Mobster

"Mob Programming" is a relatively new concept represented by a fairly interesting (at least in theory) software development style where two or more team members work on the same project, at the same time, sharing the same space and even the same computer.

If you want to give "mobbing" a try and see if this extreme real-time collaboration method works for you and your team, you will need to use an efficient timer.

With a very appropriate name, Mobster is a cross-platform, Electron-based mob programming timer that, as you can imagine, makes it possible for you to correctly time and split your mobbing sessions.

You will find the installation process to be very straightforward, thanks to Mobster's typical installer. The same thing can be said about the user interface. Please note that the app's main menu only works in full-screen mode. You can, however, catch a glimpse of your desktop activity by hovering with the cursor over the mobster shaped icon from the upper left side, but you can't actually interact with anything unless you either quit the app or start the timing session.

Having said that, you can start off by choosing a time value and continue by typing in the daily programming experiment's name. Add the mobsters and fire up the timer by hitting the "Start Mobbing" button, which is, by all accounts, quite massive.

Once the timer is set, the app's main interface disappears and paves the way for a small timer that automatically positions itself on one of the lower corners of your screens. The timer also displays the programmer that is currently coding and the follow-up.

Once the time is up, the team members can now switch place on the computer and start a new countdown session by clicking the "Continue" button. The application provides you with the possibility to mark a programmer as not being present, in which case it can resume its turn later, or to skip the turn altogether.

To conclude, if are currently into "mobbing," then instead of using a typical timer or one from your mobile device, you should definitely give Mobster a quick try-out. The app is easy to install, even easier to configure and best of all, it works exactly as it should without ever getting in your way.