Hi, I play APA 8 and 9-ball. Our league (Suffolk County, New York) has a 20 second shot clock. That said, NO one goes by the rule. Had one of my guys called out for playing slow by the other team captain one night. Bought a digital timer and got major attitude from everyone every time I've tried to use it. Mostly don't bother but there are some low (and high) level players that take over a minute for every shot. Makes for VERY late nights.
I personally think 30 seconds is enough time for regular shots, a minute for tough safety positions.
Also, our timeouts are only supposed to be a minute but often go a lot longer.
Kevin