Support

OwnTime is a time-tracking app for iPhone and Apple Watch that helps you notice which of the things you care about you're currently neglecting.

Use OwnTime on your iPhone, your Apple Watch, or both. Each device works on its own; when both are paired, they stay in sync automatically over Apple's WatchConnectivity — no account and no server involved.

Get in touch

Have a question, a bug report, or a feature idea? Email support@owntime.app and we'll get back to you.

A few basics

• Add your priorities. On iPhone or Apple Watch, add the things that matter and give each a colour and a daily budget.
• Track as your day unfolds. Start and stop sessions on whichever device is at hand — your wrist or your phone — and the other follows along (with a Live Activity on iPhone).
• Budget alerts. Every priority alarms you when its daily budget runs out, and you can add an optional earlier “wrap-up” notification to start finishing up.

Alerts & permissions

OwnTime has two kinds of budget alert, each with its own iOS permission. The budget-reached alarm uses the system alarm feature, so it reaches you even through Focus or silent mode. The earlier wrap-up notification is a gentler, time-sensitive heads-up. The first time you create a priority, iOS asks for permission to schedule alarms.

• Budget-reached alarm (always on). While a priority's session is running, OwnTime alarms you the moment its daily budget is fully spent. This one stays an alarm precisely because it should cut through silent mode.
• Wrap-up notification (optional). Turn this on for a given priority to also get an earlier heads-up — a set number of minutes before the budget runs out — so you have time to wrap notes and close out almost-done work. It arrives as a time-sensitive notification (it can break through Focus, though not the ringer switch), and it asks for notification permission the first time you turn it on.
• Turning alarms off — and keeping alerts. To stop the budget-reached alarm for all priorities, withdraw OwnTime's alarm permission in Settings › OwnTime on your iPhone. OwnTime respects that choice and schedules no alarms; the priority editor shows that alarms are off and offers a shortcut back to Settings. The wrap-up notification keeps working — and while alarms are off, the editor adds a wrap-up option that fires right when the budget runs out, so you can still get a budget alert with notifications alone.

Why doesn’t a Live Activity appear on my iPhone when I start on the Watch?

When you start a session on your Apple Watch while your iPhone is locked or the app is in the background, the running session shows on your watch straight away, but the iPhone Live Activity may not appear until you next open OwnTime on the phone. If the whole session happens while the phone is asleep, it may not show a phone Live Activity at all.

This is a deliberate consequence of OwnTime’s fully local design. Apple only lets an app start a Live Activity from the background by way of a push notification sent from a server — and OwnTime has no server, no account, and no device tracking. We think keeping everything on your own devices is the better trade — so the watch always shows the live session, and the phone catches up the moment you open it.

Your privacy

OwnTime keeps everything on your own devices — no account, no server, no tracking. See the privacy policy for details.