Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#131

Post by douglance » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:07 PM UTC

jtmarmon wrote: post #5

ivm wrote: post #2

I was not happy with features and UX of other productivity trackers. Most of the time tracking software is made for controlling employees or for billing clients and I just wanted an automated productivity measurement. I tried RescueTime before but it was too expensive for its functionality ($72-108/year) and also collected all my tracked data on their servers. There is standalone ManicTime on Windows but OS X standal…

this is super awesome. I've been using rescuetime for around two years, and although it's worked great I'd love to see more feature progress. Also there's no 2FA support which is quite scary for something with such sensitive data. I love your dock icon as well. I was trying to build a custom version of that but for my tmux line, but rescuetime's API doesn't provide realtime info. Will you open up some APIs for the da…

I use Bitbar to show my RescueTime productivity pulse in my menubar. Pretty handy if you ask me!

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#132

Post by Ensorceled » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:12 PM UTC

peternicky wrote: post #127

I have used Rescuetime for years and for the most part, am very satisfied with the service. It would be helpful if you added a simple comparison between Rescuetime and your service.

Yes, RescueTime is really your main competitor. Let people like me know what you offer to get me to think about switching!

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#133

Post by ivm » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:14 PM UTC

peternicky wrote: post #127

I have used Rescuetime for years and for the most part, am very satisfied with the service. It would be helpful if you added a simple comparison between Rescuetime and your service.

Currently the differences are window tracking (RT only tracks apps afaik), chat tracking, instant feedback, and keeping the tracked data on your machine.

Downsides compared to RT: no sync between devices (and it's not coming soon), no "offline time" (but it's temporary).

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#134

Post by reitanqild » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:22 PM UTC

lj3 wrote: post #94

ivm wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, no, it will require complete re-write and the app also heavily relies on OS X accessibility. But I remember using ManicTime on Windows, give it a try maybe.

ManicTime looks slick, feature filled and usable, but the visualization it chose is confusing. I look at all those little lines and it reminds me of the windows XP defragger.

It is wonderful.

YMMW but IMO it is a shining example of modern Windows UX done right. A couple of examples

* double clicking selects the block you clicked on until next previously tagged time

* the tagging dialog has wonderful autocomplete

* you can set up automatic tagging

* you can add timelines from outlook etc

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#135

Post by daemonk » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:23 PM UTC

I really like the UI. Is it possible to implement keyboard/mouse movement activity tracking? I don't mean keylogging or anything, but something like key presses per minute while an app is focused or mouse movement in pixels per minute while an app in focused.

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#136

Post by ivm » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:28 PM UTC

tehno wrote: post #125

ivm wrote: post #2

I was not happy with features and UX of other productivity trackers. Most of the time tracking software is made for controlling employees or for billing clients and I just wanted an automated productivity measurement. I tried RescueTime before but it was too expensive for its functionality ($72-108/year) and also collected all my tracked data on their servers. There is standalone ManicTime on Windows but OS X standal…

> $ brew cask info qbserve > Error: No available Cask for qbserve Would be nice if you'd do a PR to get your app into Homebrew. It's just much easier to find, install and update apps with Cask.

Thanks for the tip, I'll do it!

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#137

Post by azag0 » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:30 PM UTC

ivm wrote: post #124

azag0 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any chance of tracking Terminal.app?

Sure, I will check it too.

And I forgot to say that you made a great app! 95% gonna buy.

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#138

Post by peternicky » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:33 PM UTC

ivm wrote: post #133

peternicky wrote: post #127

I have used Rescuetime for years and for the most part, am very satisfied with the service. It would be helpful if you added a simple comparison between Rescuetime and your service.

Currently the differences are window tracking (RT only tracks apps afaik), chat tracking, instant feedback, and keeping the tracked data on your machine. Downsides compared to RT: no sync between devices (and it's not coming soon), no "offline time" (but it's temporary).

Thanks for this info, but I don't know what you mean by "instant feedback" and "chat tracking".

Rescuetime does allow window tracking (unless I don't understand what that means).

For me personally, the most essential Rescuetime features missing in your app are:

- ability to install a client on gnu, OS X and Windows.

- 95% of the time, it correctly categorizes my activities, requiring very little input from me.

Looking forward to trying your app!

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#139

Post by Sean1708 » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:37 PM UTC

ivm wrote: post #92

vitd wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've hit several good points here! This looks really cool. I've never used something like this, but I'm seriously considering buying it. I love the single price up front and the privacy of not sending my tracking data to some unknown server on the internet. My only complaint is that I absolutely hate the name. I don't even know how to pronounce it. "Cube-serv?" "Queue Observe?" Don't make me think. Also, I'd be emb…

Haha, yes, we had some doubts about the name's UX but nothing better was found. It's cube-serve in my opinion, an observing cube. Well, I'm not a native English speaker... :)

You could make the IPA form (kjuːb-sɜːv) part of the logo design, I always think that looks pretty cool.

Re: Show HN: Automatic private time tracking for OS X

#140

Post by daemonk » Thu, May 26, 2016, 7:39 PM UTC

Just bought it. I really like it. One thing that would make this perfect for me is the ability to show stats for specific time ranges within a day. I use my laptop for both work and home. It would be nice to see a set of stats for just 9am-6pm everyday; or whatever ranges I want.

I guess the time tracking works right now by just tallying up seconds for each category? And it isn't recording time stamps? Recording time stamps might end up taking up too much space?