SinceWhen: Complete Guide

SinceWhen is a personal event log and tracker. You create events (things you do from time to time), log when you do them, and the app shows you how long ago it was, plus insights, charts, and predictions for when you might do it next. Free to start with up to 3 events. Pro unlocks unlimited events, iCloud Backup, and Export.

First launch guidance on Home

When your Home is empty, SinceWhen now shows a short onboarding flow with a clear path:

• Step 1: Create your first event
• Step 2: Log it once

You can tap a starter card to open New Event with title, icon, and color already filled in, or use Add your first event to start from scratch.

After your first event is created (before first log), Home shows a quick coach section below your events with the main controls:

• Tap icon to log
• Tap title/time to open insights
• Long-press for quick actions

Add an event

Tap the + button on the Home tab. You'll see:

• Try Tracking… suggestions: Browse category-based inspiration cards in the add screen (Self, Home, Tech, Drive, Care). Tap any card to prefill title, icon, and color, then tweak anything before saving. If a category is already selected, suggestions keep that category's color. A Custom event card is there when you want to start blank
• Title: Name your event (e.g. "Oil Change", "Haircut", "Water plants")
• Category: Optionally assign the event to a category, or create a new one from the same screen. Picking a category sets the event color to that category's color (you can change the color after). If Home is filtered to a category when you tap +, that category and color are already selected
• Icon: Pick from organized SF Symbol categories (Home, Devices, Health, Fitness, Objects & Tools, Transport, Commerce, Weather, Nature, Human, Symbols) or use any emoji. Emoji stays at the top of the icon picker
• Color: Choose a preset or use the color picker for any custom color
• Nudge: Optional reminders (see Nudges & notifications)

Tap Save and your event appears on Home.

Edit an event

Long-press any event tile → Edit. Or tap the event to open Insights, then tap the event name at the top → Edit. Change name, category, icon, color, nudge settings, or turn Disable predictions ON if you want this event without next-time forecasts, Due Next listings, or nudges for that event (Edit only — not shown when creating a new event, so adding an event stays simple). Changing category applies that category's color; you can pick a different color afterward. Opening Edit keeps the event's current color until you change category. That is separate from Pause (see Pause and resume).

Delete an event

Long-press → Delete, or open event detail → Delete event. You'll be asked to confirm. All logs for that event are permanently removed.

Categories

Categories are optional labels when you create or edit an event. Once you have them, Home shows filter chips for All and each category. Long-press a chip to Edit category (name and color) or delete it. Deleting a category removes the label only; your events stay.

Pin and hide events

Long-press an event on Home to Pin to top or Hide event. Pinned events stay at the top and can be reordered by drag-and-drop. Hidden events move to Show hidden events at the bottom.

How to log

Default: Tap the icon on the event tile to log. You'll see a green checkmark and "time since" resets.

The line under the title is time since ("14 days ago"). If the event is expected today, expected tomorrow, or overdue, that same line first shows the Insights due wording, then returns to time since after about 6 seconds. Paused events stay Paused. You can turn the due glance off in Settings → Preferences → Home.

Log by tapping anywhere: In Settings → Preferences → Behavior, turn on "Log by tapping anywhere". Then tap anywhere on the tile to log. No need to aim for the icon. To open that event's insights quickly, long-press the event and choose Open Insights.

Log… (note or earlier time)

Long-press the event → Log…. Use Now, Yesterday, or the calendar pill for a custom date/time, and add an optional note. Now matches tapping the icon. After a Custom log, the sheet stays open so you can change the date and Log again (Done when finished). Notes and backdated times show in History like any other log. Hidden while the event is paused.

1-minute cooldown

The same event can't be logged twice within a minute. Prevents accidental taps. Most habits don't need that frequency anyway.

Pause and resume

Use this when you are stepping away on purpose (travel, injury, season)—without deleting data.

How: On Home, long-press the event → Pause or Resume. (The Insights event list only offers Edit from its menu; pause controls stay on Home.) The card shows Paused, quick logging is blocked, and widgets / shortcuts respect the same rule.

While paused

• History: a pause period row. Tap → Edit Pause: Pause start, Set pause end time (optional end date/time), Note. A future end time keeps the event paused until that moment passes.
• Overview: Usually every … stays; Expected next is hidden. Due Next and nudges do not treat the event as due.
• Intervals: long pauses may show as a shaded band with a softer connector than normal gaps.

Disable predictions (Edit Event) is separate—forecasts off until you turn it back on. Pause is timeline-based; you can use one, the other, or both.

Siri & Shortcuts

In Shortcuts → SinceWhen you get actions with the same data as the app, including pause rules and the one-minute log cooldown.

Shortcuts → Library → SinceWhen shows a starter set of actions. For the full list (Log a selected event, Log if due, else tell next due, Due today, Get overdue events, When is it due, Open Logs, and more), tap + → Add Action and search SinceWhen.

Siri phrases — Include SinceWhen in the phrase and replace Water plants with your event name. For a custom phrase (e.g. "Log water plants"), create a shortcut with Log a selected event, then tap Add to Siri.

• Log a selected event — Tap Event and pick an event. Best for automations and NFC. Siri: use the Log phrases in the first row.
• Log if due, else tell next due — For one selected event, logs immediately only when due/overdue; if not due yet, it tells the next due timing.
• When is it due — Pick the event; answers with expected / overdue / paused / predictions off.
• When did I last — Pick the event (same as When is it due). Answers how long since you logged, not the next due date.
• Due today — events due today only (not overdue, not later in the week). Get overdue events — past the expected day only.

If Siri says the app "doesn't support that" — Try the phrases in the table above, or in Shortcuts open the action and add a Siri phrase. Make sure SinceWhen is allowed in Settings → Siri.

Long-press the app icon (iOS 18+): Create event, Logs, Insights, Settings — not the same as the library actions above.

Tap any event (or the title/time when "Log by tapping anywhere" is on) to open Insights. You'll see:

Overview tab

• Average interval: "Usually every 7 days", "Usually every day", etc. Natural wording for daily events (hidden when Disable predictions is ON for that event). Still shown when the event is Paused so you can see how often you used to do it.
• Expected next: "Expected today", "Expected tomorrow", or "Expected in X days · 12 Sep" (relative plus the calendar day when it isn't today or tomorrow). Hidden when Disable predictions is ON or while the event is Paused. The Insights list and nudge sheet use the same wording.
• Paused pill on the overview when the event is paused
• Activity calendar: Month grid of logs (can be collapsed), then Intervals and Monthly charts below

Activity calendar

Sits under the summary card. Filled circles are days you logged (event color). Tap a filled day for that day's times and notes (several logs on one day are listed together). A small number on a day means more than one log. A dashed ring is the expected next day (hidden when predictions are off, the event is paused, or that event isn't fully unlocked on the free plan). Use the chevrons or swipe to change month; Today appears when you aren't on the current month.

Tap Calendar (the chevron) to hide the grid if you want the charts first. Tap again to show it. The app remembers your choice.

This is a glance at when you logged, not a third chart. Interval gaps and monthly totals stay in Intervals and Monthly.

Intervals chart

Shows days between consecutive logs. Each point = gap between one log and the next. Scroll horizontally to see your full history. The chart:

• Auto-scales: Small gaps (0–2 days) stay visible; large gaps fit too
• Long gaps visible: Very long gaps stay on the chart instead of being clipped
• Opens at latest: Scrolls to the right (most recent data) when you open it
• By date or by count: Toggle between date labels (e.g. "15 Mar") and log number (1, 2, 3…)

Use it to spot patterns: Are you logging more often lately? Did you have a long break? Pause periods (see Pause and resume) may appear as a shaded vertical band with a softer connector across the gap.

Monthly chart

Shows logs per month as bars. Good for seeing how active you were each month (e.g. "3 logs in Sep").

History tab

Full list of all logs, newest first—activity rows and pause period rows. Tap a row to edit or delete. Activity edits use Edit Entry; pause rows use Edit Pause (start, end, note). Deleting shows an undo option.

In Settings → Preferences → When to expect next, choose how SinceWhen estimates your next occurrence:

Tip: Try Recent focused if you've changed your habits recently. Use Pattern aware if you sometimes skip a long time (e.g. missed a month due to travel). Simple average is great for steady habits.

Enable nudges per event

When creating or editing an event, open the Nudge section. Toggle Enable nudge on, then pick When to nudge. Paused events do not get nudges scheduled until you resume.

• 2 days before: Heads up early
• 1 day before: Reminder the day before
• On due date: When it's expected today
• 1 day after: Gentle nudge if you missed it

Set your preferred time

In Settings → Preferences → Nudge time, choose when nudges arrive:

• Don't nudge: Turns off all nudges app-wide. Pending reminders are cleared; per-event nudge toggles stay as you set them for when you choose a time again
• Morning (9 AM)
• Afternoon (1 PM)
• Evening (6 PM)
• Custom: Pick your own time
• Dynamic: 30 minutes before due, or 9 AM if that time falls between 10 PM and 7 AM

Same-day nudges are staggered 2 minutes apart so they don't all fire at once.

Log from notifications

When a nudge arrives:

• Long-press: Quick actions, Log Event (logs without opening the app) or View Insights
• Tap: Opens a sheet with the event, a big Log Event Now button, View Insights, and Dismiss. Shows "Expected today" or "Expected tomorrow" based on your data

Sort options

Use the sort menu (arrow icon) on Home or Insights. Options:

• Drag to reorder: Long-press and drag to arrange events your way. Your order is saved
• Due soon: Events coming up first. Overdue by 1–3 days at the top, then today, tomorrow, further out. Paused events are not ranked as due.
• Due longest: Events overdue the longest first
• Recently updated: Last logged most recently first
• Newest / Oldest created: By creation date
• Name (A–Z) / (Z–A): Alphabetical

Both Due soon and Due longest use your chosen estimate method from Settings → Preferences → When to expect next.

On Home, pinned events stay at the top independent of sorting, and hidden events are moved into a bottom Show hidden events section. If you create categories, Home also shows filter chips for All and each category. Long-press a category chip to Edit category (name + color) or delete it; deleting a category keeps the events and only removes the category label. Home also remembers your last selected category filter when you reopen the app. Without Pro, extra events beyond your first 3 sit below those 3 and look a bit faded.

Search

Tap the search icon (when you have events) to filter by name. Quick way to find what you need when you have many events.

Home screen widgets

Add events to your home screen for one-tap logging without opening the app.

1. Long-press your home screen → Add Widget
2. Find SinceWhen and pick a widget:
   • Log Event — Choose events to display. Sizes: Small (1), Medium (3), Large (6 or 9), Extra Large (9). Long-press to pick events.
   • Due Next — Medium (3×1) only. Lists events expected today or tomorrow, with (Today) or (Tomorrow) so you can see at a glance. Paused events and events with Disable predictions do not appear here. Tap an event to log without opening the app; the widget updates right away. If more than three events are due, they rotate on a short timer; rotation pauses briefly after you log so you can see the result. If you use Display time in days only in Preferences, that style applies here too.
3. Tap the widget to choose events (Log Event) or tap an event to log it
4. Log without opening the app — one tap and you're done

Tip: Use Due Next when you want "what's due now" on the Home Screen. Use a larger Log Event widget for quick access to specific habits you log often.

Lock screen widgets

Log from your lock screen. No app open needed.

• Circular: 1 event. Tap to log
• Rectangular: 2 events. Tap to log either

Add multiple lock screen widgets for different events. Long-press the lock screen → Customize → add SinceWhen widgets.

Pro

Upgrade to Pro for unlimited events, iCloud Backup, and Export. Monthly and yearly work with Apple Family Sharing in your family group; lifetime is a one-time purchase for that Apple ID.

Without Pro, your first 3 events stay fully usable. Extra events remain in the list: you can open Insights, edit, or delete them. Logging, expected dates, and nudges on those extras need Pro. Trying to log one shows a short notice with Upgrade. + opens the paywall when you already have 3 events.

Preferences

Behavior: Toggle "Log by tapping anywhere". When ON, tap anywhere on the tile to log. When OFF, tap the icon to log and tap the title/time to view insights. Use the context menu (long-press) to edit or view insights anytime.

Nudge time: When nudges arrive (Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Custom, Dynamic). See Nudges above.

Time display: How "X days ago" is calculated:

• Calendar days: Wed 11am → Sat 10am = 3 days
• Elapsed time: Wed 11am → Sat 10am ≈ 2 days 23hr = "2 days ago"

Weeks, months, and years always use exact elapsed time.

• Display time in days only (optional): For gaps of one day or more, show only days — e.g. "14 days ago" instead of "2 weeks ago". Minutes and hours still show as usual (e.g. "2 hours ago"). Applies in the app and on widgets.

Home: Toggle Briefly show due on Home. When ON (the default), cards that are expected today, tomorrow, or overdue briefly show that due line, then time since. When OFF, Home always shows time since.

When to expect next: Pick your estimate method (Recent focused, Pattern aware, Simple average). See Prediction Algorithms above.

Data & Backup

iCloud Backup (Pro): Turn Auto backup on to save snapshots to iCloud about every 12 hours. Tap Backup now anytime. Restore from backup uses the latest snapshot (shown as Last backup with approximate file size). Restore is offered when you have no events yet, so it won't replace existing data by accident.

Backups also appear in Files → iCloud Drive → SinceWhen → SinceWhenBackups. Tap the folder icon beside Backup now in Data & Backup to open that folder.

Device sync keeps events and logs in sync across your devices on the same Apple ID when iCloud Drive is on. Sync runs automatically. In Data & Backup, Device sync shows Active or Unavailable. If sync is unavailable, your data stays on the device and resumes syncing when iCloud is available again.

Auto backup and device sync are different: sync keeps live data aligned across devices; backup saves a separate copy in iCloud.

Export (Pro): Save your data as JSON — useful for a copy outside iCloud or when moving devices. Import is free for everyone.

Importing JSON while you already have data asks you to confirm before replacing anything.

Erase all data lives here too — next to backup and export — so actions that touch your data stay in one place.

Appearance

Theme: System, Light, or Dark.

Update

When a newer version is on the App Store, Settings shows an Update row. Tap it to jump to the store and update.

Support & Help

• Contact: Email support
• Rate: Leave a review
• View guide: This guide online
• What's new: Latest updates
• Power user tips: Master SinceWhen

Spread the Relief

In Settings, tap Spread the Relief to share SinceWhen through the iOS share sheet — Messages, Mail, or any app you use.

• Context menu (Home): Log…, Edit, Open Insights, Pin/Unpin, Hide/Unhide, Add/Remove widget, Pause / Resume, and a separated Delete event action. Long-press category chips to edit (name + color) or delete categories
• App icon menu: Long-press the app icon (iOS 18+) for Create event, Logs, Insights, Settings
• Siri & Shortcuts: Log a selected event, Log if due, else tell next due, when did I last, due today, overdue; see Siri & Shortcuts
• iPad: Sheets (event detail, add/edit, upgrade) open full-screen with a Close button
• System or app updates: If you want a safety net, use Data & Backup to run a backup or export JSON before updating iOS or the app

Email [email protected], or visit the Support page.