Hours Tracker: Time Tracking 4+

Awesome & Intuitive

I have multiple individual projects that I must keep track of, all for the same general client. This has solved so many problems for me I can’t even begin to tell you. I can clock in and clock out, add entries manually, change time window if I need to, and utilize tags to make sure that I’m keeping track of specific activity within each job. It allows me to look at weekly activity, monthly, etc. and also eliminates the need to keep manual timesheets on paper which I tend to lose and I’m not very good about remembering. It’s also designed for the way that work normally happens, which means that I get pulled in for five or 10 minutes to work on an email, or maybe a longer period of time for a bigger part of the assignment, and then switch gears to something else. I’m able to do this almost effortlessly and it keeps track of my time to the minute. So I’m not guessing whether I spent 5, 10, or 20 minutes on something. You DO have to be disciplined in order to use it effectively, but I’m getting better at it and I’m finding that it really is a wonderful way to keep track of billable time. I keep my iPhone in a stand with the app open and whenever I switch to a particular task I clock in, and then when I’m done I clock out. It keeps everything organized and I am super happy with it. I suppose the interface could be sexier, but it gets the job done and I can’t think of an application that would do it any better than this one.

When it works, it’s seamless and brilliant...until...?

What prompted me to write this review is missing three days worth of punches, and not having any sort of alternate follow up available to be able to figure out when and where I was.

This is an app I’ve used for years and actually love it quite a bit. It does everything you need it to do very well, and seamlessly in most cases. I go between locations/buildings quite a bit throughout the day, so it knows where I am and how long I was there, helps keep me aware of how much time I’m spending in one place or another. I even use it for things that are not job related just to help me keep track of how long I spend at certain locations (gym) which is a great time planning tool.

It’s very frustrating though when I go for days at a time having it work great, then for some inexplicable reason it decides not to track anything. The Geo fencing is good, but if it’s not, then you end up running the risk of not having punches tracked. For whatever reason this seems to coincide when I do manual entries, the Geo fencing doesn’t kick in afterwards. Much as I would like to say this is a set-and-forget kind of app, you do actually need to be on top of it to make sure it’s not missing things which to me sort of defeats the purpose. That way you can remember quickly what it was and manually add it.

Please, oh please

Update: One thing I do wish was possible is to edit tax rate on existing jobs. I have 2 pay periods worth of jobs and realized I miscalculated the tax rate (put 6% when it’s actually around 21%). But it seems the only way to fix this is to make new jobs for each of those days with the updated percentage. There’s an edit function, but it doesn’t include the tax percentage.

Keep this updated! One of the most helpful apps I’ve ever had! 😃. Takes a little bit of set up to get tax rates, overtime and double time programmed, but after that it’s as easy as punching in your clock-in/clock-out, adding your breaks and other details if they are relevant, and then it gives you a pretty accurate approximation of your net income. Really nice to be able to see what I can expect on my next check without having to do all the math myself. Free version gives you 3 “jobs” (or if you’re an hourly employee, these would work like hours per day. The paid version, which is $10, gives you unlimited jobs/days, and it keeps them categorized by days, weeks, months, so you can get an overview of how many hours and how much you’ve made total in those categories. I’m finding it well worth the price.

Developer Response ,

In HoursTracker, everything can always be edited. Here's how you can edit the tax percentage for any existing job:

1. Tap the pencil icon to the right of the job's name on the job's details screen to edit the job.
2. Scroll down. The tax percentage is near the bottom of the Edit Job screen.
3. Tap the Done button in the upper right corner when you are finished editing the job.

Note, the new tax rate will be applied to every pay period for that job, including ones in the past. If you want to have a new tax rate that only applies going forward, then you would want to create a new job with that rate, and then track the new time entries under that job so that the existing pay periods can remain as-is.

The best way to create a new job that has the same settings as an existing job is to use the Copy Job function. From the Jobs list, swipe left on the job you want to copy, and then select the Copy button that appears on the right side.