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User Guide

Everything you need to know about Time Spender

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Overview

What is Time Spender?

Time Spender is a one-tap activity tracker for Android. Start a timer, live your day, and review exactly where your time went — no accounts, no subscriptions, all data stays on your device.

Four screens

  • Dashboard — start/stop timers, see what's running
  • Journal — full history grouped by day
  • Analytics — charts and totals by day / week / month
  • Settings — create and manage your activities
🏠

Dashboard

Starting & stopping timers
1
Open the app — you land on Dashboard.
2
Activity tiles are grouped by category. Tap any tile to start the timer for that activity.
3
The Active Timer card appears at the top — shows the name, icon and live elapsed time.
4
Tap the red STOP button to end the session. It's saved automatically to your Journal.
5
Tapping a different activity while one is running stops the current one and starts the new one.
Tip: The timer keeps running in the background — close the app and come back later to stop it.
⚡

Parallel Mode

Track two things at once

Listening to a podcast while cooking? Music while working? Parallel mode lets you track both without interrupting the main timer.

1
Start a main activity first (e.g. Work).
2
A "Start Parallel" button appears in the Activities header. Tap it — it turns yellow.
3
Tap any tile (e.g. Headphones). It starts as a parallel session — main timer continues unchanged.
4
Parallel sessions appear below the main card, each with its own individual STOP button.
Note: Parallel activities are tracked separately in Journal and Analytics.
➕

Forgotten Activity

Log something you missed
1
Tap the ⊕ circle icon in the top-right of Dashboard or Journal.
2
A panel slides up. Select the activity from the grid.
3
Pick the date, then the start and end time.
4
Enable Parallel Activity if it overlapped with something else.
5
Tap "Add Activity". The app automatically adjusts any overlapping sessions.
📒

Journal

Your complete history

Viewing history

Sessions grouped by day, newest first. Each entry shows icon, name, start/end time, and duration.

Editing an entry

Tap any entry to edit its end time — useful if you forgot to stop the timer.

Deleting an entry

  • Swipe left on any entry.
  • Confirm deletion in the dialog.
📊

Analytics & PDF Export

Understand your patterns

Time periods

  • Today — from midnight to now
  • This Week — Monday through today
  • This Month — 1st of the month through today
  • All Time ⭐ — your complete history since day one (Premium)

Pie chart

Each activity gets a coloured slice proportional to its share of your time. Percentages shown on slices > 6%.

Export to PDF ⭐ Premium

  • Tap the PDF icon (top-right of Analytics).
  • The PDF includes period, total time, and full activity breakdown.
  • Share via email, save to files, or print.
⚙️

Settings

Manage your activities

➕ Add new activity

  • Tap the yellow + button (bottom-right).
  • Enter name, choose group, pick colour and icon.
  • Tap "Create Activity".
  • Free plan allows up to 3 custom activities. Upgrade to Premium for unlimited.

✏️ Edit activity

Tap the pencil icon on any row to edit name, group, colour or icon.

🗑 Delete activity

  • Swipe left on any custom activity and confirm.
  • ⚠️ All linked time entries are also deleted.
  • Default activities (marked "Default") cannot be deleted.
⭐

Premium

Unlock the full experience

What's included in Premium

  • Unlimited custom activities — free plan is limited to 3
  • All Time analytics — see your complete history at a glance
  • PDF export — generate and share activity reports

How to unlock

  1. Tap any Premium feature (🔒 icon) — or go to Dashboard → About App → Upgrade.
  2. The Premium sheet appears showing the one-time price.
  3. Tap "Unlock Premium" and complete the Google Play purchase.
  4. Premium is activated instantly — no restart needed.

Restore a purchase

If you reinstall the app or switch devices, tap "Restore Purchase" on the Premium sheet. Your purchase is tied to your Google Play account and will be restored automatically.

Note: Premium is a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring charges.
📢

Ads

How advertising works in Time Spender

Banner ad

Free users see a small banner ad at the bottom of the screen, just above the navigation bar. The ad is served by Google AdMob and helps keep the app free for everyone.

  • The banner is non-intrusive — no pop-ups, no full-screen ads.
  • It appears on all screens for free users.
  • No personal data is sold. AdMob uses standard Google ad targeting.

Remove ads ⭐

Upgrade to Premium to remove all ads permanently. The banner disappears instantly after purchase — no restart needed.

Tap About App → Upgrade to Premium or tap any 🔒 Premium feature to unlock.

Note: If you see no ad, it means the ad network had no fill for your region at that moment — this is normal.
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Tips & Tricks

Get the most out of the app

🔄 Build a habit

Make starting a timer the first thing you do when switching tasks — even small ones like making coffee.

🌙 Track sleep

Start Sleep before bed, stop it when you wake up. After a week, Analytics shows your sleep pattern clearly.

📤 Weekly review

Every Monday, open Analytics → This Week and export a PDF. A simple habit to reflect and plan.

🎯 Use groups

Assign activities to the right group — Work, Health, Leisure — to keep the Dashboard organised and Analytics easier to read.