How to Set Up a Stage Timer on an iPad, TV or Laptop

Stage & venue setup10 min readUpdated October 16, 2026

Any device with a modern browser can act as a stage timer display, but the browser is the easy part. What goes wrong on the day is the screen going to sleep twenty minutes in, a notification sliding over the digits, venue Wi-Fi collapsing when the room fills, or a tablet that slides off the lectern. Set each of those up deliberately and test them with the room full, and a laptop, iPad or TV works well.

Choosing the device

Device	Good for	Watch out for
Laptop connected to a TV or monitor by HDMI	Floor monitors and back-of-room screens; the most predictable option	Cable runs, the laptop's own sleep settings, laptop lid closing
Tablet (iPad or Android)	Lecterns, small rooms, quick setups	Auto-lock, notifications, battery, keeping it in place
Smart TV's built-in browser	Fixed screens where you can't run a cable	Browsers vary widely between makes and models; some are slow or don't go full screen
Phone	Backup display, or a moderator's personal view	Too small for anything but very close reading

If you have the choice, a laptop driving a TV by HDMI is the most dependable. Smart TV browsers are the least predictable, so if you plan to use one, test that exact TV with your exact timer well before the event.

Wireless screen mirroring (casting a laptop or tablet to a TV) adds another link that can drop or lag. Use it only if you have tested it in the venue, and prefer opening the timer directly on the display device or using a cable.

The network

A browser-based timer needs a connection the whole time, so the network is your biggest risk.

Ask the venue whether you can have a wired connection at the control position and at fixed screens, or a separate Wi-Fi network for production that the audience can't join.
Test at the busiest moment, not during setup. Venue Wi-Fi that is fine in an empty room can struggle when hundreds of phones arrive.
Have a fallback, such as a phone hotspot, and know in advance which devices you would move onto it.
Keep display devices off guest or captive-portal networks that log you out after a set time.

Getting a clean full-screen view

On a computer, put the browser in full-screen mode so the address bar and tabs disappear. In Google Chrome, the shortcut is F11 on Windows and Linux, or Fn + F on a Mac; press it again or hold Esc to exit. Some timer pages also have their own full-screen control.

On a tablet, how full screen works depends on the browser and the page, so test it. On an iPad, you can also lock the device to that one app so a stray tap can't close it (see Guided Access below).

Then, on every device:

Turn off notifications or turn on a do-not-disturb mode, so messages, calendar alerts and update prompts don't cover the clock.
Close other apps and tabs, especially anything that plays sound.

Stopping the screen from sleeping

This is the setting most often missed, because the screen stays on during setup while you are touching it and then turns off mid-talk.

iPad. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock and choose the longest time interval it offers (Apple's iPad guide). Apple's energy statement for iPad notes that iPad is set to lock after two minutes of inactivity by default. Apple also warns that delaying Auto-Lock may increase power consumption, so keep it on charge.

iPad, locked to one app. Guided Access keeps the iPad in a single app and can disable touch. Turn it on in Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access, open your timer in the browser, then triple-click the top button (or the Home button on an older iPad that has one) and tap Start, as described in Apple's Guided Access guide. Guided Access has its own Display Auto-Lock option for the session, so check that one too.

Windows 11 laptop. Go to Start > Settings > System > Power & battery > Screen, sleep, & hibernate timeouts, and set "Turn my screen off after" and "Make my device sleep after" to a longer time while plugged in (Microsoft Support).

Mac. Open the Apple menu > System Settings > Lock Screen and set "Turn display off on power adapter when inactive" to a longer time (Apple Mac User Guide). Apple describes this as the idle time before the screen saver starts, so check your Screen Saver settings too. Keep the laptop plugged in and the lid open.

Android tablet or phone. Look in the Display settings for a screen timeout option and set it to the longest value. The exact name and location vary by manufacturer.

Smart TV. Check the TV's power, energy-saving or eco settings for anything that turns the screen off automatically, and disable it for the event. Menus differ by make.

Making sure the device clock is right

Turn on automatic date and time on every display device: on iPad it's Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically (Apple Support). Some web timers count down using each device's own clock, so one device set a few seconds wrong shows a different countdown from the rest. The steps for other devices, and why this happens, are in keeping stage screens in sync.

Cables, power and mounting

Power everything from mains, not battery, for the length of the event, and from a circuit that won't be switched off with stage lighting.
Tape cables down and route them away from where speakers walk. A speaker who trips on a floor-monitor cable will remember it longer than the talk.
Fix tablets in place. A tablet stand or a clamp for a mic stand works on a lectern; on a floor, use a wedge or stand that angles it up at the speaker. Gaffer tape on the base stops it sliding.
Angle against glare. Tilt screens so stage and overhead lights don't reflect straight into the speaker's eyes.
Set brightness from the stage, under show lighting. Too bright in a dark room spills light; too dim in a bright room washes out.

Where each screen should go is covered in confidence monitor vs podium timer.

Opening StageClock's displays

StageClock runs in the browser, so the steps above apply to it. It doesn't publish a list of tested devices; any modern browser should work, but test your own iPad, TV or laptop before the event.

On the producer's computer, open the event's Control Panel and use the "Views" dropdown to open the Stage Display or the Speaker Monitor in a new tab. The Dashboard also has a per-event "Display" button, but the Views dropdown is the sure way to choose between the two pages.
Copy that page's address and open it on the display device. These pages don't need a login, which also means anyone with the link can open them.
On the Stage Display, double-click to toggle full screen. On touch screens, check whether this works in your browser; if not, use the browser's own full-screen option.
Put the Stage Display on the floor monitor or back-of-room screen and the Speaker Monitor on the lectern device, since operator messages appear only on the Speaker Monitor.
If a display shows a "Reconnecting…" badge, it has lost its connection and will keep trying. Check that device's network.

Pre-show test list

Run this with the actual devices, in the actual positions, at least an hour before doors.

Repeat the side-by-side and reconnect checks once the room is full, if you can do it without anyone noticing.

For what a stage clock does and the different types, see the stage clock guide. If you also need the timer in a livestream, adding a timer or clock to OBS covers the browser-source route.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use an old tablet as a stage timer?

Often, yes, as long as it runs a reasonably current browser. Very old tablets may not get browser updates any more, and some modern web pages won't load or will run slowly on them. Try the exact timer page on the exact tablet, leave it running for an hour, and watch for freezing or the screen going dark.

Can the same laptop run the slides and the timer?

It can, with the timer on one screen output and the slides on another, but it ties two critical jobs to one machine and one person's clicks. A presentation app taking over a display, or a speaker's laptop swap, can knock the timer off screen. If you can, give the timer its own device.

Key takeaways

A laptop driving a TV by HDMI is the most predictable display; smart TV browsers are the least.
Treat the network as the main risk: ask for wired or a production network, test with the room full, and have a hotspot ready.
Turn off auto-lock and sleep, notifications and stray apps on every display, and keep devices on mains power.
Turn on automatic time on every device, because some web timers count down using the device's clock.
Run the pre-show test list with real devices in real positions, including a long idle test and a reconnect test.