How to create a countdown timer in Bubble.io: Step-by-Step Guide

 

On your Bubble.io page editor, insert a Text element where you want the countdown timer to be displayed.

 

Create custom states for your countdown timer. These states will hold the values for your timer, such as the remaining time.

• Go to the page or group in the elements tree where you want to add the custom state.
• Click on the 'i' (information) icon.
• In the property editor, under the 'Appearance' tab, click on the 'States' section.
• Click 'Add a new custom state'.
• Name your state something like "TimeLeft" and set the type to "number".

 

You will need to initialize the countdown timer using workflows to set the starting time of the countdown.

• Go to the Workflow editor.
• Add a new event (for example, 'When the page is loaded', 'When a button is clicked', etc.) to initiate the countdown.
• Add an action to set the state you created earlier to your desired countdown length in seconds.

 

Create a workflow to update the countdown every second.

• In the Workflow editor, add an event called 'Do every 5 seconds' (with the number of seconds set to 1 for a countdown that updates every second).
• Within this workflow, use the 'Element Actions > Set state' action to decrease the "TimeLeft" custom state by 1 (representing one second).

 

Configure the Text element to display the remaining time.

• Click on the Text element on your page.
• In the dynamic data dialog, insert the custom state "TimeLeft" so the element shows the remaining time.
• To format the time, you might use a combination of Bubble’s formatting functions like format as... to display the time in minutes and seconds.

 

Create a workflow that triggers when your countdown reaches zero.

• Add a 'When a condition is true' workflow and set the condition to when the "TimeLeft" state is 0 or less.
• Inside this workflow, you can add actions to stop the countdown, such as hiding the Text element or showing an alert that the countdown is over. You may need to reset the "TimeLeft" state or add other actions as appropriate for your app.

Remember to consider user experience and app performance: continually running workflows, especially on complex apps, can impact performance negatively as mentioned in the document. Always test your countdown timer to ensure it operates smoothly without slowing down your app. With these steps, you should be able to implement a functional and visually engaging countdown timer into your Bubble.io app.