iOS 26 is bringing the biggest redesign to the platform since iOS 7 which came out 12 years ago. It unifies the design across Apple platforms and brings a new material that is meant to mimic how a glass surface would look.

Timelines 4.1 brings compatibility with iOS 26 and watchOS 26, as well as support for the new Liquid Glass design.

Liquid Glass Support

Functionally, most screens feel similar to how they were before, but all the changes in system navigation bars and tab bars, as well as more rounded corners in table views, bring a new feel to the app.

Here are a few examples of what some screens in Timelines look like now:

More improvements

Stacking of overlapping events

Overlapping events are now stacked vertically on the timeline. This makes it much easier to see when you have some overlapping events, regardless of whether they are intentional or not. You can disable this in Settings.

Tap anywhere to control tracking

You can now tap anywhere on a timeline cell to start or stop tracking, even in the List mode. This makes it quite a lot easier to just start and stop timers without having to aim at any specific part of the cell.

A note on Liquid Glass

While there is a lot to like about this exciting new look, I must admit that it took me some time to get used to it. Additionally, during the beta period, there were major bugs in it. Many of those were fixed, but unfortunately, not all of them. Third-party app developers only have limited options in working around those bugs in the system. Most notably, these are the known issues that now affect Timelines:

• switching between tab bar tabs briefly shows content below the top header of the previous screen
• tapping in lists doesn't show a highlight
• legibility in certain places is reduced

Let's hope that Apple can fix these soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the fresh new look—both of iOS and of Timelines! Personally, it took me a while to get used to it, but it grew on me over time and now I mostly like it now. I hope it will be similar for you.
- Lukas

Design Improvements

• Tracking list now has a more modern look.
• Settings screen also got improved.

User Experience Improvements

• New context menu action for adding past entries directly in the Tracking tab.
• Reorganized context menu actions in the Events Log to make adding past entries easier.
• New quick actions for setting the timer start date to the end of the previous event or the present moment.
• Added a new screen in Settings that shows the Apple Watch app status.
• Added explanatory screens for automation with Siri Shortcuts and using widgets.

Performance Improvements

• Optimized app launch speed.
• Starting and stopping timers is now much faster.

Bug Fixes

• You can now confirm Timelines Cloud account later.
• Fixed an issue where the Welcome screen sometimes appeared after the iPhone was restarted.
• Event name suggestions now work correctly with external keyboards.
• Various other smaller bug fixes and improvements.

Timelines 3.10 is now available on the App Store. I hope you'll enjoy this update as much as I enjoyed working on it! And if you have any feedback or questions, don't hesitate to reach out to me at lukas@timelines.app.

Bar chart widgets

Now you can always see a trend of your tracked time at a glance, with the new bar chart home screen widgets. You can configure the interval (last 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, 10 weeks, and 12 months), and also which timelines (categories) you want to see there. You can also enable the average duration to be shown.

Dynamic Type support and modern sheets

Dynamic Type is the name of the feature on iOS that allows iPhone owners to set their preferred text size across all apps. Timelines now respects this setting throughout the app. This is especially useful if you're struggling sometimes to read small text.
In addition, the detail screens when editing events and timelines have been modernized - using the rounded table view style, transparent navigation bar, and also using the system card presentation style.

More improvements

In this update I've also worked hard to improve the reliability of widgets and live activities in general, and also I fixed several small issues when running Timelines for iOS on the Mac.

I'm really excited for this update to be finally finished and available on the App Store. I hope you will enjoy all the improvements, and if you do, please consider writing a review on the App Store - it really helps! Thanks,
- Lukas

Interactive widgets

There is now a new widget that enables you to start and stop your timers directly from your home screen. Honestly, I've been waiting for iOS to bring this functionality for years now, and I'm so glad that it's finally here!

Configurable event names widget

If you track more detail in your tasks, you can now start and stop named events directly from your home screen. This widget is also highly configurable - you can choose to have either recent event names displayed, or a specific set of event names. This is great for building workflows, especially if you have a routine that involves the same set of named events on a daily basis.

Widgets on iPad Lock Screen

You can now follow progress towards your goals, see reporting, and even start and stop timers, right on your iPad Lock Screen.

Stand By

iOS 17 also brings a new Stand By mode that appears when the iPhone is connected to power and in landscape. All Timelines widgets are supported there as well.

And more

In addition to all these improvements, Timelines is now fully compatible with iOS 17 and watchOS 10. I must say that this was a tough update to make it on time, because of all the things I had going on during the summer, but I'm happy about the way that it ultimately turned out. As for the Apple Watch app specifically: I'm planning to do more improvements there to fit better with the new visual style of watchOS 10 - stay tuned for that! And in the meantime - I hope you'll enjoy all these improvements!

Calendar Integration

You can now easily have your calendar events automatically imported into Timelines. There's no need anymore to add your events both into your calendar and into Timelines separately. This has been a highly requested feature for a long time, and I'm so happy to finally make it available to all users.

The way it works is that you can select mappings from a specific calendar to a specific category (timeline). You can also configure the time period that should be used when importing, and whether changes made to events in your calendar after they were already imported into Timelines should be also reflected in those imported events.

Contextual Events Lists

For quite some time, Timelines has featured an Events Log, a screen where users can view and edit their time blocks. However, it was challenging to identify which individual events contributed to your statistics and goal history. This update makes it much easier. You can now directly view and edit events within the context of their reports, enabling you to make adjustments right there and get a clearer understanding of your progress.

I hope you will enjoy this update, and if you do, please consider writing a review on the App Store - it really helps! Thanks,
- Lukas

I'm happy to say that Timelines 3.5 is now finished and available on the App Store! The theme of this update is to make things more convenient and more streamlined, particularly in the areas of reporting and automation.

New reporting widget

Timelines has offered comprehensive statistics since its release, but in this version, I've made it easier to get started with reporting, especially for new users who are just getting started with Timelines.

In the Tracking tab, you'll now find a new reporting widget that shows your tracked time for today. It shows a pie chart and a list of your tracked activities. The widget updates live as you go through your day, and you can also hide it in case you find it distracting.

Additionally, you can choose the time interval you want to view and filter the categories to be displayed.

New Siri Shortcuts

Timelines has supported Siri Shortcuts for a long time, but in this update, it takes advantage of the new App Intents framework, allowing for a much more streamlined setup.

You can now use Timelines with Siri right away, without the need to create shortcuts. Basically, as soon as you create a category in Timelines, and let's say you call it 'work', you can use Siri and say:
"Start tracking work" or "Stop tracking work" to control that timer.

There is also a new shortcut for creating PDF and CSV exports for custom periods, which is especially useful for larger automation workflows.

All these shortcuts now work on Apple Watch as well, and they control the Timelines app on your watch.

New larger Home Screen widget

Similarly to the new reporting widget within Timelines, there is also a new larger Home Screen widget now that also shows your tracked categories and can be configured in the same way - selecting which interval and which timelines should be displayed there:

I hope you will enjoy this update as much as I enjoyed working on it. And as always, if you have a minute to write a review on the App Store, that would be much appreciated!

Goal limits

Since the time I introduced goals in Timelines 2.0, many of you have asked for the ability to define a "limit" instead of a goal - specifying that you want to spend less amount of time than X on a certain activity. Now you can do that.

This is specifically designed to help you spend less time on activities that many consider a poor use of time, such as watching TV, Netflix, or browsing social media.

Goals are marked as limits in the Goals overview, but also in reports and in the goal history. When you get past a limit, there is a raised hand icon next to the goal gently reminding you of that fact.

Also, when you attempt to start a timer in a category where you have already reached your limit, you will get a prompt warning that it's past your allowance - giving you that nudge to take a second look at whether you actually want to continue or not.

Custom date range exports

Since the beginning, Timelines offered the ability to export any day, week, month, or year of your data. But sometimes it's also needed to export data between two arbitrary dates. Well, now you can!

There's a new screen in Settings that facilitates this, as well as provides quick access to the other export options (weekly, monthly, yearly, and all-time).

In this release, I have also fixed some problems with Live activities and improved the sizing and alignment of the timer in Dynamic Island.

I hope you'll enjoy this update as much as I enjoyed working on it. And as always - all feedback is appreciated!

Dynamic Island support

When you start a timer and close Timelines, your active timer will be shown in Dynamic Island. It will display the color of your tracked category and the actual time. This information stays visible regardless of which app you open. You can also tap this Dynamic Island to quickly jump back to Timelines.

You can also long-press the Dynamic Island to show an expanded view - with buttons to stop the timer or to edit it.

Live Activity

In addition to the Dynamic Island support (which only applies to iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max at the time of this writing), Timelines now also offers Live Activity - so you can see your actively tracked category and time right on your Lock Screen. This also works with the always-on display on iPhone 14 Pro.

Goal history

Being able to view the history of your goals has been a frequently requested feature, so I'm really glad to say that it is now a reality. You can now open any of your goals in the Goals tab and see your past performance. Personally, I found that this greatly helps with accountability, as it puts your recent effort in the context of the previous days, weeks, or months of you working towards that goal.

As always, I hope that you enjoy this update, and if you do, please consider rating Timelines on the App Store - it really helps!

Lock Screen widgets

Timelines has already had Home Screen widgets for a while, but now you can use the following widgets even on your Lock Screen.

Tracking widget

Quickly see your currently tracked category and its time. Also, you can tap the widget when no tracking is active to quickly open Timelines and start a timer there.

Timeline widget

See the tracked time in one category. You can customize this widget to select which category you want to see, and also what time interval

Goal widget

This widget is great for seeing at a glance how you are progressing towards one of your goals. You can configure which goal you want to see there.

Focus Filters

Also new in iOS 16, it is now possible to create app-specific filters for your various Focus modes. Timelines takes advantage of that by allowing you to filter which categories you want to have visible per Focus mode. With this, you can specify just work categories for your Work Focus, or only personal categories in your Personal Focus.

Alternative app icons

I'm excited to say that Timelines 3.2 will also feature alternative app icons! You can choose between the default icon, a Dark icon, Watch icon, and last but not least - this gorgeous custom icon created by Michael Flarup:

All these improvements work even in the free version of Timelines. You can get it here: https://appsto.re/i6hB6Kq. And if you like these, please consider rating Timelines on the App Store - it really helps!
- Lukas

Here's custom sync in Timelines, built with @codevapor on the server. Background push notifications keep everything updated. I've spent way too much time on this thing during the past two years😅, but worth it! pic.twitter.com/q1KD17pjbM

— Lukáš Petr (@luksape) July 4, 2022

What makes syncing possible in Timelines is Timelines Cloud - a custom sync solution that I've built from the ground up.

It's been a long journey for me to figure out which way I want to go with sync, and after trying some pre-made solutions such as Ensembles or CloudKit, I ultimately decided to go with a custom solution - building both the client-side and server-side logic for syncing myself. While this was the most difficult option, and I spent way more time and energy on it than I originally envisioned, it has allowed me truly optimize it for my model schema, and to make it very efficient - in terms of minimal data transfer, and also in terms of reliability, performance, and security.

Some technical details

Behind the scenes, the app keeps track of changes occurring on your device and sends them to a central server. The server then notifies your other devices using silent push notifications that new content is available. Changes (inserts, updates, and removals) are contained in changesets, and those are intelligently compressed for better performance.

It is the app's responsibility to first download what's new on the server and then to merge that with what has happened locally, and then to upload that to the server. That way the server always contains a valid history of all the inserts, updates, and deletes that make up each user's dataset.

On the server, I'm using Swift and the Vapor framework. I'm also using Docker for managing deployment and PostgreSQL for storing and querying the changesets.

In terms of some of the specific challenges that came up along the way:

• handling the case when new local changes happen while the app is downloading and processing changes from the server - in that case, these local changes need to be applied again to preserve the same ordering of changes both locally and on the server

• merging local unsynced dataset with what's already on the server

  • for this, I first create a "history" of inserts from the local data, and then I am downloading everything from the server in batches, subtracting from these local inserts. Objects are identified by their unique identifiers, and last edit timestamps are used to identify the same versions of objects (or - if the local insert has a newer timestamp, it's instead turned into an update of what's already on the server). Then, what remains after this subtracting (updates or newer inserts) is uploaded to the server.

• handling the case when a timer is started in the same category on two different devices. If this case wasn't handled properly, there would be a duplicate event. So, after the sync is finished I do a sanitation pass. This also handles the case if edits on different devices were made that would result in an event with a negative duration (its start date being later than the end date).

• performance of fetching large datasets - both changesets uploaded to the server and changesets downloaded to the client are split into batches if they exceed a certain threshold. The app only needs to do a full sync once, and then just updates based on new changesets that were uploaded to the server since the last time the client synced. This is different from the peer-to-peer solutions that sometimes need to do a full sync of the complete dataset even after the original sync has finished, just to get data across devices into a consistent state

• implementing the change tracking itself - fortunately, Core Data has great support for tracking changes, so that helped a lot.

• making sure that state is saved and changes are processed in such a way that even if the app is killed halfway through the sync, it still functions correctly the next time the sync is resumed

• tracking of changes happens at the level of individual attributes, to ensure that if one object is changed on multiple devices at the same time (but on each device a different field is edited), the resulting object after both devices have synced will contain both of these changes

Is Vapor truly production ready?

The concern many developers have with using Vapor is whether it's truly ready to be used in production. Speaking from my experience - yes, it is. Especially now with version 4, and its 7 years of development and maturing.

I've been running a server for managing iOS subscriptions in Timelines that's written in Vapor for two years now. The big advantage you get with Vapor is that you get to use Swift, Xcode, and generally, all the tooling that you are used to if you are an iOS developer. All the type safety and modern features of Swift are heavily used all throughout Vapor.

Another big reason why I was comfortable with using Vapor is that, under the hood, it uses SwiftNIO by Apple. And there is also the Swift Server Workgroup - a team of people both from Apple and from third-party frameworks working together to promote the use of Swift to build server-side applications.

Also, if not more important - Vapor has a vibrant community around it that is super responsive and helpful whenever an issue arises. And - maybe that's entirely subjective - but I find it cool and fascinating to be able to use Swift on the server. There is also something that drew me to go with the project that's been considered an "underdog" compared to Angular and the other more established Javascript or PHP frameworks. To be completely fair - I did run into a few problems that probably wouldn't have happened with other more mature frameworks, but whenever that happened it was always addressed very promptly by the Vapor team.

Acknowledgements

What applies here is that my sync solution truly stands on the shoulder of giants, as the saying goes. I wouldn't have been able to build it if it wasn't for the technologies available, and for the help of specific people, both my friends and people from the community.

I'd like to thank Drew McCormack for building Ensembles, a true changesets-based sync solution for Core Data. While I couldn't use it as a whole in the end, the way change tracking is implemented there was a big inspiration for building my own solution.

I'd like to thank Tim Cordon and the whole core team for their relentless work on Vapor. His talk at iOSDevUK in 2019 got me excited to seriously consider using Vapor for my app. Also, I really appreciate the timely help that I got from the Vapor community on Discord whenever I ran into a problem with Vapor or needed some general help with server-side development - you guys are the best!

I'd also like to thank Cyril Courtelier - my good friend and a very smart developer. He helped me at a critical time with the idea of basing the sync solution on how Git is doing it - that the server should reject incoming changes if there were new changes uploaded since the last time the app has synced with the server. That was a critical piece of the puzzle for me. He also helped me with coming up with sanitation rules to make sure that the resulting data is valid.

Big thanks to Russ Shanahan for his encouragement at a time when I was debating just quitting altogether because it all seemed too difficult and uncertain. His validation of the idea that having a clean history of inserts, updates, and removals stored on the server should make things more reliable was exactly what I needed at the time.

Also, big thanks to all the testers who had been using the sync for months and helped me refine it further.

Also, to all of you who have asked over the years how this is going and have encouraged me along the way - thank you, I really appreciate it!

Timelines 3.0 with this sync mechanism is available starting today. You can get it on the App Store here.