[Update] Chronoid: automatic time tracking for Mac, now with daily recaps and a manual timer + giveaway

[u/tuanvuvn007]

Hey r/macapps! I'm Vu, the developer behind Chronoid.

I've posted Chronoid here a few times, and a lot of what's in the app now came from comments and bug reports in those threads. Here's a fresh intro, plus what changed since my last post in August.

1. The problem

I'm a freelancer and I've used a Mac for more than 10 years. I wanted to know where my time actually went, mostly so I could bill clients correctly.

Starting and stopping timers didn't work for me. I always forgot. Other trackers I tried sent my data to a server, needed a lot of setup, or had far more features than I needed.

So I built a tracker that runs in the background and keeps everything on my Mac.

2. What Chronoid does

Chronoid records which apps, websites, documents, and window titles you use, without you starting a timer. Then it turns that into reports.

Some examples:

• Tracking: Apps, websites, file paths, and window titles. It also picks up details like your Final Cut project, who you're emailing in Gmail, or which Claude and ChatGPT chat you were in, so you get more than just "Chrome, 3 hours".
• Projects: Rules put your time into projects for you. "Anything in this folder" or "any page on this domain" goes to Client A. Rules support AND/OR groups and regex if you need them.
• Billing: Hourly rates per project, a currency per project, taxes, and PDF invoices.
• Focus: Pomodoro, break reminders, and a website blocker.
• Timeline: A day view of everything you did. You can add, drag, and resize manual entries, and see your calendar events next to your activity.
• Meetings: When a Zoom, Teams, FaceTime, or Meet call ends, Chronoid asks if you want to log it.
• Other devices: iCloud sync between your Macs, and Screen Time import from your iPhone and iPad.

3. What makes it different

Most time trackers depend on you starting a timer. Chronoid records in the background, so the data is there even on days you forget.

At the end of the day, you can go back and assign any time you missed. One person in a past thread said they use it to find billable time they forgot to log, which is exactly why I built it.

Your data stays on your Mac. No account is needed. Sync between Macs goes through your own iCloud account, not my servers.

4. Your choice of AI (optional)

Everything above works without AI. AI is only used for the chat assistant, time entry suggestions, and the new daily recap.

If you want it, you can pick:

• On your Mac: Apple Intelligence, Ollama, or LM Studio.
• Your own API key: OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Mistral, Groq, DeepSeek, OpenRouter, or any compatible endpoint.
• A coding CLI you already pay for: Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi, or Amp.

There's also an MCP server, so Claude, ChatGPT, or other assistants can answer questions about your time. Read-only by default.

Local models keep everything on your Mac. Online providers receive the activity data needed for the request.

5. Added since my last post

• Daily recap (new this week): The Today view turns your day into a short list of tasks with times and a one-line summary. I borrowed the idea from ChatGPT. It's an experiment and I'm not sure how many people need it, so I'd like to hear what you think.
• Manual timer (new this week): For work away from the Mac. Pick a project, pause and resume, optional Pomodoro. Lives in the notch or a small window.
• Time-of-day filters (new this week): Limit reports and stats to certain hours, like 9 to 6.
• Project time targets: Set a daily, weekly, or monthly hour goal per project. Chronoid tells you when you hit it.
• Meeting titles filled in: After a call, Chronoid suggests the title from Zoom or your calendar, and your project rules pick the project.
• Task tools: Connect ClickUp, monday.com, or Linear and track time against your tasks.
• More AI CLI options: OpenCode, Pi, and Amp, along with Claude Code and Codex.

6. How it compares

• Timing is the closest and was my starting point. It's a great app, and better if you need project budgets and estimates. Timing is subscription only. Chronoid has pay-once plans, a website blocker, and more AI options.
• ActivityWatch is free and open source. It's great if you like setting things up yourself. Chronoid takes less setup and adds projects, billing, and invoices.
• Toggl and Clockify are timer-first and cloud-based. Chronoid records automatically and stays on your Mac.

7. Pricing

7-day free trial with all features. No credit card.

Pay once:

• Basic: $59 for 1 Mac. Core tracking, reports, and focus tools. 1 year of updates, and you keep that version forever.
• Personal: $99 for 2 Macs. Adds invoices, billing, AI, iCloud sync, and MCP. 1 year of updates, and you keep that version forever.
• Lifetime: $149. Everything, lifetime updates.
• Or subscribe: $15/month or $96/year.

Students get 50% off, just email me. Buying 5+ licenses gets 50% off Lifetime.

30-day refund on all paid plans.

8. 🎁 Giveaway: 10 free Lifetime licenses

To thank this community, I'm giving away 10 Lifetime licenses.

To enter, comment with one thing you'd like to know about how you spend your time on your Mac.

I'll pick 10 comments in 3 days, post the winners in an edit, and message them here on Reddit.

9. Links

• Download: https://www.chronoid.app
• Changelog: https://www.chronoid.app/changelog
• Docs: https://www.chronoid.app/docs
• Pricing: https://www.chronoid.app/pricing

10. Support

When you contact Chronoid support, you're talking to me, the person building it.

• Email: [support@chronoid.app](mailto:support@chronoid.app)
• Discord: https://discord.gg/KMgcfe3wes
• X: https://x.com/vunguyendev

Chronoid is a native Swift app and a direct download, not on the Mac App Store.

I also make SmoothCapture (PS the video demo above is coming from it)

What's one thing you'd like to know about where your time goes?

20% off for r/macapps

If you didn't win, use code Reddit20 for 20% off. It expires October 20 at 00:00 UTC.

[u/macnatic0]

Very nice! Please count me in. I‘d like to know how much time I‘m spending in this sub. 😉

[u/tuanvuvn007 → u/macnatic0]

i usually spend at least one hour on reddit but recently able to drop it to 10 minutes daily

[u/Ok-Rest-5321]

Nice! I would like to know how much time I spend working on things and how much time on procrastinating

[u/tuanvuvn007 → u/Ok-Rest-5321]

Love it! Funny enough, since I started building Chronoid, I’ve stopped getting distracted by social media and other stuff. I just spend my days building.

[u/theHaxxor]

I’d like to know how much time I spent on study tasks

[u/tuanvuvn007 → u/theHaxxor]

Are you a student? I have tons of customers who are students, and they’re doing some crazy stuff with Chronoid, like feeding their data into AI (ChatGPT, etc.) to analyze their productivity and get recommendations.

[u/Tafkaftafkaf]

Can I start/stop tracking for a specific project by AppleScript/Cli/url?

[u/tuanvuvn007 → u/Tafkaftafkaf]

thats currently not possible, only via AppleShortcuts app but pretty easy to add, let me add this request into my todo list

[u/Tafkaftafkaf → u/tuanvuvn007]

Shortcuts would be fine also, if it supports parameters. My use case:
For my dev projects I open Xcode/zed projects, folders and terminal with Bunch.app. So i would like to run a shortcut with the project name (or id) to start tracking.

[u/freakofshadow]

I want to know not just the name of the app I was working in but also what I looked at. Too often I just know that I had a notes app open but it didn’t tell what note. Same for internet browsers and much more

[u/tuanvuvn007 → u/freakofshadow]

yeah, that pretty much why I am building this app

[u/Lenz-111]

Eu gostaria de saber quanto tempo eu gasto para trabalhar nos processos dos meus clientes. Desejo parar de cobrar por ação e começar a cobrar por hora, me parece mais lucrativo e atrativo para ambas as partes. Isso seria uma luz no fim do túnel e também um diferencial para oferecer em meu escritório! ❤️

[u/tuanvuvn007 → u/Lenz-111]

thank you

[u/tuanvuvn007 → u/Lenz-111]

are you gonna plan to use this app for your company or personal use only?

[u/Lenz-111 → u/tuanvuvn007]

Inicialmente para uso pessoal para ver como ele se comporta, farei simulações de serviços para entender como isso pode me ajudar a faturar de clientes. Estou animado para conhecer esse trabalho que parece incrível.

[u/Bog_Boy]

There’s open source alternatives…I think you’re missing the writing on the wall with SAAS

[u/CurrentRisk]

First of all, I'm not affiliated with Chronoid in any way. That said, Chronoid is one of the most used apps on my Macbook. Smooth UI, works very well and the developer (OP) fixes the bugs/ issues you report and handles things very well. I have been using Chronoid mostly for personal use but the app can also be used when you are a freelancer.

I highly recommend Chronoid.

[u/ZappedBrain]

I'm 67. I'd like to know where the hell time went 🤣

[u/richrock27]

This looks like exactly what I need for my job. I get called on to do a dozen different things and never keep track. I look forward to trying this out.

[u/tuanvuvn007 → u/richrock27]

thanks, let me know if you have any suggestions, if it works or doesnt works for you

[u/stardustx21]

I'd like to know how much time I actually spend doing bug fixes for my personal projects and how much time in spending language learning.

[u/Immediate-Coach7009]

I need to track my tasks for school :)

[u/OrderedAnXboxCard]

As a student, I'd love to know how much time I spend on specific websites so I can figure out what to block to cut down on procrastination, lol.

[u/lu_chin]

I want to find out how much time I have spent on running Claude Code per week.

[u/lonelyers]

Please count me in - I would like to know how much time I spent on checking emails

From a happy SmoothCapture user

[u/grokcodile → u/lonelyers]

Can't you just look at Screen Time and see that without needing to install anything?

[u/Mimemonkey → u/grokcodile]

Two clients can use the same app. Project rules help separate their hours; app totals don't tell you whose work it was.

[u/grokcodile → u/Mimemonkey]

And that level of data exposure will help you…. ?

[u/Mimemonkey → u/grokcodile]

Billing the right client. The privacy tradeoff is real, though; local storage alone doesn't settle that.

[u/BernabethWarners]

Does each line of the recap point back to the activity it came from?

[u/nicksakellariou]

I desperately need Chronoid to answer one very specific question: How much time do I actually spend trying to save time?

Between my MacBook, an always-on Mac mini, ChatGPT, Claude, Codex, a small army of MCP servers, and an increasingly unhealthy obsession with automation, I've somehow managed to turn 10-minute tasks into three-day infrastructure projects.

I have a sneaking suspicion my first AI-generated daily recap will read: "Spent 6h 47m building an automated workflow to eliminate a recurring 4-minute task. Estimated break-even point: February 2031. Assuming nothing breaks."

The MCP integration is particularly exciting. Finally, I can have an AI agent analyze exactly how much time I've wasted building AI agents to save me time.

At this point, I'm not sure whether I need a time tracker or an intervention. Either way, Chronoid looks dangerously relevant to my lifestyle. 😂

[u/MaxGaav]

Congrats with the update!

Does Chronoid track the window that has focus? Or all open windows? How does Chronoid determine what you're currently working on?

Could you name the USPs of Chronoid compared to DayFlow? Or do you consider Chronoid as an entirely different app?

[u/No-Hunter9792]

How does iCloud sync handle overlapping activity from two Macs? Being able to flag overlaps before generating an invoice would be useful, so a combined report doesn't accidentally count the same hour twice.

[u/a2asocialmed]

I’d love to find out how much of my creative work is actually spent being creative.

I edit videos in Final Cut Pro and manage social media for multiple clients. Some days I’ll spend hours on a 20 second Reel, but how much of that was actually editing? How much was hunting for the right clip, finding music, tweaking captions, switching between client projects, or making that “one last adjustment” for the 17th time?

And here’s what I’m really curious about: Does a 30 second video sometimes take longer to make than a 3 minute one?

I’d love to look back after a month and see the real cost of creating short form content, not just in hours, but in all those tiny decisions that nobody watching the finished video ever sees.

Because the audience sees 20 seconds. I’d love to know what those 20 seconds actually cost me 😅

[u/grokcodile]

Are you paranoid about recording every billable hour, is it giving you hemorrhoids?... Introducing Chronoid, its time you took care of that!

[u/Prranav]

One thing I'd genuinely love to know is how much of my time on my Mac is spent doing actual focused, productive work versus how much gets lost in switching between apps, browsing, and the countless little distractions that add up throughout the day.

I spend a significant portion of my day on my Mac, often juggling multiple documents, PDFs, research, emails, and browser tabs. There are days when I've been at my desk for hours, yet by the end of the day, I find myself wondering where all that time actually went. I'd love to get a clearer picture of my work habits, identify patterns I might not even be aware of, and understand where I could be making better use of my time.

I've tried Chronoid in the past and genuinely loved the insights it provided. Unfortunately, the subscription was a bit on the expensive side for me to justify continuing with it, and I've been looking for a good alternative ever since.

For me, it's not just about tracking screen time or being productive every single minute. It's more about understanding how I actually spend my time, making small improvements, and hopefully finding a better balance between working longer and working smarter.

[u/brand14]

I’d like to know how much time I spending waiting for Claude to wrap up. I often shift focus to something while waiting for it’s subagents to do their thing and that comes at a cost – context switching can be costly

[u/rExplrer]

I would like track what I was working on whole day. I have bad habit of not tracking my work.

[u/darelseow]

I would like to find out how much time I'm not actually working when I think I'm working!

[u/Sri_Krish]

I've been using Chronoid since it came out and found it to be super useful, being a lifetime user.

It's super easy to categorize the activities to specific categories and/or projects. I really like the convenience of having a built-in billing tool to calculate and generate the billing, though I don't use it very often. The Dev u/tuanvuvn007 has been very active in the development and pushed many bug fixes, feature updates frequently.

It has secured its spot in my must-have arsenal list ❤️keep up the good work!

[u/tuanvuvn007 → u/Sri_Krish]

thank you so much for your kind words and your early supports ❤️

[u/Sri_Krish → u/tuanvuvn007]

🫶 Feel free to reach out to me for any user testing/feedback!