Guides

Answers to the questions that come up when you time things, checked against official sources.

• Why online timers run late in a background tab

  Why a web timer can ring up to a minute late in another tab or stop when a phone screen turns off, explained from Chrome's documentation, and how to avoid it.

• Daylight saving time 2026–2027: when clocks change and how time differences shift

  When clocks change in 2026 and 2027 in the US, UK, EU, Australia and New Zealand, how the gaps between cities shift for a few weeks, and who stopped changing.

• Lap time vs split time on a stopwatch

  Lap time is how long one lap took; split time is the total from the start to that point. How to read the same laps both ways and spot your fastest lap.