SinceWhen: Complete Guide

SinceWhen is a personal event log built for real life. Track what you did and when, discover your natural intervals, and get a clear picture of what is due next, without accounts, streak pressure, or clutter. Free to start with up to 3 events. Pro unlocks unlimited events, iCloud sync, backups, and export.

Getting started on Home

When Home is empty, SinceWhen guides you through creating your first event and logging it once. Tap a starter suggestion to open New Event with title, icon, and color prefilled, or start from scratch. After your first event, quick hints on Home show how to log, open Insights, and use long-press actions.

Add an event

Tap + on the Home screen to create a new event. Give it a name, pick an icon and color, and optionally assign a category or turn on a nudge.

• Title: What you are tracking (for example Oil change, Haircut, Water plants).
• Category: Optional. Pick an existing category or create a new one on the same screen.
• Icon: Pick from organized symbol categories (Home, Health, Transport, and more) or choose any emoji from the option at the top of the picker.
• Color: Choose a preset or open the picker for a custom color. This is the color on the event tile on Home.
• Nudge: Optional reminders for that event. See Nudges & notifications.

Tap Save and the event appears on the Home screen.

For common activities, scroll to the Try Tracking section at the bottom of the add screen. Tap a suggestion to fill in the title, icon, and color for you, then adjust anything before saving. Choose Custom event if you prefer to set everything up yourself.

Edit an event

To change an event's name, category, icon, color, or nudge settings, long-press its tile on the Home screen and tap Edit. Or open Insights for that event, tap the ⋯ menu, and choose Edit event.

While editing, you can also turn:

• Disable predictions ON: No forecasts, Due Next, or nudges for that event until you turn it off. Charts and logs stay. Edit only, not when creating. Separate from Pause.

Delete an event

To remove an event and all of its logs, long-press its tile on the Home screen and tap Delete event. Or open Insights for that event, tap the ⋯ menu, and choose Delete event. SinceWhen asks you to confirm before anything is removed.

Categories

Categories are optional labels you add when creating or editing 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, whatever sort you use. Hidden events move to Show hidden events at the bottom. Pin and hide are saved on this device.

How to log

The quickest way to log is to tap the icon on an event tile on the Home screen. You will see a check animation and the time since last log resets from now.

To open Insights for that event, tap its title or time on the same tile.

If you prefer to log by tapping anywhere on the tile, turn on Log by tapping anywhere under Settings → Preferences → Behavior. With that setting on, any tap on the tile logs the event. Long-press the tile and tap Open Insights to view charts and history.

Home long-press menu

Long-press any event tile for quick actions: log with note, edit, open Insights, pin or hide, widget options, pause or resume, and delete.

Log with a note

To log with a note attached, long-press an event tile on the Home screen and tap Log with note. Or open Insights, go to the History tab, tap an existing log, and add or edit the note there.

1-minute cooldown

The same event cannot log twice within one minute. This stops accidental double taps from creating duplicate entries.

Pause and resume

You can pause an event when you are not doing it for a while but want to keep your history. This is useful for seasonal activities, travel, recovery, or anything you plan to pick up again later. Pausing does not delete your logs or remove the event.

To pause or resume, long-press the event tile on the Home screen and tap Pause or Resume. While paused, the tile shows Paused, you cannot log from it, and widgets and Shortcuts follow the same rule.

While an event is paused:

• History: Pause row. Tap it and choose Edit Pause for start, optional end, and note.
• Overview: Usual cadence stays. Expected next hides. Due Next and nudges skip the event.
• Intervals chart: Long pauses may show as shaded bands.

Disable predictions (edit event) is separate from Pause. You can use one, both, or neither.

Siri & Shortcuts

Open the Shortcuts app and search SinceWhen for actions (log, due today, overdue, open logs, and more). Same data, pause rules, and one-minute cooldown as the app.

Shortcuts → Library → SinceWhen shows a starter set. Use + → Add Action and search SinceWhen for the full list.

Siri phrases usually include SinceWhen. For custom phrases, build a shortcut with Log a selected event, then tap Add to Siri.

• Log a selected event: Pick an event once when building the shortcut. Handy for automations and NFC tags.
• Log if due, else tell next due: For one selected event, logs when due or overdue; otherwise tells when it is due next.
• Log event by name: Type the event name in the shortcut instead of choosing from a list each time.

Long-press the app icon (iOS 18+): Create event, Logs, Insights, Settings.

Insights shows charts, history, and predictions for an event. Tap the title or time on an event tile on the Home screen to open it. If you have Log by tapping anywhere turned on, open the Insights tab and pick the event you want to view.

Overview tab

The Overview tab summarizes how often you do this event and when it may be due next.

• Average interval: e.g. "Usually every 7 days." Hidden when Disable predictions is on. Still shown when paused.
• Expected next: Hidden when predictions are off or the event is paused.
• Paused: Shown when the event is paused.
• Charts: Intervals and Monthly.

Intervals chart

This chart shows the gap in days between each log so you can spot patterns in your routine.

• Days between consecutive logs. Scroll horizontally.
• Opens at the latest logs on the right.
• Toggle by date or log index.
• Pause periods may show as shaded bands.

Monthly chart

Logs per month as bars (e.g. "3 logs in Sep").

History tab

The History tab lists your logs and any pause periods, newest first. Tap a log to edit it with Edit Entry or to delete it. Tap a pause row to open Edit Pause and change its dates or note.

SinceWhen uses your past logs to estimate when an event is due next. To change how that prediction is calculated, go to Settings → Preferences → When to expect next and pick an algorithm:

Enable nudges per event

When you add or edit an event, you can turn on a nudge so SinceWhen reminds you before or after it is due. Open Nudge, switch it on, and choose When to nudge:

• 2 days before
• 1 day before
• On due date
• 1 day after

Paused events do not get nudges until resumed.

Preferred nudge time (app-wide)

Per-event nudges use a delivery time you set for the whole app. Go to Settings → Preferences → Nudge time to choose when notifications arrive:

• Don't nudge: Turns off all nudges. Per-event settings are saved for when you turn nudges back on.
• Morning (9 AM), Afternoon (1 PM), Evening (6 PM): Fixed times for when nudges are sent.
• Custom: Pick any time of day that works for you.
• Dynamic: Sends the nudge about 30 minutes before the event is due. If that time would fall between 10 PM and 7 AM, it moves to 9 AM instead.

Log from notifications

When a nudge arrives, long-press the notification for Log Event or View Insights. A tap opens a sheet where you can log right away, open insights, or dismiss the reminder.

Sort

Use the sort menu on Home or in Insights to change how events are ordered.

• Drag to reorder: Arrange event tiles on Home in the order you prefer.
• Due soon / Due longest: Sort by how close events are to their predicted due date. Paused events are left out of due-based sorting.
• Recently updated, Newest / Oldest created, A–Z / Z–A: Sort by last activity, when the event was created, or alphabetically by name.

On Home, pinned events stay at the top no matter which sort you pick. Hidden events sit in Show hidden events at the bottom. If you use categories, tap a filter chip to focus on one group; Home remembers your last selection when you reopen the app.

Search

Tap the search icon on Home to filter your events by name. Useful when you have many events and want to find one quickly.

Home screen

Widgets let you log events or check what is due without opening the app first. To add one, long-press the Home screen, tap Add Widget, and choose SinceWhen.

• Log Event: A widget for quick logging. Choose which events appear and pick a size when you add it. Log without opening the app first.
• Due Next: Shows events due today or tomorrow so you can see what needs attention at a glance. You can log from the widget. Paused events and events with predictions turned off are not shown.

Lock screen

Add a circular widget for one event or a rectangular widget for two. Customize your Lock Screen, add SinceWhen, and pick which events to show.

Pro

• Free: Track up to 3 events at no cost. Enough to try the app and see how it fits your routine.
• Pro: Unlimited events, iCloud sync across your devices, scheduled backup snapshots, JSON export, and the full set of Siri and Shortcuts actions.
• Current pricing is on the App Store. You can manage or cancel subscriptions in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions. Terms: devapt.com/sincewhen/terms.

Preferences

Settings → Preferences controls how logging, time, nudges, and predictions work across the app.

• Behavior → Log by tapping anywhere: Off (default): icon logs, title or time opens Insights. On: the whole tile logs; long-press for Open Insights and other actions. See How to log.
• Nudge time: Choose when reminder notifications are delivered app-wide. See Preferred nudge time.
• Time display: Calendar days counts whole days between logs (e.g. "3 days ago"). Elapsed time shows finer detail such as hours and minutes. Turn on Days only if you want the app and widgets to always show whole days.
• When to expect next: Pick how SinceWhen predicts your next due date. See prediction algorithms.

Data & Backup

Settings → Data & Backup is where you back up, sync, export, import, or erase your data.

• iCloud Backup (Pro): Saves your data as JSON snapshots to your iCloud account about every 12 hours while backup is on. Tap Backup now for an immediate backup. After reinstalling, use Restore from snapshot to load your events back.
• Device sync: Keeps changes in sync across your iPhone and iPad when iCloud is available. The status shows Active or Unavailable. This is live syncing, not the same as backup snapshots.
• Export (Pro): Saves all your events and logs to a JSON file you can store in Files, email to yourself, or keep as a personal archive.
• Import: Loads events from a JSON file. SinceWhen asks you to confirm first because importing replaces your current data on this device. Available on the free plan.
• Erase all data: Removes every event and log from this device. Use this before handing off a phone or when you want a clean start. iCloud snapshots are not removed unless you delete them separately.

Appearance

Settings → Appearance lets you choose how SinceWhen looks.

• System: SinceWhen follows your iPhone or iPad. If your device switches between light and dark mode, the app switches with it.
• Light: SinceWhen always uses the light theme, even when your device is in dark mode.
• Dark: SinceWhen always uses the dark theme, even when your device is in light mode.

Updates

When a newer version of SinceWhen is on the App Store, an Update row appears in Settings. Tap it to go straight to the App Store and install the latest version.

Support & Help

Settings → Support & Help opens a screen with help, guides, and feedback options.

• Contact: Email the developer if you hit a problem, have a question, or need help with anything in the app.
• View guide: Opens this guide in your browser so you can look up how features work anytime.
• Power user tips: Short tips for Shortcuts, Siri, widgets, and other ways to get more from SinceWhen.
• What's new: A short summary of what changed in recent app updates.
• Rate SinceWhen: Opens the App Store if you want to leave a review or share feedback about the app.

Spread the Relief

Share a short message about SinceWhen with friends or family through the iOS share sheet. You can send it in Messages, Mail, or any app you use to share links.

If something is not working or you are stuck, email [email protected]. You can also visit the Support page for more ways to get in touch.