Cold Plunge: Ice Bath Timer
Cold Plunge: Ice Bath Timer — A timer, a log and a streak for your cold practice
Cold Plunge is a free timer and session log for the cold-exposure practice you already do, or want to start — a tub, an ice bath, a chest freezer, a cold shower, or a lake with no signal. Time the dip, log the temperature and how it felt in seconds, and watch a streak build instead of relying on memory or motivation.
- Price
- Free, Pro upgrade
- Platforms
- iOS and Android
- Age rating
- 4+
- Account
- Not needed, works offline
- Requires
- iOS 15.1 or later
Consistency beats intensity.
A single brutal plunge proves little. What a cold-exposure practice actually rewards is showing up again — the same habit, logged and repeated, with a ladder that starts warm and short instead of a number you forced once and never managed again.
What it is
Cold Plunge: Ice Bath Timer is a free iOS and Android app for timing and logging a cold-exposure practice — cold shower, ice bath or tub, open water, or cryo. A count-up or count-down timer runs the dip with audio, haptic or vibration cues, a fast log records water temperature, duration, method and a 1-5 feel rating, and a streak with milestone badges tracks the habit over time. It works fully offline with no account required, and it is a practice tracker, not medical advice.
Cold exposure carries real risks, including cold shock, cardiac stress and hypothermia. Read the safety guidance before your first plunge — see Safety and limits.
Inside the app
What it looks like
Background
What should you know before you start cold plunging?
Cold-water immersion covers a wide range of practices, from a cold shower finish to an ice bath held near freezing, and the honest research picture is still limited and mixed on most claimed benefits. What is well established is the risk side: sudden cold immersion triggers the cold shock response — an involuntary gasp and rapid breathing — and raises heart rate and blood pressure, which is why beginners are consistently told to start warm, go short, and progress slowly rather than chase a cold number.
How cold is a cold plungeranges, not a rule
There is no single required temperature. Structured ladders commonly start in the 14-20°C (57-68°F) range for beginners and progress toward 8-12°C (46-54°F) for more conditioned practice. Colder is not automatically better, and a tub, a lake and a chest freezer can all land in very different places on that range.
How long to stay inseconds, building to minutes
Beginner protocols typically hold 30 to 60 seconds and build toward one to two and a half minutes over several weeks, with deload weeks that ease the target back down rather than always pushing colder or longer. Time in water matters less than getting out the moment you feel dizzy, numb or short of breath.
How often to plungemost structured ladders
Published beginner ladders generally call for three to five short sessions a week rather than one long one. Frequency is also what a streak is built to reward: a habit measured in dips per week tends to be more sustainable than an occasional extreme session.
Cold plunge versus cold showersame idea, different intensity
A cold shower is a milder, more accessible version of the same cold-exposure idea as a plunge or ice bath, and it is the usual entry point for a contrast-shower ramp. The underlying response — cold shock, elevated heart rate, the urge to control your breathing — is the same mechanism at a gentler dose.
Rewarming afterwardafterdrop
Core temperature can keep falling for a while after you get out of the water, a phenomenon generally called afterdrop. The minutes right after a plunge — drying off, moving gently, deciding whether to take a hot shower or rewarm gradually — are treated as part of the practice rather than an afterthought.
How it works
How the app is used
The habit is two taps: start the timer before you get in, log the session the moment you get out. Everything else — the streak, the ladder, the trends — is built from those entries.
Time the dip
Run a count-up or count-down timer with audio, haptic or vibration cues, so you are not watching the screen through shivers or steam. Safety reminders stay on screen while it runs, including a prompt to get out if you feel dizzy, numb or short of breath.
Log it in seconds
Record water temperature, duration and a simple 1-5 feel rating, pick the method — cold shower, ice bath or tub, open water, or cryo — and tag a sauna or breathwork round done in the same session. Entries are unlimited and stay on your device.
Follow or generate a ladder
Start on one of two free starter protocols, a contrast-shower ramp and a standard plunge, each planned week by week and leading warm and short. Pro adds the AI protocol generator, which builds a conservative temperature-and-duration plan from your answers and re-cuts it from your own recent logs.
What's inside
What the app tracks
2
Count-up and count-down timer
Audio, haptic or vibration cues mean you never have to watch the screen, with a big display readable through shivers or steam and on-screen safety reminders while it runs.
8
Protocol library
Two free starter ladders (contrast shower, standard plunge) plus six Pro protocols — tolerance block, morning alertness, post-workout, breath-then-dip, sauna-and-ice, and an advanced ice block — each planned week by week with a built-in deload.
AI
AI protocol generator
Answer a few questions about your setup and tolerance to get a conservative temperature-and-duration plan, which re-progresses from your own logged dips. Part of Pro; you can decline and keep using the timer, log and starter protocols without it.
20m
Rewarm log
A clock for the 20 minutes after you get out, where you can mark when shivering stopped, how warm you feel, and whether you moved around or took a hot shower — and see your own typical rewarm time.
Ice
Ice calculator
Enter your tub volume, the water's current temperature and your target to get the kilograms or pounds of ice to add. It is arithmetic based on what you enter, not a recommendation about what temperature to choose.
🔥
Streak and milestones
Current and longest streak, running totals for dips and cold-minutes, and milestone badges — first plunge, 3, 7, 14 and 30-day streaks, 10, 50 and 100 dips, and 60 cold-minutes.
Fit
Who it's for — and who it isn't
A good fit if you
- Already take cold showers or plunges and want a record instead of relying on memory
- Want a beginner ladder that starts warm and short rather than a cold number to chase
- Plunge somewhere with no signal — a tub, a chest freezer, or a lake — and need it to work offline
- Want the minutes after the plunge tracked too, not just the dip itself
- Are choosing between a cold shower and a plunge and want to log either one the same way
Not the right tool if you
- Have a heart condition, high or low blood pressure, are pregnant, or have Raynaud's or a circulatory condition and have not yet spoken with a doctor
- Want the app to diagnose, treat or promise a health outcome — it only logs what you did
- Plan to plunge alone in open water; this app's own safety guidance advises against that
- Want every protocol and full trend history for free — six of eight protocols and the full insights history are Pro
Safety and limits
Read this before your first plunge
Cold exposure carries real health risks, including the cold shock response, cardiac stress and hypothermia. Cold Plunge: Ice Bath Timer is a practice-tracking tool. It does not diagnose, treat or promise any health outcome, and nothing in the app is medical advice.
Sudden cold immersion triggers an involuntary gasp and rapid breathing — enter slowly and control your breath. Cold immersion also raises heart rate and blood pressure, so talk to a doctor before starting if you have a heart condition, high or low blood pressure, are pregnant, have Raynaud's, or have any circulatory or respiratory condition.
Never plunge alone in open water. The gasp reflex and cold incapacitation are real drowning risks in a lake, river or the sea, and the app's own onboarding asks you to acknowledge this before you log an open-water dip. Start warm, keep early sessions short, progress gradually, and get out immediately if you feel dizzy, numb, uncoordinated or short of breath. Warm up gradually afterward rather than rushing straight into a hot shower every time.
Privacy
What leaves your device
Your sessions, protocols and settings are stored on your device by default and the app works fully offline with no account. The optional AI protocol generator sends only your intake answers or a short summary of recent dips — never your notes, name, email or full session log — to generate or adjust a plan, and you can decline it and keep using the timer, log and starter protocols without it.
Full details are in the CoddyKit privacy policy.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What's a good app for tracking cold plunges or ice baths?
A cold-exposure tracker should time the dip without needing you to watch the screen, log temperature and duration in seconds so the habit stays easy, and start beginners on a ladder that is warm and short rather than a number to chase. Cold Plunge: Ice Bath Timer does this with a cued timer, a fast log covering method, temperature, duration and feel, a streak with milestone badges, and two free starter protocols. It works fully offline with no account, and is free on iOS and Android.
How cold should a cold plunge be?
There is no single correct temperature. Structured beginner ladders commonly start around 14-20°C (57-68°F) and progress toward 8-12°C (46-54°F) for more conditioned practice, but a tub, an outdoor chest freezer and a winter lake can all land in very different places. Colder is not automatically better or safer — the starting point that matters most is your own tolerance and any medical conditions a doctor should weigh in on first.
How long should you stay in a cold plunge?
Beginner protocols typically hold 30 to 60 seconds and build toward one to two and a half minutes over several weeks, with lighter deload weeks built in rather than only ever going colder or longer. Duration matters less than reading your own body: get out right away if you feel dizzy, numb, uncoordinated or short of breath, regardless of what the clock says.
How often should you cold plunge?
Most structured beginner ladders call for three to five short sessions a week rather than one long or extreme one. Cold Plunge's own starter protocols follow that pattern — a contrast-shower ramp runs four to five sessions a week, a standard plunge ladder three to four — and a streak is built around the same idea: frequency and consistency, not a single dramatic session, are what the practice rewards.
Is a cold shower as good as a cold plunge?
A cold shower is a milder version of the same cold-exposure idea, and it is the common starting point before a tub or ice bath — Cold Plunge's own beginner ladder is a contrast-shower ramp for exactly that reason. The cold shock response, the elevated heart rate, and the need to control your breathing are the same mechanism at a gentler dose. The app logs a cold shower as its own method, alongside tub, open water and cryo.
Why do I feel cold again after I get out of the water?
Core temperature can keep dropping for a while after you exit cold water, an effect generally called afterdrop, which is why the minutes right after a plunge matter. Cold Plunge includes an optional 20-minute rewarm log where you can mark when shivering stopped, how warm you feel, and whether you moved around or took a hot shower, and it shows your own typical rewarm time to compare against.
Is Cold Plunge: Ice Bath Timer free?
Yes. The timer, unlimited session log, streak and milestone badges, two starter protocols, the rewarm log and the ice calculator are free and work fully offline with no account. Pro is an optional subscription that adds the AI protocol generator, the full eight-protocol library, extended progression insights and data export.
What does the AI protocol generator do?
It asks a few questions about your setup and current tolerance, then builds a conservative temperature-and-duration ladder from your answers, adjusting the next week based on your own logged dips rather than a fixed schedule. It is part of the Pro upgrade, and only your intake answers or a short summary of recent sessions are sent to generate it — your notes, name and email are never included. You can decline it and keep using the timer and starter protocols without it.
Can I use the app for an open-water or lake plunge?
Yes, open water is one of the logged methods alongside cold shower, ice bath or tub, and cryo. The app also treats open water as its highest-risk setup: it asks you to read specific safety guidance before logging or planning one, and its own guidance is never to plunge alone in open water because the gasp reflex and cold incapacitation are real drowning risks there.
Does the app require an internet connection?
No. The timer, session log, streak, starter protocols, rewarm log and ice calculator all work fully offline with no account needed, which matters for a tub, a chest freezer, or a lake with no signal. Only the optional AI protocol generator needs a connection to send your intake answers to build a plan; everything else keeps working without it.
Get started
Time the dip. Build the streak.
Free on iOS and Android, fully offline, with no account needed.
More from CoddyKit
Not a medical device. Does not diagnose or treat any condition.