Wastime
Account
Account gathers what concerns the app as a whole. Its backup keeps everything you have recorded and brings it back on a new phone, and its settings let the app open on the screen you need, show only the features you use and remind you to write down the day.
An account isn't needed for any of this, since everything here works on the phone itself, and signing in matters only for the few things that happen outside it.
Guides
Back up your data
Make a backup file of everything you keep in Wastime and save a copy of it somewhere outside your phone.
Restore your data from a backup
Bring a Wastime backup into the app on a new phone, adding it to what is there or replacing everything with it.
Set your name and date format
Put your name on your Wastime profile and choose how dates look across the app, with no account needed.
Choose your home screen
Make Wastime open straight on the feature you use most, such as Calendars, instead of the grid of tiles.
Choose which features you see
Hide the parts of Wastime you don't use and give the tiles you open most a bigger place on the home screen.
Set a reminder to log your time
Ask Wastime to remind you every evening, or on the days you choose, to write down where your time went.
Choose what the app may report
Decide whether Wastime may send anonymous usage statistics, crash reports and performance data, and change your mind any time.
Reorder the menu
Put the features you open most at the top of the Wastime menu and the home screen by dragging them into place.
Questions and answers
Do I need an account to use Wastime?
No. Everything you record lives on your phone and works without signing in, the profile and the backups included. An account is needed only for what happens outside the phone, such as publishing a calendar.
Where is my backup kept, and will it disappear with the app?
The file goes into a folder of the app itself. On an iPhone the Files app doesn't show that folder, and the file is removed together with the app, so a copy you can rely on is the one you send elsewhere with Share Backup File, as Back up your data shows. On Android the backups also land in Documents, under Wastime and then Backups.
Does a backup go anywhere by itself?
No. Making a backup happens on the phone, and the file leaves it only when you share it yourself.
What goes into a backup?
Everything you leave ticked on the first step of Export Data, and everything is ticked to begin with. Your reminders are the one thing a backup doesn't carry, so on a new phone they are set up again under Reminders.
Should I choose Merge or Clean?
Merge suits most cases. It adds what is new in the file and keeps the rest of your data, and where a record is in both places the version from the file wins. Clean wipes the phone first and puts the backup in its place, which is right for a new phone where there is nothing of your own yet, as Restore your data from a backup shows.
Can I get my data back after Clean?
Only from another backup. Clean deletes what was on the phone before the file goes in, and the app asks you to confirm because there is no way to undo it.
Why are Safe and Unsafe greyed out?
They are listed among the ways to import, and both are "Not available for now".
How do I change my profile photo?
Tap the camera button on the round photo at the top of Account, pick or take a picture, crop it and save it.
Can I change my email address?
No. Profile shows the address only when you have signed in with one, and there it can't be edited.
Why can't I hide one of the features?
It is the screen the app opens on, marked "(home)" in Setup features. Choose another home screen first, as Choose your home screen shows, and then the feature can be hidden.
Why don't my reminders arrive?
Most often the phone wasn't allowed to show notifications from Wastime, or the switch of the reminder is off. On some phones, Android ones especially, saving the battery also stops the app from working in the background, and the button with a question mark on Reminders explains what to check.
What do the switches in Settings do?
Haptics feedback lets the phone answer your taps with a light vibration, and Animations can be switched off if the app feels slow. Show statistics after each entry shows what a saved entry changed in your averages, and Total hours animation makes the totals of Time Entry count up. Highlight Journey on home keeps the red frame on the Journey tile until you have read its chapters, and Life timer shows the timer on Calendars and Statistics.
Can I change the language of the app?
Language in Settings is where it will be, and for now the app is in English only.
How do I reset the app to its default settings?
Open Data & Privacy, tap Reset to default app settings and confirm with Yes. After a countdown of ten seconds the app closes itself, and the next time you open it the settings are back at their defaults, while the entries, the calendars and everything else you recorded stay in place.
How do I delete my account, and what happens to the data on my phone?
This is for those who signed in. Tap Delete account in Data & Privacy, choose a reason, type "DELETE ACCOUNT" and confirm, and after a final countdown of ten seconds the account is deleted. The data on your phone stays where it is. Without signing in, there is no account to delete, and the app says so.
How do I sign in, and what if I forgot my password?
Login at the bottom of the menu opens the sign-in screen, with your email and password or Sign in with Google, and on an iPhone Sign in with Apple as well. Forgot Password? sends a link to set a new password to your email.
Where do I find the messages from the app?
Behind the envelope at the top right of Account. They come from the internet, so the list fills only while you are online.
How do I send feedback or rate the app?
Give us feedback on Account opens a screen with Send feedback, where you can write to the team, and Rate us, which opens the page of the app in the store.
Get the app
Everything in these guides happens in the Wastime app, which keeps your calendars and diary on your phone and works offline.
