Internet Time, anchored to UTC — the same @beat for everyone, everywhere.
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In a world of millisecond-precision chaos, we chose beautiful simplicity. One day, 1000 beats. No timezones. No AM/PM. No 'whose time is it?'
Put @beat to work
Timestamp files & photos
One @beat, one hash — a public certificate anyone can read and verify by QR.
Timestamp a file — freeOne global drop
Release music, posts or livestreams in a single @beat — your whole audience at once.
Embed the live clockConvert
How it works
1000 beats a day
The day is split into 1000 .beats — 1 beat = 86.4 seconds. Midnight UTC is @000, noon is @500.
No timezones
@523 means @523 for everyone on Earth. No conversions, no '2pm your time or mine?'.
Anchored to UTC
BeatTime is a clean transformation of UTC — our servers stay tightly synced, so the beat you read is the beat that is real.
Open API
Read the current beat, convert any instant, or sync your own clock. See the docs →
Proof of existence
Timestamp any file with @beat — free, public, verifiable. See proof →
Sealed capsules
The mirror of proof: seal something that cannot be read until a chosen @beat — not even by us. Sealed in your browser, opened by keys no single party holds. Seal a capsule →
The Beat
Once a day, one moment for the whole planet — drawn provably from our sealed weekly root. Only possible in .beat. In the app →
On your watch
A real Wear OS watch face — a separate app on the watch itself, with 13 styles. See the apps →
Beat handshake
Met someone? Two phones co-sign one @beat with device keys — the moment lands in the public proof log. In the app →
Nobody holds the key alone
A sealed capsule is locked by independent parties at once. The shares that open it only come into existence at the @beat you choose — so nobody can open it early, not even us.
drand · League of Entropy
A public threshold network run by independent organisations, including Cloudflare, Protocol Labs and EPFL. It signs a new round every 3 seconds; the signature that unlocks your capsule does not exist until your moment.
beat-key · BeatTime
Our own key server releases its share only after the moment has passed. It is open source (Apache-2.0), with reproducible builds and signed releases — anyone can rebuild it and compare.
An independent operator
A second key server run by another company, on another hosting provider, in another country. Two shares never share an owner or a provider.
Your recovery code
Stays with you. It stands in for one key holder if an operator ever disappears — it never opens a capsule early.
Live right now: drand quicknetbeattimebeatkey-konveria
Seal a capsule Capsule format Operator registry beat-key source code
Where @beat comes from
BeatTime is a modern take on Swatch Internet Time — the 1998 idea (with MIT Media Lab's Nicolas Negroponte) that split the day into 1000 .beats for one global time, with no timezones. We kept the elegance and fixed the catch: BeatTime is anchored to UTC (not Biel Mean Time, UTC+1), open, and free, with a public API.
In a world of millisecond-precision chaos, we chose beautiful simplicity. @523 — no timezones, no confusion.
Swatch is a trademark of its owner. BeatTime is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Swatch.
Support BeatTime
BeatTime is free – no ads, no tracking, no account. If it is useful to you, you can leave a voluntary tip. Nothing is unlocked and nothing is held back.
FAQ
What is BeatTime?
BeatTime is a universal time format that splits the day into 1000 .beats (1 beat = 86.4 seconds), anchored to UTC. @523 is the same moment for everyone on Earth — no timezones.
How do I read .beat time?
Time runs from @000 (midnight UTC) to @999. Noon UTC is @500. Optional centibeats add two decimals, e.g. @523.45.
Is BeatTime the same as Swatch Internet Time?
It is built on the same 1998 idea (1000 beats a day), but anchored to UTC instead of Biel Mean Time (UTC+1), and it is open with a free public API.
Does BeatTime use timezones?
No. @beat is one number for the whole planet, so there is no whose-time-is-it confusion for remote teams.
Is there a free API?
Yes — a public, read-only REST API to get the current beat, convert any instant, or sync your clock. See the developer docs at beattime.live/docs.
Is there an app?
Yes — an Android app with 13 home-screen widget faces, a cover-screen clock for flip phones, photo and file stamping and a built-in converter, plus a separate Wear OS watch face. The clock works offline.
Is the proof of existence really free?
Yes. Your file is hashed in your browser — only its SHA-256 reaches our server. Each week all hashes form one Merkle root, signed with Ed25519 and anchored in Bitcoin (OpenTimestamps) and a bank record. You get a PDF certificate with a QR code.
Can anyone open a sealed capsule early?
No — not even us. Any two of three parts open it: a drand network signature, an independent key server's share and your recovery code. The first two only come into existence at the @beat you choose.