Screen Soft Light / Timekeeping / FLIP CLOCK

No. 001 · FLIP CLOCK

Flip clock — big flip-card digits for a desk or wall

  • 01 Flip-card digits with a smooth flip
  • 02 12 or 24 hour, with seconds and date
  • 03 Six colour themes and a dim slider

A flip clock that fills the screen: soft cards with the hour and minute on them, each digit folding over when it changes. Choose 12 or 24 hour time, add seconds and the date, pick a colour and dim it for the evening, then go fullscreen on a monitor, tablet or TV.

Clocks and screensavers —
Night clockBlack screen with clockDVD screensaverLED bannerWhite noisePink noiseBrown noise
§ 01

How the flip works

Each digit is a card split across the middle. When a number changes, the top half of the old digit folds down out of sight while the bottom half of the new one unfolds into place, the way a split-flap desk clock does. The digits only change when the time does, so with seconds off there is one flip a minute and the screen is still the rest of the time.

§ 02

If your device is set to reduce motion, the cards swap digits with no animation at all.

Reduced motion and quiet screens

If your device is set to reduce motion, the cards swap digits with no animation at all. There is no sound, so no tick or clack. A clock that sits still most of the time is also kind to a screen left on overnight, and the Dim slider lowers the whole display below what the device brightness allows.

§ 03

Colour themes and dim levels

Ember is about 2700K amber on near-black, Candle is deeper and closer to 1900K, Mono and Daylight move toward white and blue-white, Night red uses dim red digits on pure black, and Paper reverses everything with dark ink on cream. Dim runs from full strength down to about a tenth, with finer steps at the dark end.

§ 04

A flip clock as a screensaver

Left fullscreen with Keep screen on ticked, the page works as a screensaver for a spare monitor, a kitchen tablet or a TV. The time comes from the device clock, so it matches your phone, including daylight saving changes. For plain digits on black, see the black screen with clock; for a moving display, the DVD screensaver.

Procedure

Three moves to peak output

  1. 01

    Pick the look

    Ember and Candle are warm amber for a dim room, Mono and Daylight are neutral and cool, Night red is the gentlest at bedtime and Paper is dark ink on cream for a bright room.

  2. 02

    Set the format and dim it

    Use 12h or 24h, and tick Seconds or Date if you want them. Drag Dim down to take the cards to a faint glow after dark.

  3. 03

    Go fullscreen

    Press Fullscreen (or F, or double-click the clock). The controls and cursor hide after a few idle seconds; move the mouse or tap to bring them back.

Inquiries

Questions worth asking

Q.01 Can I show seconds?
Yes. Tick Seconds and a third pair of cards appears, with a flip every second. The cards get smaller to fit, so leave it off if you want the biggest digits.
Q.02 Why does the AM or PM label sit to the side?
It is small on purpose, so the hour and minute stay as large as they can. In 24h format the label disappears.
Q.03 Can I use it as a screensaver on my computer?
It runs in the browser, so open it fullscreen and leave the tab in front. Keep screen on asks the browser to stop the display sleeping while the page is open. It does not replace the operating system's own screensaver setting.
Q.04 Where does the time come from?
From the clock of the device the page is open on, read again every second. Phones and computers set that clock from the network, so it should match your phone's lock screen. The page does not count seconds itself, so it cannot drift away from the real time.
Q.05 Will the screen stay on?
While Keep screen on is ticked, the page asks the browser to hold the display awake. Chrome, Edge and recent Safari support this. On a browser that does not, turn off auto-lock or the screen saver in the device settings. Untick the box if you want the device to sleep on its normal schedule.
Q.06 Does it work offline?
Once the page has loaded it needs no connection to keep showing the time. Nothing is streamed and nothing is sent anywhere while the clock runs.
Cross-reference

Try adjacent plates