How To Use Timelook

2024年9月4日2026年4月24日

This page explains how to use “Timelook,” a time-tracking app that is completely free, ad-free, and requires no account registration.

1. What is Timelook

Timelook is a time management app that records and visualizes your daily activities. It helps you accurately understand “what you spend your time on”, reduce wasted time, and focus on what matters most to you.

What you can do with Timelook

Record activities — automatic recording (stopwatch style) or manual time entry
Visualization — pie charts, bar charts, timetables, heatmaps, and more to see how you spend your time at a glance
Reflection — compare your “Ideal Day” or Google Calendar events with actual activities to find improvements
Diary — record daily reflections in writing
Goal management — set target times per category and track progress
Countdown — display the remaining time of your life or until events in real time
Notifications — alerts to prevent idleness or forgetting to stop a recording
Achievements — earn titles based on your activity patterns
Cloud sync and backup — Google Drive cloud sync and backup, plus offline (on-device) backup
Google Calendar integration — compare calendar events with actual activities
Widgets — display recording status and goal progress on your phone’s home screen
Shortcuts and automation — start, stop, or switch recordings from iOS Shortcuts or Android automation apps (Tasker / MacroDroid / Automate, etc.)

Supported languages (20)

English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Italian, Bengali, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Turkish, Polish, Dutch

2. First Launch and Tutorial

2.1 Tutorial Screens

When you launch the app for the first time, a 3-page tutorial is shown. Swipe left and right to switch pages. A dot indicator at the bottom shows your current position.

Page	Title	Content
1	What is Timelook?	Introduces the concept of the app
2	How to use	Explains the basic recording method
3	Design	Introduces color and font customization

Tap “Skip” to go straight to the home screen. Reaching the final page also takes you to the home screen. Once completed, the tutorial does not appear again on subsequent launches.

2.2 Initial Setup Dialog

After the tutorial, an initial setup dialog appears automatically before the home screen. This dialog has no close button — you must complete the settings.

Setup items

Item	Description
Currency selection	Choose from 20 currencies in the dropdown menu (e.g., JPY = Japanese yen, USD = US dollar)
Currency symbol	Displayed automatically based on the selected currency (e.g., ¥, $)
Amount per hour	Enter a number (default 2000 in Japanese, 10.0 in English)
Date format	Choose from 5 formats. An example of today’s date is shown next to each format

Tap “Save” to save the settings and move to the home screen. You can change these settings any time later (currency and amount under “Value of Life”, date format under “Date Format” in Settings).

2.3 Automatic Initial Data

The following data is created automatically on first launch.

10 initial categories (see “5.2 Initial Categories” for details)
1 sample “Ideal Day” template (“Holiday sample”)
A daily notification at 22:00 (“Good job today!”)

3. Home Screen

The home screen is the main screen of the app. You can start and stop recording activities and visualize today’s actions.

3.1 Top Menu

Tap the menu icon (three lines) in the top-left to slide out the side menu from the left. The “Timelook” logo is shown at the top center.

3.2 Side Menu

The side menu contains the following items, listed top to bottom.

Item	Destination
Record list	Activity record list page
Statistics	Statistics and charts page
Categories	Category list page
Diary	Diary list page
Goal quota	Goal quota list page
Achievements	Achievements page
Countdown	Countdown page
Ideal Day list	Ideal Day list page
Reflection	Reflection page
Shortcuts and automation	Page showing setup steps for iOS Shortcuts and Android automation apps
How to add widgets	Page showing how to add home screen widgets

Below the divider:

Item	Action
Official SNS	Opens the official X (formerly Twitter) account (@yalkey_official) in the browser
Blog	Opens yalkey.net in the browser
Help	Opens the help page in the browser (Japanese or English depending on language settings)
Settings	Opens the settings page

3.3 Main Content

The center of the screen shows today’s activities visualized. Use the icon button at the top right to switch between pie chart and timetable views. The selected view is saved and persists across app launches.

Pie chart view (default)

Displays 24 hours of activity as a pie chart
Color-coded by category
Shows 0–23 hour labels
Unrecorded time (idle time) is shown in gray
Concurrent recordings appear as overlay rings outside the pie
For today, a clock hand appears at the current time
Use the left/right arrows to move to the previous/next day (the next button is disabled on today)
Tap the date to choose a date from a calendar
Auto-refreshes every 30 seconds

Timetable view

Displays activities as a horizontally scrollable timeline
Use the left/right arrows to move to the previous/next day
Tap the date to choose a date from a calendar
Double-tap to cycle through 3 zoom levels
Pinch (two-finger spread/pinch) to zoom in/out (0.5x–3x)
For today, the view automatically scrolls to the current time
You can also tap the zoom icon to zoom in/out

Zoom level	Width	Time label interval
Zoomed in	6x screen width	Every 1 hour
Medium	3x screen width	Every 2 hours
Zoomed out (default)	1x screen width	Every 6 hours

3.4 Bottom Tabs

Tabs at the bottom of the screen let you switch pages with a tap. The leftmost “Record” tab is always fixed; the other 4 tabs are customizable.

Default tab layout:

Position	Tab name
1 (fixed)	Record
2	Statistics
3	Categories
4	Goal quota
5	Record list

You can customize the items shown via “Bottom Nav Settings” in the settings page. See “15.2 Bottom Nav Settings” for details.

3.5 Bottom Buttons

Buttons are placed at the bottom-left and bottom-right of the screen.

Position	Icon	Action
Bottom-left	? (Help)	Shows a usage dialog. The dialog includes “How to record” and “What is time waste?”. “Read more” opens the help page in the browser; “Close” dismisses the dialog
Bottom-right	+ (Start recording)	Shows the category selection dialog

3.6 Recording Display

While an activity is being recorded, the recording status appears at the top of the screen. Two tabs let you switch the display.

Tab 1: Session list (default)

All currently recording sessions are listed. Each session shows:

Element	Description	Tap action
Category icon	Icon and name of the category being recorded	Shows the category change dialog (you can switch to a different category)
Elapsed time	Real-time updated in HH:MM:SS	Tapping the row opens the record detail page
Time investment amount	Elapsed time × hourly rate (with currency symbol)	Same as above
Stop button	Red stop icon	Stops that session

Whether elapsed time and investment amount are shown is controlled by a setting saved in SharedPreferences.

When two or more sessions are being recorded simultaneously, a “Stop all recordings” button appears at the bottom of the list.

Tab 2: Detail view

For each session, the following info is shown as text:

[Category name] Recording started YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS
Recording time HH:MM:SS

3.7 “Wasting time” Display

When no activity is being recorded, the home screen shows “Wasting time: ¥XXX”. Based on your hourly rate, the amount of unrecorded time since the last stop is converted to money and increases in real time (every second).

4. How to Record Activities

Timelook offers two ways to record: automatic (stopwatch) and manual entry.

4.1 Automatic Recording (Stopwatch)

Start recording

Tap the round “+” button at the bottom-right of the home screen
The “Select a category to record” dialog appears. Category icons are shown in order of frequency (most-used first). Tap the “+” at the top-right to create a new category (an error is shown if you’ve reached the 20 category limit)
Tap the icon of the category you want to record
The category confirmation dialog appears, showing a large icon, category name, and description (if any). Tap the “Details” link at the top-right to open the category detail page
Tap “Start recording” (green / primary color) to start
The elapsed time appears at the top of the home screen and updates in real time

Stop recording

Tap the stop button (red square icon) at the top of the home screen
The recording is saved
When you stop the last (or only) session, the “What’s next?” dialog appears
Tap a category to immediately start the next recording, or tap “Do nothing” to leave nothing being recorded
A snackbar (temporary message) also appears at the bottom of the screen with an “Add memo” action. Tap it to open the editing screen for the recording you just stopped and add a memo

Concurrent recording

You can record multiple activities at the same time (e.g., “Study” and “Music” together). While recording, tap “Start recording” with another category to start an additional recording. Each has its own stop button, so you can stop them individually. Concurrent recording with the same category is also possible. When two or more sessions are running, a “Stop all recordings” button appears.

4.2 Manual Entry

Use this to record past activities or to specify exact times.

Tap the “+” button at the bottom-right of the home screen
Tap a category icon in the category selection dialog
Tap “Manual entry” (gray) in the category confirmation dialog
The activity record edit screen appears
Enter the following:

Item	Required	Description
Category	Yes	Select from a dropdown (the chosen category is the default for manual entry)
Start date	Yes	Tap to open a calendar
Start time	Yes	Tap to open the time picker
End date	No	Tap to open a calendar
End time	No	Tap to open the time picker (you can switch to entering duration instead)
Duration	—	Calculated automatically. You can switch to entering duration directly instead of end time
Memo	No	Free text (up to 5,000 characters)

The current day’s timetable is shown at the top of the screen, and the entry being edited is highlighted. When you’re done, tap “Save”.

The end time must be after the start time and before the current time.

Switching between end time and duration

A toggle button next to the end time field switches between “Specify by end time” and “Specify by duration”. The selected mode is saved and persists for future manual entries.

Overlap with existing records

If your manually entered time overlaps existing records, this is detected automatically and a confirmation dialog appears, listing the overlapping records (category name and time range).

“Overwrite and save” — the overlapping existing records are automatically shortened or split, prioritizing the new record
“Save as overlapping record” — existing records are kept as-is and saved with the overlap (multiple records exist in the same time range)

Unsaved changes protection

If you tap the back button while editing, an “You have unsaved changes” dialog appears to prevent losing edits accidentally.

4.3 Switching Recordings

If you want to switch to another activity while recording, there are two ways.

Method 1: Tap the recording category icon at the top of the home screen and choose a new category from the change dialog. If the chosen category differs from the current one, it switches.

Method 2: Tap the stop button at the top of the home screen, and tap a new category in the “What’s next?” dialog. The current recording stops and a new one starts. Tap “Do nothing” to stop without starting a new recording.

4.4 Adding a Memo During Recording

To add a memo while recording, tap the recording display area (the session row in Tab 1) at the top of the home screen to open the record detail page, where you can edit the memo.

5. Category Management

5.1 What is a Category

A category is a label for classifying types of activities. Each category has an icon and color, making it easy to distinguish in charts and tables.

5.2 Initial Categories

On first launch, the following 10 categories are created automatically (display names depend on language settings). Each has a different reminder time.

Japanese name	English name	Reminder time
睡眠	Sleep	8 hours
食事	Eat	30 min
移動	Commute	30 min
仕事	Work	5 hours
勉強	Study	2 hours
掃除	Cleaning	30 min
運動	Exercise	1 hour
お風呂	Bath	30 min
買い物	Shopping	1 hour
読書	Reading	1 hour

5.3 Creating a Category

Open the category list page from the side menu’s “Categories”
Tap the “+” button at the top-right
The category edit screen appears
Enter the following:

Item	Required	Constraints	Description
Category name	Yes	Up to 30 chars, must be unique	Activity type name (e.g., “Reading”)
Description	No	Up to 200 chars	Supplementary description for the category
Color	Yes	Choose from 70+ colors or specify HEX	Tap to open the color picker
Icon	Yes	About 60 icons	Tap to open the icon picker
Reminder time	No	Hours: 0–23, Minutes: 0–59	Time before a “stop forgotten” notification (default for new categories: 1h 0m)

Tap “Save” when done.

You can create up to 20 categories. Adding a 21st shows “Category limit exceeded”.

5.4 Hiding a Category

You can hide categories you no longer use without deleting them. The data (activity records, etc.) for hidden categories remains intact.

Long-press the category you want to hide in the category list
A menu appears
Tap “Hide category”

Hidden categories are collected at the bottom of the list under a “Hidden categories (N)” section (shown semi-transparently). The section can be expanded/collapsed by tapping it.

To unhide, long-press a hidden category and tap “Show category”.

Hidden categories no longer appear in the home screen’s category selection dialog or in widgets.

5.5 Editing a Category

Choose “Categories” from the side menu
Tap a category in the list
The category detail screen appears
Tap the edit button (pencil icon) at the top of the screen
Edit each item in the category edit screen and tap “Save”

If you tap back while editing, the “You have unsaved changes” dialog appears.

5.6 Deleting a Category

Open the category edit screen
Tap the “Delete” button at the bottom of the screen
A confirmation dialog appears, showing the number of associated activity records and ideal day schedule entries
Tap “Delete” to remove the category and all associated data

Note: Deleting a category also deletes all activity records and ideal day schedule items linked to it. This cannot be undone.

5.7 Category Detail Screen

Tapping a category in the list shows the category’s detailed information. You can specify a date range to see statistics for that period.

Description

If the category has a description, it appears at the top. URLs are tappable as links.

Time statistics

Item	Description
Total time	Sum of all activity records for the category
Average time (per record)	Average length per single record
Longest time (per record)	Longest single record
Shortest time (per record)	Shortest single record
Average time (per day)	Average per day
Longest time (per day)	Day with the most time
Shortest time (per day)	Day with the least time

Streak

Shows how many consecutive days you’ve recorded this category.

Item	Description
Current streak	Consecutive days recorded up to today
Longest streak	Best streak ever

Heatmap

A calendar-style figure showing how much time was recorded each day via shades of color. Days with more recorded time are darker. Lets you see at a glance which days were most active.

Line chart

Shows the trend over time as a line chart.

Activity record list

Lists records for the category. Each record has a share button to share category name, time range, duration, and time investment amount as text on social media.

6. Activity Record List

6.1 Accessing the List

Tap “Record list” in the side menu, or tap the “Record list” tab at the bottom (if added to the bottom tabs).

6.2 List Display

Activity records are listed. Pinned records appear first, followed by records matching the filter criteria. Each record shows:

Element	Description
Category icon	The category’s color and icon
Category name	Activity type name
Time range	Start time to end time
Duration	Length of the record
Memo	Shown if a memo exists
Entry method badge	Auto recording (timer icon), manual entry (edit icon), or auto-recorded then manually edited (both icons)

6.3 Statistics Card

A card at the top of the list shows statistics based on the current filters.

Item	Description
Total time	Sum of all displayed records
Average time	Average per record
Longest time	Longest record
Shortest time	Shortest record

6.4 Filtering and Search

The record list page supports:

Feature	Description
Keyword search	Filter by text in memos
Category filter	Show only records of a specific category
Period range	Specify start and end dates to show records within
Display limit	Choose 10, 30, 50, 100, 300, 500, or 1000 records
Sort	Choose 4 sort orders: newest, oldest, longest, shortest

6.5 Pinning

Pin important records to the top of the list. You can pin via:

Swipe a record left or right in the list
Long-press a record in the list and use the menu to toggle pinning
Tap the pin icon in the record detail screen

6.6 Editing a Record

Tap a record in the list
The record detail screen appears
Tap the “Edit” button
Edit category, start/end time, and memo on the activity record edit screen
Tap “Save”

6.7 Deleting a Record

Open the record detail screen
Tap the “Delete” button (only finished records can be deleted)
Tap “Delete” in the confirmation dialog

6.8 Record Detail Screen

The record detail screen shows:

Category name and icon
Start time, end time, and duration
Time investment amount (time converted to money)
Entry method (auto / manual / auto + edited)
Pinned state (toggle by tap)
Memo (URLs are tappable as links)
Share button (shares text with category name, time range, duration, and amount on social media; includes #Timelook #yalkey hashtags)

7. Statistics and Charts

7.1 How to Access

Tap the “Statistics” tab at the bottom or “Statistics” in the side menu.

7.2 Layout of the Statistics Page

The statistics page is a dashboard visualizing the past 7 days. The following sections are listed top to bottom.

Pie chart section

Shows the time distribution by category as a pie chart
The names, percentages, and amounts of the top 5 categories appear on the right
The “Show unrecorded time” checkbox toggles whether idle time is included
“More” button moves to the pie chart detail page

Bar chart section

Shows daily activity time as a stacked bar chart
“More” button moves to the bar chart detail page

Weekly timetable section

Stacks the past 7 days of activities as vertical timetables for comparison
Lets you compare how time is spent each day
“More” button moves to the weekly timetable detail page

Daily timetable section

Shows horizontal timetables for “Today”, “Yesterday”, and “Day before yesterday”
Below each day, a diary preview (first 20 chars) appears. If no diary, an “Add diary” link is shown
“Detail” link moves to the timetable detail page

Recent records section

Lists the most recent 30 finished records, newest first
Each record shows category icon, name, duration, amount, and time range
Tap to open the record detail page
Each record has a share button

Tap the FAB at the bottom-right to move to the reflection page.

7.3 Pie Chart Detail Page

Specify a period to see your time distribution as a pie chart. Switch periods via 4 tabs.

Tab	How to specify the period
Custom	Specify start and end dates freely
Day	Choose a specific day
Month	Choose a year and month
Year	Choose a year

Pinch to zoom the pie chart from 1x to 3x
The “Show/hide unrecorded time” button toggles inclusion of idle time
Below the chart is a list of details per category (icon, name, time, amount, percentage, share button)
Tap a category name to open its category detail page

7.4 Bar Chart Detail Page (Activity Stack)

See daily activity time as a stacked bar chart. Same 4 tabs as the pie chart detail (Custom, Day, Month, Year) for the period.

X-axis is the date (or month); Y-axis is hours (0–24)
Each bar stacks colors per category
The “Year” tab shows monthly averages
Below the chart is a per-category details list

7.5 Timetable Detail Page

See a specific day’s activities as a wide timetable.

Use the date button to switch days
Double-tap to cycle through 3 zoom levels
Pinch to zoom (0.5x–3x)
Below the timetable is the day’s activity record list
Each record shows category name, duration, amount, time range, and a share button

7.6 Sharing

Each record on the detail pages has its own share button to share text with category name, time range, duration, and amount on social media. The text automatically includes #Timelook #yalkey hashtags.

8. Reflection

8.1 How to Access

Tap the “Reflection” tab at the bottom (if added), or “Reflection” in the side menu, or the FAB at the bottom-right of the statistics page.

8.2 Reflection Cutoff Time

You can freely set the cutoff time that defines the start of the “day”.

Tap the edit (pencil) icon next to the time displayed at the top of the reflection page
The time picker appears
Set hours and minutes
Tap “Save”

Example	Day range
Default (22:00)	Yesterday 22:00 to today 22:00
Set to 00:00	Today 00:00 to tomorrow 00:00
Set to 05:00	Yesterday 05:00 to today 05:00

8.3 Layout of the Reflection Page

Date selector

Use arrow buttons to switch to the previous/next day (next is disabled on today). Tap the date display to choose a date from a calendar.

Range time display

The selected day’s range is shown as “HH:MM – HH:MM”. Use the edit button to change it.

Pie chart (actual)

Shows the day’s actual activity as a pie chart. For today, an indicator is shown at the current time. Overlapping records appear as overlay rings.

Comparison with the Ideal Day

Tap the “Choose an Ideal Day” dropdown
Pick a saved Ideal Day template (the last item “+ Create” lets you create a new one)
The ideal pie chart appears next to the actual one
The match percentage is shown
A per-category comparison table appears (category name, actual time, ideal time)

The selected Ideal Day is saved and remembered across launches.

Timetable

Pinch (0.5x–5x) and drag to display actual and ideal activities on a 2-row timetable with 3-hour interval labels.

Activity record list

Lists all the day’s records. Each can be expanded to edit its memo. Tap a record to expand and enter/save a memo directly.

Google Calendar events

If connected to Google Calendar, events from selected calendars appear in the timetable. You can place them next to actual activity records and check whether you acted as planned.

Diary

A text input (up to 5,000 chars) appears so you can freely write the day’s reflection. Existing diary content loads automatically.

8.4 How the Match Percentage is Calculated

For each time range set in the Ideal Day, we determine minute-by-minute whether “a record of the same category exists” in that range, sum the matching minutes, and divide by 24 hours (1,440 minutes).

Even with concurrent recordings, a minute counts as “matched” if the ideal category is recorded in it. Concurrent recordings never push the match percentage above 100%; it is always within 0–100%.

9. Ideal Day

9.1 What is an Ideal Day

An “Ideal Day” is your ideal 24-hour schedule template. Create multiple patterns like “Ideal weekday” or “Ideal holiday” to use in reflection.

9.2 Creating an Ideal Day

Choose “Ideal Day list” from the side menu
Tap the “+” at the top-right (an error is shown if you’ve reached the 5 limit)
The Ideal Day edit screen appears
Enter title (required, must be unique) and description (optional, up to 200 chars)
Add schedules — tap “+” and set the following:

Item	Required	Description
Category	Yes	Choose from the category selection dialog
Start time	Yes	Tap to choose the time
End time	Yes	Tap to choose the time (must be after the start)
Memo	No	Free text

Add as many schedules as you need
Tap the “Sort by time” button to reorder by start time
Tap “Save”

You can create up to 5 Ideal Days. Schedules cannot overlap. When adding a new schedule, the start time defaults to the previous schedule’s end time.

A 24-hour pie chart preview at the bottom of the edit screen lets you see the time distribution in real time.

9.3 Ideal Day Detail Screen

Tap a template in the list to see its title, description, and 24-hour pie chart. Below is a schedule list with category icon, name, start–end times, and memo (URLs are tappable as links) for each item.

9.4 Deleting an Ideal Day

On the Ideal Day edit screen, tap the trash icon in the AppBar and tap “Delete” in the confirmation dialog to delete the Ideal Day and all its schedules.

9.5 Use in Reflection

Selecting an Ideal Day on the reflection page shows the ideal and actual pie charts side by side, with the match percentage. A per-category comparison table is also available.

10. Diary

10.1 What is the Diary

The diary lets you record daily events and reflections in writing. You can create one diary per day.

10.2 Diary List Screen

Choose “Diary” from the side menu to open the diary list screen with a calendar.

Calendar display

Tap to switch among 3 display modes: month, 2-week, week
Days with a diary show a dot indicator
Today is highlighted in the accent color
Tap a day to show the diary preview at the bottom

Statistics bar

Below the calendar, the following statistics are shown:

Number of diaries this month
Diary streak — consecutive days with a diary up to today (or yesterday), shown with a 🔥 icon

Diary preview

Selecting a date on the calendar shows that day’s diary in a primary-color bordered box. Tap to open the diary detail screen. If no diary, an “Add diary” link is shown.

Search

Tap the search icon in the AppBar to show a search field. Typing text searches diary contents and lists matching diaries (up to 50).

10.3 Creating a Diary

Method 1: From the diary list

Tap the “+” button at the bottom-right of the diary list
The diary edit screen appears (defaults to the date selected on the calendar)
Enter your text (up to 5,000 chars; a counter updates in real time)
Tap “Save”

Method 2: From the reflection page

Open the reflection page
Type into the diary section at the bottom

Method 3: From the statistics page

Tap the “Add diary” link in the daily timetable section
The diary edit screen opens

10.4 Diary Edit Screen

The diary edit screen shows:

Date display (with calendar icon)
Text input (up to 5,000 chars, at least 6 lines visible)
Character counter
The day’s timetable (wide view)

Only one diary per day is allowed. Trying to create a second one for the same day shows an error. URLs in the text become tappable links that open the browser.

10.5 Diary Detail Screen

Shows the full diary content. It supports:

URLs in text are tappable links
You can select and copy text
The search icon in the AppBar lets you search within the diary text (matches are highlighted)
The edit icon opens the diary edit screen
The day’s timetable is shown at the bottom

10.6 Deleting a Diary

Tap the delete button in the AppBar of the diary edit screen to delete it.

11. Goal Quota

11.1 What is Goal Quota

“Goal quota” lets you set a target time you want to achieve in a specific category over a certain period. Example: “Study 100 hours in one month”.

11.2 Creating a Goal

Choose “Goal quota” from the side menu
Tap the “+” at the bottom-right of the list page
The goal edit screen appears
Enter the following:

Item	Required	Description
Category	Yes	Choose from a dropdown (hidden categories are excluded)
Target time	Yes	Specify hours, minutes, and seconds via the timer picker (must be greater than 0)
Start date	Yes	Choose from a calendar
End date	Yes	Choose a date on or after the start date from a calendar
Description	No	Goal description (up to 200 chars)

Tap “Save” when done. There is no limit to the number of goals.

11.3 Checking Goal Progress

The goal list shows each goal as a card.

Category name and icon
Achieved time / target time (percentage)
Description preview (first 15 chars)
Period (start – end date)

Tap a goal to open its detail screen, with a cumulative-time line chart (target line vs. actual), achievement rate, period, and description.

11.4 Editing and Deleting a Goal

Move from the goal detail screen to the goal edit screen via the edit button. Edit each item and tap “Save”. To delete, tap “Delete” in the AppBar and tap “Delete” in the confirmation dialog.

11.5 Archiving a Goal (Hide)

You can archive completed goals or those you want to temporarily hide. Archiving does not delete the data.

Long-press the goal you want to archive in the list
A bottom sheet menu appears
Tap “Archive”

Archived goals are collected at the bottom of the list under a collapsible “Archived” section (shown semi-transparently). The archive icon and count are shown, and you can expand or collapse it.

To unarchive, long-press an archived goal and tap “Unarchive”.

Archived goals also no longer appear in home screen widgets.

12. Countdown

12.1 What is the Countdown

A feature to display the time remaining until specific events or for the rest of your life in real time.

12.2 Layout

Life countdown (1 entry) — shown large at the top of the screen
Event countdowns (multiple entries) — listed below (each has an edit button)
Use the FAB at the bottom-right to add events

12.3 Setting up the Life Countdown

Choose “Countdown” from the side menu
Tap “Count down the rest of my life” (shown when not yet set)
The life countdown setup dialog appears
Enter the following:

Item	Required	Description
Date of birth	Yes	Choose from a calendar (1900 to today)
Expected lifespan	Yes	Enter a number (e.g., 80). Must be greater than your current age

Your expected death date (date of birth + lifespan) is calculated and the remaining time is shown in real time. After setup, tap “Edit” to modify it again.

Note: The life countdown is internally managed under one of the names “人生”, “life”, “Life”, or “LIFE”.

12.4 Adding an Event Countdown

Tap the FAB at the bottom-right
The event add dialog appears
Enter the following:

Item	Required	Description
Event name	Yes	Free text
Start date	Yes	Choose from a calendar (1900 to the day before the end date)
End date	Yes	Choose from a calendar (the day after the start date through 2100)

12.5 Countdown Display

Each countdown shows:

Event name or “Life countdown”
Remaining time (days, hours, minutes, seconds) — updated in real time
Progress bar — visualizes the percentage of the period elapsed
Edit button — tap to modify

12.6 Deleting an Event

Tap the “Delete” button in the event edit dialog to delete the event.

13. Achievements (Titles)

13.1 What are Achievements

Titles are awarded automatically based on activity records. Title evaluations use data from the past 30 days.

13.2 Achievements Page

Tap “Achievements” in the side menu to open the achievements page. The following statistics are shown.

All-time statistics

Item	Description
Number of records	Total finished records of all time
Total recorded time	Sum of all recorded time (X h Y m)
Recording rate	Of the time from your first record to now, the proportion that is recorded

Past 7 days statistics

Item	Description
Number of records	Number of records in the past 7 days
Total recorded time	Sum of recorded time in the past 7 days
Recording rate	Of the past 7 days (168 hours), the proportion that is recorded

Below the statistics is a list of earned titles.

13.3 Title List and Conditions

Titles are computed from the past 30 days.

Sleep-related titles

Title	Condition
Healthy sleeper	Average sleep record is between 6 and under 8 hours (with at least one sleep record)
Heavy sleeper	Average sleep record is 8 hours or more (with at least one sleep record)

Without sleep records, no sleep-related title is awarded.

Recording rate titles

Title	Condition
Record king	Recording rate of 95% or more in the past 7 days
Record lover	Recording rate between 70% and under 95% in the past 7 days

If the recording rate is below 70%, no recording-rate title is awarded.

Work-related titles

Title	Condition
Extremely diligent	Average work record is 12 hours or more
Diligent	Average work record is between 10 and under 12 hours

Study-related titles

Title	Condition
Scholar	Average study record is 5 hours or more
Hardworker	Average study record is between 3 and under 5 hours
Study lover	Average study record is between 1 and under 3 hours

Note: Sleep, work, and study evaluations only apply when the category name exactly matches one of “睡眠”/”sleep”/”Sleep”, “仕事”/”work”/”Work”, or “勉強”/”study”/”Study”. Variants like “Work + Study” are not evaluated.

13.4 When Titles are Checked

Titles are checked automatically when the home screen is shown and re-evaluated every 10 minutes. When you earn a new title, a dialog notifies you, with an “Achievements list” button to open the achievements page or “Close” to dismiss.

14. Notifications

Notifications are only available on mobile (iOS/Android). The notification settings menu is not shown on desktop.

14.1 Enabling Notifications

The first time you use notifications, the OS will request permission.

Tap “Notifications” in settings
The permission dialog appears (different on Android/iOS)
Allow to move to the notification settings screen
Deny to return to the previous screen

14.2 Anti-Idle Notification (Start Reminder)

Notifies you when you’ve gone unrecorded for too long.

Open “Notifications” in settings and tap “Anti-idle”
Toggle the switch on
Set the interval — enter hours (0–23) and minutes (0–59)

You’ll receive a notification after the specified time elapses.

14.3 Stop-Forgotten Notification (Stop Reminder)

Notifies you when an activity has been recording for a certain amount of time.

Open “Notifications” in settings and tap “Stop reminder”
Toggle the switch on
You can freely customize the notification message text (tap the edit button to enter)

Each category’s edit screen has its own “Reminder time”. The default for new categories is 1h 0m, and the initial categories have different reminder times (e.g., Sleep 8h, Eat 30m, Work 5h). After starting a recording, you’ll receive a notification when the category’s reminder time elapses.

14.4 Custom Notifications (Repeating)

Repeating notifications you can configure freely.

Open “Notifications” in settings and tap “Custom notifications”
The custom notification list appears (or “No custom notifications” if none)
Tap the “+” at the bottom-right
The notification edit screen appears
Enter the following:

Item	Required	Description
Title	Yes	Notification title (up to 50 chars, e.g., “Time to reflect”)
Body	Yes	Notification content (up to 100 chars, e.g., “Good job today!”)
Repeat type	Yes	Choose “Daily” or “Weekly” from the dropdown
Time	Yes	Tap to choose the time (shown as HH:MM)
Days of week	For “Weekly” only	Select multiple weekdays via checkboxes (Mon–Sun)

Tap “Save” when done. The list shows each notification’s title, time, repeat type, and days (for weekly). Tap the pencil icon in the list to edit; tap “Delete” in the edit screen to delete.

14.5 Persistent Notification

While recording, a persistent notification is shown in the device’s notification bar. The title is “Recording Activity” and the content is the category name. Tapping it opens the app, and the notification disappears automatically after recording stops.

15. Settings

Open settings via “Settings” in the side menu. Items are grouped into the following four groups.

15.1 Display Group

Colors

Customize the app’s colors. Choose a preset theme or change individual colors.

Colors you can change individually:

Item	Description
Main color	Accent color used for buttons and selected items
Sub color	Supplementary accent color
Background color	Overall screen background color
Card color	Background color of cards and dialogs
Text color	Default text color
Error color	Color of error messages

Preset themes:

Yalkey Dark, Yalkey Light, Magenta, Izumi, Nuance Pink, Underground Passage, Amethyst, Lavender, Turquoise, Night Blue, Cobalt Green, Topaz, New Era, Summit, Thousand Winds, Skyline, Rainbow, Rose Garden, Splash, Basil, Lilac, Citrus Mint, Yellow Gold, Midnight, Lightning, Gateau Chocolat, Matcha, Terrace, Ruby

Font

Change the typeface used throughout the app. Selecting a typeface applies it immediately. The selected typeface is marked with a check mark.

Typeface	Characteristics
Noto Serif JP	Mincho — elegant, formal feel
Murecho	Gothic — clean, modern feel
Zen Maru Gothic	Rounded gothic — soft, friendly feel
DotGothic16	Dot — retro game feel
Roboto	Standard gothic — simple and readable

Date format

Change the date display format used in the app. Choose from the following 5 formats in the dialog.

Format	Example
yyyy/MM/dd	2026/04/05
yyyy-MM-dd	2026-04-05
MM/dd/yyyy	04/05/2026
dd/MM/yyyy	05/04/2026
yyyy.MM.dd	2026.04.05

Background image

Set a custom image as the home screen background. Tap “Background image” to choose an image file from your device, and it becomes the home screen background. The current file name is shown below the setting. You can also remove the image (revert to default).

15.2 General Group

Value of Life

See “22. Value of Life (Hourly Rate)” for details.

Bottom Nav Settings

Customize the items shown in the bottom tabs.

Tap “Bottom Nav Settings” in settings
“Record” is always shown (cannot be changed)
Choose exactly 4 items from the following:

Option	Destination
Statistics	Statistics and charts page
Record list	Activity record list page
Categories	Category list page
Diary	Diary list page
Goal quota	Goal quota list page
Achievements	Achievements page
Countdown	Countdown page
Ideal Day	Ideal Day list page
Reflection	Reflection page
Idle detail	Idle time detail page
Category detail	Detail page of a specific category (each category can be selected as a slot)

Tap “Save” with exactly 4 items selected. You can drag to reorder selected items.

Notifications

Shown only on mobile. See “14. Notifications” for details.

15.3 Data and Sync Group

Cloud sync

The page that manages both multi-device sync and cloud backup. See “17. Cloud Sync and Cloud Backup” for details.

Google Calendar integration

Shown only on mobile. See “18. Google Calendar Integration” for details.

Offline backup

On-device backup. See “16. Backup and Restore” for details.

CSV import

See “19. CSV Import” for details.

15.4 Other Group

Item	Action
Help	Opens the help page in the browser (Japanese or English depending on app language)
Contact	Opens the contact page (yalkey.net/contact/) in the browser
Privacy policy	Opens the privacy policy (yalkey.net/policy/) in the browser
Licenses	Shows license information for libraries used by the app

15.5 About Languages

The display language is determined automatically by the device’s system language. Twenty languages are supported. If the device language is not supported, English is used.

16. Backup and Restore

Tap “Offline backup” in settings to open the on-device backup management screen.

16.1 Automatic Backup

An automatic backup is created on the device when the app starts. “Last automatic backup: date/time” appears at the top of the screen (“No data” if there is none).

16.2 Restoring an Automatic Backup

Tap “Restore from automatic backup”
The “Are you sure you want to restore?” confirmation appears
Tap “OK”
“Restore complete” appears on success

Note: Restoring will erase the current data and replace it with the data at the time of the automatic backup. If no backup exists, “No backup found” is shown.

16.3 Manually Saving a Backup

Tap “Save backup data manually”
iOS: saved automatically into the Timelook folder under “On My iPhone” (a description message is shown)
Android: a folder picker appears for you to choose where to save

The file name follows the format “timelook_database_YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS.db”.

16.4 Loading Backup Data

Tap “Load backup data”
Choose a .db file in the file picker (non-.db files cause an error)
The “Are you sure you want to overwrite the current data?” confirmation appears
Tap “OK”
On success the data is loaded

Note: The current data is fully overwritten. An automatic backup of the current data is created before loading. On Android, depending on the device, you may be asked for storage access permissions.

17. Cloud Sync and Cloud Backup

Tap “Cloud sync” in settings to open the page that manages cloud sync and cloud backup. This page covers both multi-device sync and cloud backup.

17.1 Choosing a Provider

While not connected, you can connect to Google Drive to start cloud sync and backup.

Provider	Description
Google Drive	Connect via Google account login. You can optionally set an encryption passphrase

Encryption option

When connecting to Google Drive, you can choose whether to enable encryption. If enabled, you’ll be asked to enter a passphrase (at least 8 characters, including letters and digits) and confirm it. With encryption enabled, data stored in the cloud is end-to-end encrypted.

17.2 Layout After Connection

After connecting, the page is divided into 3 sections.

Sync section

Sync status card — current sync state shown via icon and text (Synced, Uploading, Downloading, Error, Preparing, etc.)
“Sync now” button — immediately runs a sync (the button is disabled with a spinner during sync)
Connected account info — provider name (Google Drive, etc.) and email
Last sync time (if any)
Unresolved conflicts — if any, the count is shown in red and tapping moves to the resolution screen

Backup section

Last backup time
“Back up now” button — immediately backs up to the cloud
“Restore” button — choose from the list of cloud backups to restore
Toggle for automatic cloud backup
Toggle for Wi-Fi only

Danger zone

“Disconnect” — disconnect sync and backup (with confirmation)
“Delete cloud data” — delete all sync/backup data on the cloud (with confirmation)

17.3 Restoring from the Cloud

Tap “Restore”
The list of backups appears (sorted by date)
Choose the backup to restore
The confirmation dialog appears
Tap “OK”

Note: Restoring will erase current data and replace it with the chosen backup’s data.

17.4 Resolving Conflicts

If you change the same record differently on multiple devices, a conflict can occur. When there are conflicts, a count appears in the sync section, and tapping it shows the conflict list.

18. Google Calendar Integration

Imports Google Calendar events into Timelook so you can compare them with actual activity records. Available on mobile only.

18.1 Google Calendar Integration Page

Tap “Google Calendar integration” in settings to see the following 3 menus.

Menu	Description
Google Calendar login	Sign in with a Google account and select calendars
Vertical comparison	Compare actual activities, calendar events, and the Ideal Day stacked vertically
Horizontal comparison	Compare actual activities, calendar events, and the Ideal Day stacked horizontally

18.2 Logging into Google Calendar

Tap “Google Calendar login”
If not signed in, the “Login” button is shown
Tap to sign in with a Google account (read-only access)
After login, your account info (email, display name) appears
The calendar selection section appears

Selecting calendars

After login, all calendars in your Google Calendar are listed with checkboxes.

Each calendar’s name and description (if any) are shown
Calendar color is shown as a circle on the left
Events from checked calendars appear on the reflection page
You can select multiple calendars
Selections are saved automatically

Logout

While signed in, tap “Logout” to disconnect from Google Calendar.

18.3 Use in Reflection

While signed into Google Calendar, opening the reflection page shows events from your selected calendars in the timetable. Side-by-side with actual activity records, you can verify whether you acted as planned.

19. CSV Import

19.1 What is CSV Import

A feature to bulk import activity records from an external CSV file.

19.2 CSV File Format

Create a CSV file in the following format:

category name, start time, end time, memo (optional)

Example:

Work, 2026-01-15T09:00:00, 2026-01-15T12:30:00, Morning tasks
Eat, 2026-01-15T12:30:00, 2026-01-15T13:30:00,
Study, 2026-01-15T13:30:00, 2026-01-15T17:00:00, Programming study

Column	Content	Required	Format
Column 1	Category name	Yes	Must exactly match a category registered in the app
Column 2	Start time	Yes	ISO 8601 format (e.g., 2026-01-15T09:00:00)
Column 3	End time	Yes	ISO 8601 format (e.g., 2026-01-15T17:00:00)
Column 4	Memo	No	Free text

19.3 Import Steps

Tap “CSV import” in settings
Tap the “Choose CSV file” button
Pick a .csv file in the file picker (non-.csv files cause an error)
Validation results are listed — each row shows a row number and status icon

Status icon	Meaning
Clock icon (gray)	Pending (validated, awaiting import)
Spinner	Importing
Check (green)	Successfully imported
Cross (red)	Error (the error message is shown in red)

Verify rows without errors and tap “Register data” (the button is enabled even when error rows exist)
The confirmation dialog appears with cautions (possible duplicates, do not close the app during import, etc.)
Tap “Confirm”
A progress dialog shows a counter and per-row results in real time. You can stop midway with “Cancel”

Common error types:

Insufficient columns — fewer than 3
Too many columns — 5 or more
Invalid start time format — cannot be parsed by DateTime.parse
Invalid end time format
Start time is after end time
Category does not exist — category name not registered in the app

Tap the “Valid CSV file format” link to open the help page in the browser (Japanese or English by language). If you import incorrectly, restore the most recent automatic backup.

20. Home Screen Widgets

You can place widgets on your phone’s home screen that always show Timelook information. Both iOS and Android are supported.

20.1 Types of Widgets

Widget	Content
Recording widget	Shows the top sessions currently being recorded. Lists each session’s category name, color, and elapsed time (real-time updated). If more sessions exist, shows the remaining count as “+N”
Recording widget (small)	A space-saving version that shows only the first session being recorded (category name, color, elapsed time). If others exist, shows “+N”. Available as a small home-screen widget and lock-screen wide widget on iOS, and as a 1×2-cell wide widget on Android
Dashboard widget	Shows today’s total recording time and rate, top 3 category breakdown, and the match rate with the Ideal Day or wasted time amount (with currency symbol)
Goal widget	Shows the top 3 in-progress goal quotas with category name, achievement rate (%), and a progress bar
Countdown widget	Shows the top 3 registered event countdowns with event name and remaining time (independent of any current recording)

20.2 Adding Widgets

Open “How to add widgets” in the side menu to see step-by-step instructions for iOS and Android.

iOS: long-press the home screen to enter edit mode, tap “+” at the top-left, search for “Timelook”, choose your widget and size, and tap “Add Widget”.

Android: long-press the home screen and choose “Widgets”, scroll to “Timelook” in the widget list, and drag your preferred widget anywhere on the home screen.

20.3 Data Updates

Widget data is automatically refreshed when the app launches or returns to the foreground, and when recordings start or stop.

20.4 Shortcuts and Automation

You can start, stop, or switch Timelook recordings from iOS Shortcuts or Android automation apps (Tasker / MacroDroid / Automate, etc.). See “Shortcuts and automation” in the side menu for the specific steps and copyable action names.

Common use cases

Tap an NFC tag to automatically start the “Work” category
Connect to a specific Wi-Fi to start the “At home” category
Connect to Bluetooth headphones to start the “Commute” category
Use a bedtime automation to stop all recordings at once

Available actions

Action	Description
Start recording	Start a new recording in the specified category. If the same category is already recording, no duplicate is added (to prevent automation triggers from re-firing). Manual concurrent recording from the UI is still allowed
Stop recording	If a category is specified, stop all sessions recording in that category. Without a category, stop all currently recording sessions
Stop all recordings	Stop all currently recording sessions at once (no category needed)
Switch recording	Stop all currently recording sessions and start a new recording in the specified category (all are stopped even when recording multiple)
Get today’s total	Returns today’s total recording time
Get recording categories	Returns the names of currently recording categories. With multiple, returns them comma-separated (e.g., “Study, Music”)

21. Idle Time and Time Waste

21.1 What is Idle Time

In Timelook, time when no activity is being recorded is called “idle time” (unrecorded time). Gaps between the end of a previous record and the start of the next, and time today that has not yet been recorded, are included.

21.2 “Wasting Time” Display

When no recording is active, the home screen shows “Wasting time: ¥XXX”. Based on your “Value of Life (hourly rate)” setting, the unrecorded time since the last stop is converted to money. The amount increases in real time every second.

Example: with the rate set to 3,000 yen and 30 minutes of no recording → “Wasting time: ¥1,500”.

Note: No money is actually deducted. This is a visual reminder of the value of time.

21.3 Idle Time Detail

Choose “Categories” from the side menu
Tap the “Idle” (unrecorded time) item in the category list
The idle time detail screen appears, showing each idle gap with its cost, total time statistics, and a line chart of the trend

You can also add “Idle detail” to the bottom tabs in the bottom nav settings for quick access.

22. Value of Life (Hourly Rate)

22.1 What is the Value of Life

A feature where you set “how much one hour of your life is worth” as a money amount. The setting is used to convert time to money in various places throughout the app.

22.2 How to Set

Tap “Value of Life” in settings
Choose a currency from the dropdown (20 currencies supported)
The currency symbol updates automatically
Enter the amount per hour
Choose the number of decimal places (0, 1, 2, or 3)
Tap “Save”

22.3 Decimal Places

Setting	Example
0 digits	1,234
1 digit	1,234.0
2 digits	1,234.00
3 digits	1,234.000

22.4 Supported Currencies (20)

Currency	Symbol
US Dollar (USD)	$
Euro (EUR)	€
Japanese Yen (JPY)	¥
British Pound (GBP)	£
Australian Dollar (AUD)	A$
Canadian Dollar (CAD)	C$
Swiss Franc (CHF)	CHF
Chinese Yuan (CNY)	¥
Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)	HK$
New Zealand Dollar (NZD)	NZ$
Swedish Krona (SEK)	kr
Singapore Dollar (SGD)	S$
Norwegian Krone (NOK)	kr
Mexican Peso (MXN)	$
Russian Ruble (RUB)	₽
Taiwan Dollar (TWD)	NT$
Korean Won (KRW)	₩
Indian Rupee (INR)	₹
Brazilian Real (BRL)	R$
Thai Baht (THB)	฿

22.5 Where it is Used

Location	Display
Home screen (not recording)	“Wasting time: ¥XXX” — wasted amount of unrecorded time increases in real time
Home screen (recording)	“Time investment: ¥XXX” — time being recorded converted to money
Activity record detail	Shows the “amount used” for that record
Statistics page	Total amount per category
Reflection page	Money equivalent per category

23. Reporting Bugs

If you find a bug, please report it via the review section on the App Store / Google Play, or through the contact form on the official site. Including the app version, OS version, device name, and reproduction steps helps us identify the cause smoothly.

24. Frequently Asked Questions

Does recording continue when I close the app?

Yes. The recording state is saved on the device, so recording continues even if you close the app or restart your device. Next time you open the app, the previous recording is restored and the elapsed time is shown correctly.

Can I edit past records?

Yes. Tap the record in the list, then tap “Edit” on the detail screen to open the edit screen, where you can modify the category, start/end times, and memo.

What is the maximum number of categories?

You can create up to 20 categories. Once you reach the limit, you can’t add new ones. You can hide categories you no longer use to remove them from the list (data is retained).

What is the maximum number of Ideal Days?

Up to 5.

What is the maximum number of Goal Quotas?

There is no limit. Create as many as you like. Achieved goals can be archived to hide them.

How do I make important records stand out?

Activity records have a pin feature. Pin a record by swiping or long-pressing in the list, and it will be fixed at the top of the list.

Can I migrate data to another device?

Yes. There are 3 ways. (1) Manually save a .db file via offline backup and load it on the new device. (2) Use the backup feature on the cloud sync page to restore on the new device. (3) Use cloud sync’s data sync feature to sync data automatically.

I’m not getting notifications.

Check the following: (1) Notifications for Timelook are allowed in the device settings. (2) Each in-app notification setting is enabled (switch on). (3) On Android, exclude Timelook from battery optimization. (4) Notifications are only available on mobile devices (iOS/Android).

What happens if records overlap?

If a manual entry overlaps with an existing record, a confirmation dialog appears. Tap “Overwrite and save” to shorten the existing record, or “Save as overlapping record” to keep both records overlapping. With the stopwatch method, you can record multiple activities at the same time.

How do I revert the theme color?

In settings under “Colors”, tap a theme from the preset list to apply that theme’s colors all at once. The default is “Yalkey Dark”.

How many diaries can I create per day?

Only one per day. Trying to create a second one for the same day shows an error. Maximum length is 5,000 characters. The diary list also includes a calendar view, monthly count statistics, and a streak display.

Can I change the bottom tab buttons?

Yes. In settings under “Bottom Nav Settings”, you can freely place 4 items besides “Record” from 10 base options and the detail page of each category.

Can I set a background image?

Yes. In settings under “Background image”, you can choose an image file from your device to set as the home screen background.

Can I add widgets to the home screen?

Yes. On both iOS and Android, you can place the recording widget, dashboard widget, goal widget, and countdown widget on the home screen.

Can I import Google Calendar events?

Yes. From settings under “Google Calendar integration”, sign in with a Google account and you can compare calendar events with actual activities on the reflection page.

Can I sync data across multiple devices?

Yes. From settings under “Cloud sync”, connect to Google Drive to sync your data. An encryption option is also available.

Can I import activity records from another app?

Yes. From settings under “CSV import”, you can load CSV files to bulk import activity records. The CSV format is automatically validated on load.

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