- Timers can be set to the second (2 minutes 30 seconds), alarms are only to the minute (5:00) (it already works this way, I think)

- A timer noise should be immediate and jarring (so you can rush out of the other room to pull the thing out of the oven before it burns), alarms should start quiet and harmonious and only gradually increase in volume and obnoxiousness as needed to wake you up (sadly, few alarms are like that, but Google timer/alarm sounds are different)

- Ideally you want to be able to give timers names when you set them ("oven", "stockpot", "toaster oven") when you're using multiple, that are repeated when they go off (Google doesn't do this). You don't need this with alarms

- Alarms need a snooze option. Timers don't

While they both involve a sonic alert after a certain amount of time, their use cases are so different that they really are totally separate features.

They have speaker groups (that work well), but if you have two+ Google Home/Hub/Mini devices in a single space asking for a timer will add it randomly to one of the devices, not the room or a group, and it won't always display on the Hub.

For example I have an open-plan kitchen, two Google Home Max speakers, and a Hub (display) on the counter. If I ask for a timer, it MIGHT go to the Hub or it MIGHT go to either of the two Home Max speakers.

Cancelling it involves figuring out which device took it, and standing close to it (or it just won't cancel). This is a really obvious and strange oversight, as Google Home's ecosystem supports "rooms" by default.

The truly saavy version would have calculated the time left until 7pm and set a timer for that many minutes, however.

Siri: Calling Emergency Services

Me: frantic swiping to cancel