Session Pomodoro Focus Timer 4+

Edit: I’ve been using it for a while now, and the updates, discord server, live actions + shortcut capabilities make this app exceptional to use! Admittedly I haven’t been using it long, but this is a great app! The UI is sleek and very easy to use. The intention and the categorization capabilities are nice, and the free tier has basically all functionality minus the unlimited categorization. Integration with the Calendar app is great. The stand out functionality that I absolutely love is the amount of automation (and through that, customization) of the app. It’s particularly wonderful when you get it to sync through all your devices. I played around with scripting and with “shortcuts” and loved it! I also really loved the notes feature and that these notes can be as long as you want. I’d recommend the app just purely on this feature because it has been so helpful. That said, one of the parts I don’t like is that there is no task tracking or subtask tracking, which seems like a feature of the app (and design). Task and subtask are supplanted by categories and intentions; the categories and intentions seem like a good alternative and really helped me when I procrastinate by planning to the last detail on certain tasks. I also never really got the hang of its scheduling functionality, but that’s user error rather than app dysfunction. All in all it’s a great app, and I’d definitely recommend it!

I was using Sunsama for a while, but the price and features were too much for what I needed. I was also using Toggl Track to measure my time. While I still might use Toggl in the future to record overall time (including breaks) this has been a great replacement, especially the small status bar. I use Obsidian for tasks and time block in apple calendar so the directions of Sunsama focusing on notes and AI does not appeal to me. I want an app that can see time planned vs time spent and this does just that. While Sunsama is very very clean, Session replaces the timer and visualizes time spent much much better. While there are certain things to get used to on Session, it has been a great addition to my productivity. With that said, I do wish that there were more options for breaks or even gray colors to create a category for break times. I would also like to be able to break down my time by larger categories. I’m ADHD and a PhD student and find this really useful for tracking time at work, gym, and cleaning but there is no way for the outputs to distinguish these categories (at least none that I have found) with that said, for what it is, this is a great app and the only tool that I have found that successfully lets me see time planned vs time worked.

This is a wonderful app! The fourth time tracker that I have used and by far the best for individual use. I wish this App was talked about on all the Blogs! It is best for time tracking, seeing your focus time trends and comparing what you planned to accomplish vs. what you actually did in a day. The UX is very smooth and provides a lot more useful information than other apps. It is a joy to click around, see data and sync with my calendar. It feels lightweight and intuititive. And has enough options for me to run the app instead of the app running me (other apps force you into sessions without your prompt and feel clunky and difficult to navigate). The learning curve is small (unlike alternative time tracking apps). If you are looking to sync your time tracking with invoicing, I am not sure this app does that. I like that it does not do invoicing. The simplicity of this app keeps me focused on the craft of doing work.

Philip is the developer. Philip, you've done a wonderful job with this app! I am very proud of you and I don't even know you! Keep up the great work.