Trackers

The estimate shows the time the workday is expected to end. It compares the current workday’s total tracked time against the workday’s length and calculates at what time the workday would complete if the remaining time was started now and worked without breaks.

The estimate can be inaccurate during the first part of the workday if the remaining workday will include any breaks which are not part of the tracked work time.

Clicking the + button on iOS and iPadOS creates a new tracker. On macOS this action is included in the main window’s toolbar. On macOS one can also control-click on an empty area in the main trackers list and select Create a Tracker from the context-menu. All new trackers are named simply “Tracker”.

A tracker can be renamed by clicking or tapping its name. The action is also available in the menu which opens by tapping the tracker on iOS or iPadOS, or by control-clicking the tracker on macOS. If the Archive is enabled, on iOS and iPadOS the renaming view will provide suggestions from earlier trackers.

A tracker’s total can be adjusted by swiping it to the right and tapping or clicking the adjustment button. The adjustment view can alternatively be accessed by tapping or control-clicking the tracker and selecting the Adjust Total option from the menu.

The adjustment view allows for adjusting the hours, minutes and seconds separately. The view also includes quick adjustments for adding or removing 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes. The amount of adjustment is also shown and the adjustment can be reverted.

A tracker can be marked active or inactive via the swipe actions or the tracker menu. Inactive trackers are shown in a dimmer color and they can’t be started again. Marking a tracker as inactive can be helpful when no more work is needed for that task anymore during the current workday. The amount of times a tracker can be toggled inactive/active is not limited.

When a tracker becomes unneeded, it can be discarded. Discarded trackers are still connected to the current workday, but they are no longer shown in the main list of trackers and they are not included in the workday’s total. This action is available by swiping the tracker to the left. A tracker can also be discarded via the context-menu by tapping or control-clicking on a tracker. Discarded trackers are visible in the Workday Details view.

When a tracker is distributed, its total is evenly divided into the remaining active trackers and the tracker itself is removed from the main list of trackers. A tracker can’t be distributed if there are no other trackers which are active. Distributed trackers are visible in the Workday Details view.

The details view can be accessed through the swipe actions or via the tracker’s context menu. This view shows details such as the tracker’s creation time, when it was first started and when it was last stopped. The view also provides access to the Activity History of the tracker.

A note and a link can be added to a tracker from the details view.

A tracker can be rounded to nearest 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. Rounding can be found from the tracker context menu by tapping on the tracker on iOS and iPadOS or by control-clicking the tracker on macOS.

Trackers can be rearranged in the main list by moving them. On iOS and iPadOS a tracker can be moved by long-pressing the tracker and dragging it to a new position. On macOS a tracker can be repositioned by control-clicking it and selecting an option from the Move menu.

The Workday Details view displays information collected from the workday’s trackers compared to the length of the workday. Often every workday has the same length (commonly 6, 7.5 or 8 hours), but a schedule can also be configured when workdays during the week differ in length. On iOS and iPadOS the workday length can be configured from Menu > Settings > Workday > Workday Length. On macOS the setting is found from the Workday tab in Settings.

The view can be accessed on iOS and iPadOS from Menu > Workday Details. On macOS the view can be opened via the button in the overview toolbar, from the menu bar window’s menu Trackers > Workday Details, from the menu item Window > Workday Details or via keyboard shortcut CMD + 2

The Workday Details view displays the date of the workday, the time it was started and ended, the amount of trackers and the total tracked time. Tapping or clicking the total tracked time switches the shown time amounts into percentages. Additional details are shown when the total tracked time is compared to the workday’s length. These include remaining time, amount of overtime and amount of breaks during the workday.

The view lists the workday’s trackers, separated in three categories: trackers, discarded trackers, distributed trackers. Tapping or clicking on a tracker shows the details for the tracker.

Current workday’s active trackers can be rounded to the nearest 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. On iOS or iPadOS select Menu > Rounding. On macOS select Trackers > Round Active Trackers or File > Round Active Trackers.

Once a workday is completed a new workday can be started from Menu > Start a New Day > New Day on iOS and iPadOS or from Trackers > Start a New Day > New Day on macOS. This action will archive the current workday if the Archive is enabled and will prepare the new workday. If Daily Trackers are enabled, they will automatically be added, otherwise the new workday contains just a single initial tracker.

Note that the actual recorded starting time of the workday will be the time when the first tracker is started. A new workday itself can be created at any time, for example at the end of the previous workday.

If trackers for the new workday have already been created but the old trackers are also still visible, see the section on selectively archiving trackers.

Whenever the same trackers are needed for the next workday as well, a new workday can be started by reusing the existing trackers. On iOS and iPadOS select Menu > Start a New Day > Same Trackers and on macOS select Trackers > Start a New Day > With Current Trackers. This action will archive the current workday if the Archive is enabled and will prepare a new workday using the same trackers as the previous day. If Daily Trackers are enabled and present in the list of trackers, they will receive their initial time if configured.

Whenever the last remaining tracker is discarded a new workday is automatically prepared. If Daily Trackers are enabled, they will automatically be added, otherwise the new day contains just a single initial tracker. This behaviour enables a simpler use case, where Trackers can be used by just creating and discarding trackers.

If Daily Trackers are configured, there is an option to start a new workday without them. On iOS and iPadOS select Menu > Start a New Day > No Daily Trackers. On macOS select Trackers > Start a New Day > Without Daily Trackers.

A recent tracker can easily be re-added, for example when work continues on a task from a previous day. On iOS and iPadOS the list of recent trackers can be accessed by long-pressing the Create a New Tracker button, selecting Recent Trackers and choosing a tracker from the list. The list of recent trackers is also shown when renaming a tracker. On macOS the same feature can be accessed by context-clicking on an empty area in the main window and selecting Recent Trackers. Alternatively the same list can be accessed from Trackers > Recent Trackers in the app menu or in the menu bar.

The Recent Trackers list includes 10 most recent tracker names from the past workdays. Distributed and discarded trackers are not included in the list.

This feature relies on the information stored in the Archive and is only available when Archive is enabled.

Display the workday’s progress using a gauge representing the workday’s completion percentage, an icon indicating whether a tracker is currently running and the name of the current tracker.

Available in small size on the home screen, two sizes on the lock screen.

Display an overview of current workday, including the amount of trackers, when the workday was started and when the workday is estimated to end.

Available in small size on the home screen, medium size on the lock screen.

Display workday’s progress and overview side-by side. Contents of this widget are exactly the same as Workday Progress and Workday Overview, but this widget is suitable when a medium size widget is needed.

Available in medium size on the home screen.

Create empty space between Lock Screen widgets. The spacer widget allows for lock screen layouts which otherwise would not be possible, for example an empty widgets row with one small widget at the end of the row. The empty space also acts as a shortcut to open Trackers.

Available in small size on the lock screen.

Trackers can show a notification when the workday is completed. This can be helpful with avoiding accidentally working overtime, which can become “gray overtime”. Optionally, the notification can be configured to alert in advance by a chosen amount, by up to 2 hours before the workday ends. The advance alert can be helpful when there are certain actions that need to be done at the end of day.

The Workday Completion configurations do not sync across devices, which makes it possible to setup this alert only on those devices where the alert is needed.

It’s recommended to use this notification on the devices where Trackers is most actively used, because the notification relies on the data available on the device. If changes to individual trackers have not yet been synced to less actively used devices, the notifications on those devices will not be accurate.

Data is synced automatically when Trackers is opened on iOS and iPadOS or whenever any Trackers window becomes active on macOS. Additionally on macOS the menu bar window will also trigger a sync when it is opened, if at least five minutes have passed since the last sync.

Sometimes there may be a need to manually trigger a data sync. On iOS and iPadOS this can be done by simply opening Trackers. On macOS the menu bar window as well as the standalone Trackers window includes a Refresh button, which will initiate a data sync when clicked. The Refresh action is also available on macOS via Trackers > Refresh and CMD + R.

Trackers displays information about data sync, which may be useful when troubleshooting sync problems. Information can be viewed on iOS and iPadOS from Menu > Settings > Sync > iCloud Sync. On macOS this information is at Settings > Sync.

Syncing app data can be disabled entirely from System’s iCloud Settings. Locate Trackers from iCloud Settings and disable its iCloud access. This prevents syncing application data to iCloud on that device, control the iCloud use separately on each device. Note that application preferences still do sync and this can not be disabled.

When sync is disabled, Trackers will no longer use data which is in iCloud and all local data will be deleted. Sync can be enabled again and Trackers will redownload all data from iCloud.

If Trackers’s iCloud sync has been disabled on all your devices, the data stored in iCloud can be deleted. Locate iCloud Settings and the area where storage usage is reported per application. Find Trackers in this list and delete data from iCloud. See also Remove Trackers and All Data

Trackers can be used without an internet connection, but in such a scenario the use should obviously be limited to a single device. This should be taken into consideration, if work happens fully or partially offline. Any data changes will be synced to iCloud, and other devices, once Trackers again has access to internet.

Define the workday length or define a schedule when workdays differ in length. Control whether estimates (remaining time, estimated end of day, progress bar) are shown in the main view.

Select the default estimate (remaining time or estimated end of day). The default estimate is shown in the main view and the alternative estimate can be revealed by tapping or clicking the overview area.

Daily Trackers can be enabled or disabled. Disabling the feature does not remove the configured daily trackers.

Each daily tracker can contain a name and optionally also an initial starting total. The daily trackers are shown as a list, and they are added into the workday in the listed order.

Archive can be enabled or disabled. Disabling the Archive does not remove the workdays already stored in the Archive. Completed workdays are not stored in the Archive, when the Archive is disabled.

The entire Archive can be deleted. This action is permanent and irreversible.

Workday Completion notification can be enabled or disabled. The notification will by default happen as the workday ends, but it can optionally be configured to happen in advance.

The notification is applied to that device only. It can separately be configured on other devices.

The app appearance can be set to Match System, Light or Dark. Trackers can follow the system appearance, or alternatively the appearance can be set manually. The appearance applies to that device only. It can separately be configured on other devices.

The widget appearance can be set to Same as App, Light or Dark. Widgets can follow the app appearance, or alternatively the appearance can be set manually. The appearance applies to that device only. It can separately be configured on other devices.

On macOS the appearance settings are listed under the Look & Feel tab in Settings and additionally contain settings for the menu bar window size.

On iOS and iPadOS the positioning of the main buttons can be configured. They can be reversed or they can be aligned to the left or right.

The iCloud Sync view provides diagnostic and general information about Trackers’s sync. See Data Sync - section. If permission for iCloud Sync push notifications has not been given yet, it can be given here.

Subscription settings provides information about the active subscription and a view for managing subscriptions.

The About Trackers section on iOS and iPadOS and the About section on macOS includes app version information, access to this manual, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. On macOS this view additionally includes the option to provide feedback via email.

Feedback about Trackers can be sent to the developer via the Send Feedback action. On iOS and iPadOS it can be found on the Settings view. On macOS it is located on the About tab in Settings view and in Help menu.

A one-month free trial is provided for everyone trying out Trackers for the first time. The trial includes the full version of the app and all features are included, including iCloud sync and the ability to install Trackers on all supported platforms. User is not charged if they cancel their subscription during the trial period (at least 24 hours before the renewal date).

Evaluating whether any app is suitable for one’s workflow can take time. In Trackers’s case there may be many features which prove to be useful over time and which may get overlooked during the first days of testing (for example setting up workday completion notification, setting up widgets, perhaps even configuring widgets with Focus Modes, configuring daily trackers). I believe one month is a sufficient amount of time to see if Trackers works for you.

If more time is required for evaluation, the monthly subscription is recommended as it can be cancelled more quickly.

Subscription can be changed at any time between monthly and yearly subscription. The subscription will change at the end of the current subscription period. The subscription management view can be opened on iOS and iPadOS from Menu > Settings > Subscription > Manage Subscription and on macOS from Settings > Subscription > Manage Subscription. Both views open the system’s subscription management view.

Subscriptions can also be managed from System Settings or from App Store.

When a subscription is cancelled, user will still retain full access to Trackers until the next subscription renewal. In order to avoid the next subscription payment, the subscription should be cancelled 24 hours before the next renewal date.

Daily Trackers are trackers which repeat every day. They can be useful for tasks which repeat each day, such as for example daily stand up meetings. Whenever a new workday is started, the Daily Trackers are automatically included in the list of trackers for the new day.

Tracker’s widgets can be paired especially well with Focus Modes. In most scenarios, the widgets are mostly useful during the actual workday so it can be a good idea to configure the widgets on the lock screen and home screen only for the focus mode which is active during the workday.

A tracker can be recovered, if it was accidentally discarded. Discarded trackers can be recovered from the Workday Details view, where they are listed separately from the current trackers. On iOS and iPadOS a discarded tracker can be swiped to the left to reveal the Recover action. On macOS a context-click on a discarded tracker reveals the Recover action.

Usually the previous workday would be archived before new trackers for the new workday are created. But it is possible to end up in a situation where the main view contains trackers from the previous day and trackers from the current day. In this scenario it is still possible to archive those older trackers as a workday while still keeping the newer trackers. Make sure all the trackers that should be archived are marked as inactive. Tap or context-click on any of the inactive trackers, and select Archive All Inactive Trackers from the menu which opens. This will archive all the inactive trackers and they will appear in the Archive as a new workday.

A new tracker can be created by using text content from the system’s clipboard. After copying any text into the clipboard long-press the Create New Tracker button on iOS or iPadOS and select the option New From Clipboard from the menu. On macOS context-click on an empty area in the main view and select New From Clipboard from the menu.

The most recent trackers can be recreated and added into the current workday using the Recent Trackers - feature. Sometimes it may be convenient to recreate an even older tracker. This can be done via the Archive. In the Archive, a long-press (on iOS and iPadOS) or a context-click (on macOS) on any tracker listed on an archived workday will reveal options to Copy Name or Recreate Tracker. Select Recreate Tracker to add a new tracker to the current workday with the same name as the archived tracker.