tea-brewing habits in Cuppa to sell you more tea.

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Cuppa is how I wish every app experience was: free of ads, free of corporate tracking, and built to just get out of the way and let you do what you got the app to do. There are robust customization settings enthusiasts like me can tweak, but the defaults will likely serve you well. It feels like a return to form in mobile apps’ long history .

It Isn’t Perfect

One drawback is that, because there’s no account registration involved, all of your data is saved to your phone or tablet instead of to a cloud somewhere. That means if you delete the app or change to a different device, you’ll lose your settings and (if enabled) timer usage stats. Fortunately, if you manage to export your data (an option in the settings menu), you can import it into a new instance of the Cuppa app. Just be aware that’s completely up to you; there’s no service that will take care of that for you.

Beyond that, my only real gripe is about the timer alarm. It’s the sound of a ceramic teacup clattering that, while cute, feels a bit abrasive to me. I wish I could change it to something softer, but at least in the Android app I’ve not been able to find that option.

More Apps Should Be Like This

I like it when an app just lets me do what I got it to do. I’m driven up a wall when I have to watch a splash screen, sign up or log in, look at ads, decline the paid subscription, and so on just to get a simple job done like timing my tea brew.

Of course, apps don’t come from nowhere. There are software developers who put time and effort into it. There’s an argument to be made for app subscriptions . Even when an app is free, if you get a lot of use out of something, supporting the developers at the least helps ensure the app continues to exist in the future. So if you find you like Cuppa as much as I do, check out the Cuppa GitHub page for donation links.

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