Add an option to Activate Countdown Format for each prayer

[TorCzaf]

Your app has 2 time formats PM-AM format and 24-Hour format, but can you also add this third one?
Countdown format for each prayer and I think this one is really interesting and I don't mean this to be put as an alternative to the main countdown of the next prayer that you will try to add in the future...

Here for example Isha is the current and qiyam is the next prayer...The app calculates how much time remaining for the next prayers and how much time passed since the previous prayers.

[meypod]

I have seen this format and while it is interesting, It's not a good way to represent time in general. because it requires updates every minutes, and updating frequently requires setting up timers.

but it's okay as long as it's only on homepage. I think I'll implement it as togglable or while user is holding on the prayer time table or row

will see how it goes when creating a new UI

[TorCzaf]

as togglable

Yes that is what I meant

will see how it goes when creating a new UI

Ok

[meypod]

what's your use case for seeing times this way though ?
do you think the big countdown counting negatively from previous prayer when you hold on it would be enough instead of this time format ?

[TorCzaf]

what's your use case for seeing times this way though ?

I will try to explain as best as I can :)

Countdown is a motivating thing
Seeing countdown for all prayers may make me feel more valuable about time (increasing awareness of time and its importance) to organize it or to prepare my things or see how much time I wasted so I can improve myself
*For example A person started to waste time since Fajr then the current time becomes 7PM, he wants to see how many hours have passed since he started wasting time from Fajr.

*Some people may use prayer times as something to organize their time...they try to finish their things before prayer time comes.
For example... studying
Current Prayer is Dhuhr and let's say there are 7 or 8 hours remaining for Isha, and a person plans to read 40 pages within 8 hours.

*Some people may use countdown as something to speed up their process while doing something (I mean they try to put more focus and to not let time outrun them once they realize that it starts to become short)

*Also it could be used to see how many hours left for the day to end
for example I guess there may be some people who consider that day Starts from Fajr and ends at Fajr of next day or from sunset to the next sunset
According to this Fatwa
https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/31343/%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%85-%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%87-%D9%8A%D8%AE%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%81-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AD%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87

*Some people may need to check things from Time to time
For Example person started to cook food since Asr and then time becomes 7PM  and he wants to see if the time that has passed since Asr is enough for the food to be checked or not

And maybe some people have other use cases...

do you think the big countdown counting negatively from previous prayer when you hold on it would be enough instead of this time format ?

I think it is better to add countdown format for those who may need it.
I mean why see countdown for previous prayer only and not for all the other previous prayers...there may be other use cases that we don't know.
The effect of awareness of countdown from previous prayer is not like the effect of awareness of every countdown.

It is also great to toggle between countdown format and the default format from time to time, I mean it is a good combination.

Note: I didn't understand when you said "when you hold on"

[TorCzaf]

I guess there may be some people who consider that day Starts from Fajr and ends at Fajr of next day or from sunset to the next sunset

Speaking of start and end of the day...
Do you know when does Hijri day start and when does it end?
Because I have seen an app that uses
"Change Hijri at Maghrib" button and I realized that in your app hijri date changes at 12:00 AM

App name: "Prayer Times and Qibla"
This is the same app that I got countdown format idea from by the way.

[meypod]

Overall I believe the use cases you talk about are not something to expect from a prayer time only app. there are many other apps that are much more suitable for those tasks:
Timers:
https://github.com/Razeeman/Android-SimpleTimeTracker
https://github.com/timer-machine/timer-machine-android
https://codeberg.org/pabloscloud/Overload
https://github.com/forrestguice/SuntimesWidget

Habit tracker and Todo:
https://github.com/iSoron/uhabits
https://github.com/FriesI23/mhabit
https://github.com/RayLeaf-Studios/PocketPlan

tbh, I think the only useful part of the countdown feature is knowing how much time is remaining till next prayer. all other countdowns seems useless to me (in context of this app).

Note: I didn't understand when you said "when you hold on"

I meant holding your finger on the countdown to switch it to "time since last prayer" instead of "time to next prayer"

Do you know when does Hijri day start and when does it end?

here are some links:
Shia:
https://www.al-islam.org/ask/can-you-confirm-when-the-muslim-day-begins-and-ends-does-it-begin-at-sunrise-ending-at-sunset-or-does-it-start-at-the-beginning-of-fajr-and-end-at-isha

Sunni:
https://islamqa.info/en/answers/164215/according-to-islamic-custom-the-night-belongs-to-the-day-that-follows-it

but implementing it sounds tricky, I don't think I will be implementing day change at maghrib

[TorCzaf]

Overall I believe the use cases you talk about are not something to expect from a prayer time only app. there are many other apps that are much more suitable for those tasks:

tbh, I think the only useful part of the countdown feature is knowing how much time is remaining till next prayer. all other countdowns seems useless to me (in context of this app).

I understand what you mean but maybe other people have other views than mine. Some could use countdown format for religious things or prayers I mean every body has his view that we may not know.. there may be some views that link between countdown format and prayers or the context of your app , You can add it just to cover all the possibilities/views that we don't know.

Like Monthly prayer timetable, some people may not see any benefit from it and others may see benefits.
It is nice that you added it by the way.

I don't think there will be any negativity if you add countdown format.
I think It is a simple feature.
You have PM-AM Format, 24 hour format, and you can add this third format to the list.
It looks attractive when your app has all types of time formats since your app is "prayer (time)" App.

I meant holding your finger on the countdown to switch it to "time since last prayer" instead of "time to next prayer"

I think Big main countdown for next prayer and countdown format for all prayers is a good combination.

[meypod]

I don't think there will be any negativity if you add countdown format.
You have PM-AM Format, 24 hour format, and you can add this third format to the list.

there is actually, and I have explained before
AM/PM and 24 hour format are static
but countdown format is dynamic, which requires setting up timers to update the times, wherever it is, every minute (this settings affects widgets, so it makes things consume significantly more battery)

that is why I have said:

but it's okay as long as it's only on homepage

and in the end, every feature takes time, even if it's simple (which countdown is not simple if it involves widgets btw)
so it being part of display settings is questionable and I won't consider it a time format for displaying time

but having this as a home screen feature, through tapping/holding/toggling by a switch somewhere, yeah maybe, but still I think this is useless. I see this as a low-priority feature, and will consider it after/during UI redo when I have time, after other major changes are finished

having as many features as possible is not always a good thing

[TorCzaf]

there is actually, and I have explained before
AM/PM and 24 hour format are static
but countdown format is dynamic, which requires setting up timers to update the times, wherever it is, every minute (this settings affects widgets, so it makes things consume significantly more battery)

I understand

and in the end, every feature takes time, even if it's simple

Of course every thing takes time, and it is okay if you consider it low priority...
And as I said before it is all up to you

and I won't consider it a time format for displaying time

No I didn't excatly mean to consider it as time format...Sorry for my English...I just don't know how to say it correctly...
When I say "format", I mean Another way to view time...And I know that countdown feature is dynamic I already realized this with the other app.
But I didn't know or understand that it consumes battery if it involves widget.

but having this as a home screen feature, through tapping/holding/toggling by a switch somewhere, yeah maybe

Yes that is exactly what I meant

having as many features as possible is not always a good thing

I just think it fits with your app since your app is "Prayer (Time)" app  :)

Anyways I understand what you mean...

[TorCzaf]

here are some links:
Shia:
https://www.al-islam.org/ask/can-you-confirm-when-the-muslim-day-begins-and-ends-does-it-begin-at-sunrise-ending-at-sunset-or-does-it-start-at-the-beginning-of-fajr-and-end-at-isha

Sunni:
https://islamqa.info/en/answers/164215/according-to-islamic-custom-the-night-belongs-to-the-day-that-follows-it

Then why when I check Hijri Date websites, I find Hijri day changes at 12:00 AM? And is it always like that? Or is it just this month?

[meypod]

Because time zones are not based on traditional Islamic way anymore
They are based on western 24 hour format