clockbee

Turn an old tablet into a wall clock

An old iPad or Android tablet makes a great wall or desk clock. clockbee runs in the browser, keeps the screen on, and can be added to the home screen so it opens full screen like an app.

1. Pick your clock

Open clockbee.app/clocks on the tablet and choose a style. For a bedroom, try a night clock; for a kitchen or office, a big desk clock or a flip clock. Set 12 or 24 hour time, the date and a message if you want one, then press Start.

2. Add it to the home screen

iPad and iPhone

  1. With the clock running, tap the Share button in Safari.
  2. Tap "Add to Home Screen", then Add.
  3. Open clockbee from the new icon. It opens without the browser bars and remembers your clock.

Android

  1. With the clock running, open Chrome's menu (three dots).
  2. Tap "Add to Home screen" or "Install app".
  3. Open it from the new icon, then press Full screen.

3. Keep the screen on

clockbee asks the tablet to keep the screen awake while the clock is open. On newer devices that just works. On older iPads and some Android tablets, tap the screen once after the clock opens.

If the screen still turns off, change the tablet's own setting:

  • iPad: Settings, Display & Brightness, Auto-Lock, Never.
  • Android: Settings, Display, Screen timeout, the longest option. Some tablets also have "Stay awake while charging" in Developer options.

4. Lock it to clockbee (optional)

On an iPad, Guided Access (Settings, Accessibility, Guided Access) keeps the tablet on one app, so nobody can swipe away the clock. Android has a similar feature called App pinning, under Security settings.

5. Power and placement

  • Keep the tablet plugged in. Many tablets last longer if you limit charging to 80% when that setting is available.
  • Lower the brightness and pick a dark style at night. Dark styles also use less power on OLED screens.
  • A cheap tablet stand, a picture ledge or adhesive wall mount works well. Leave space around it so it doesn't get warm.

Which old tablets work?

clockbee is built for iPads on iOS 12 or newer (that includes the iPad Air and iPad mini 2 and later) and Android tablets with a recent version of Chrome. Very old devices that can't update their browser may not run it.