Start a timer
One timer, everywhere. Start it on the Watch and stop it on the Mac — it is the same timer, and it appears on every other device within a second.
Before you start
There is one running timer, and every device shows it. Start it on your Watch on the way in, and it is running on the Mac when you sit down. Stop it on the phone and the Mac stops too.
A timer becomes a Time Entry when it stops: labor for a Client, on a date, in minutes. You can start it before you know who it is for — the Client is asked when you stop, not when you start.
Every entry records where the work happened: Remote, In-shop, On-site or Travel.
A timer can be paused, and a paused timer’s elapsed time stops moving.
Steps
- Open Sales › Time and choose Start, or press ⌘K and type “start timer”.
- The timer bar shows the running time.
- Choose Stop. The Time Entry form opens with the duration filled in.
- Set the Client, the Service, whether it is billable, and the work type.
- Click the blossom in the menu bar and choose Start timer, or press ⌘K in Pippin.
- The elapsed time shows in the menu bar, so it is visible whatever app you are in.
- Stop from the menu bar. The Time Entry sheet opens with the duration filled in.
- Open Time and tap Start, or use the timer widget on your Home Screen.
- Stop from the same place, then assign the Client and Service.
- Open the Time tab and tap Start — or tap a Home Screen widget, or ask Siri: “Start a Pippin timer for Northwind.”
- A Live Activity shows the running time on the Lock Screen.
- Tap Stop, fill in the Client and Service, and save.
Good to know
A billable entry snapshots its rate from the Service when it is entered. Raising a Service’s price next month does not quietly reprice work already logged.
Asking Siri for a timer without naming a Service starts a non-billable one, and Siri says so out loud. A spoken confirmation that sounds like billable work being tracked when it is not is a difference you would otherwise discover at invoicing, which is the worst possible place for it. Name the Service — “start a timer for Northwind on Managed Support” — and Siri names the rate back to you.
A Work Item groups this and future time under one project for a Client, which is worth setting when the work spans more than a visit.