Skip to content
Timing
Tool

Curated by Surfaced Editorial·Productivity·2 min read
Share:

Timing is an automatic time tracking app for macOS, developed by the German company Timing App GmbH, designed to meticulously record how users spend their time on their Mac. It works in the background, automatically tracking which apps, documents, and websites are used, then intelligently categorizes activities into projects. This eliminates manual timer management, providing an unbiased and comprehensive overview of productivity. Timing is exclusively available for macOS. Its most powerful feature is the 'Review' screen, which presents a visual timeline and allows users to easily assign uncategorized activities to projects with simple drag-and-drop gestures. All activity data is stored locally on the user's Mac by default, with an optional iCloud sync for multi-device usage or team syncing with Timing Cloud for collaboration.

Why It’s Useful

Timing eradicates the problem of inaccurate or forgotten time entries, providing precise data for billing clients, analyzing productivity, and understanding work habits. For the freelance developer, it automatically logs every minute spent coding, researching, and communicating for different client projects, ensuring no billable time is missed. For the student writing a thesis, it reveals exactly how much time is dedicated to research, writing, and editing, helping them manage their workload more effectively. Timing offers a 14-day free trial, allowing full feature access, but requires a paid license for continued use; the trial is generous for evaluation. Compared to manual time trackers, Timing's automatic detection is a game-changer, providing a much more accurate and less intrusive way to track time. A power feature is its ability to automatically suggest project assignments based on learned patterns and keywords in document titles or URLs, significantly reducing manual categorization. A non-technical person can install Timing and start automatically tracking their activities in less than 2 minutes, with categorization being intuitive.

Enjoyed this? Get five picks like this every morning.

Free daily newsletter — zero spam, unsubscribe anytime.