How to use Untimer
A session from the first hold to the break, and the 4 screens around it. This guide covers each control and what it does.
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Stopping a session early
A session you stop adds no time to the day. It stays on the record with its real length. Here is why Untimer counts it that way and why it counts returns instead of streaks.
When a session runs its full 25 minutes, the message box says You focused for 25 minutes. When you press Stop, the hourglass goes back to rest. The sand returns to the bottom. A soft low note plays if sound is on. You can wind the hourglass again straight away. The set count stays where it was.
What counts
A session counts when it runs its full 25 minutes. A stopped session adds no time to the day. It stays out of the session count and the minutes focused. It also stays out of the hours you work best and the run of days. The message box stays quiet about it, because a line would read as a verdict.
Untimer used to count a stopped session. The box said you showed up for 7 minutes, and 7 minutes went into the day’s total. It read well and it was wrong. A day of 6 sessions stopped early reported nearly 3 hours of focus. The person reading it knew they had not done 3 hours of anything. People rely on a total like that, so it has to be right.
What is recorded
Each session keeps the length it was planned to be and the length it ran. It keeps how it ended. It keeps the interruptions you noticed and whether each one came from inside or outside. It keeps the task you named and the time zone you were in. Untimer records the exact length. A session stopped after 40 seconds is recorded as 40 seconds.
A stopped session stays on the record with its length and how it ended. The Download my data button in Settings exports all your sessions as one JSON file. The stopped ones are in it too. The record says what happened. The figures say what counted.
Keeping a record helps on its own. In 2009 Michie and colleagues reviewed techniques for changing behaviour. They found that keeping track of what you do is one of the most effective. It works better with feedback and a look back at what you intended. So Untimer records your sessions. It shows you the record and lets you look back.
Reset, Stop and End the break
Reset puts the running session back to its full 25 minutes. It keeps the same session with the same task and interruptions. That session counts if it runs its full length. Stop ends the session. End the break stops a break the moment you have had enough. The record stays as it was. Only a break that runs to the end counts toward Breaks taken.
Returns instead of streaks
Many apps use a streak to bring you back. A streak works by threat. Miss 1 day and the number you built drops to zero. The app counts on you feeling that loss more than any day you kept.
Untimer shows Active days instead. It counts how many of the last 45 days had at least one session, for example 41 of 45. A missed day lowers the count by 1. It does not reset you to zero. You see how often you come back.
Research on habits backs this up. In 2010 Lally and colleagues followed people forming new daily habits. The time it took ranged from a few weeks to most of a year. The middle was around 2 months. Missing a single day made little difference to how the habit formed.
Information instead of points
Untimer gives you the facts of your own work. Motivation research explains why. In 1999 Deci, Koestner and Ryan combined 128 experiments. They found that a tangible reward people expect for an activity lowers their own motivation for it. The task they were paid for became a task they did for the pay. Feedback that told people about their work left their motivation intact.
A timer that pays you in points for focusing wears down your own reason to focus. So Untimer gives you information. It tells you how long you focused and when. It tells you how each session ended and what pulled you away. The days list and the export are free.
Milestones
Untimer has 54 milestones in 4 groups. They recognise your work instead of paying you for it. What milestones mark explains them.
2 milestones are about coming back. Back after a week away appears when you return after more than a week without a session. Many apps would spend that week sending you warnings about your streak. Untimer stays quiet through it. When you come back the message box announces the milestone once. Started again appears when you stop a session early and start another one the same day.
These 2 have no levels. Progress toward coming back would be progress toward leaving, so Untimer shows none. When one happens again, the card shows the latest date. It leaves out a tally, because a tally is a number you would feel you had to grow.
Stopping after 7 minutes
You wind the hourglass. After 7 minutes something comes up and you press Stop.
The set count holds where it was. Untimer skips the break, because the work was short. The hourglass is one hold away when you want to go again. If you start again that day, Started again marks the second session.
The next day the app looks the same. The sand is at the bottom and the hourglass is ready to wind. Untimer’s messages are written to read well after a bad day.
