MacOS – Recommendation for simple project/task time tracking app

macossoftware-recommendationtime-tracking

I'm looking for a very simple app to allow me to track my time on particular user-defined projects or tasks.

However, my requirement is slightly different to those in questions such as Is there a good time automatic time tracking tool for Mac OS X as I don't need something that will automatically track my time spent in particular applications such as Time Sink or Time Track Pro. Rather, what I want to be able to do in a rough "must have" to "nice to have" order is:

  • Add user-defined projects/tasks to a list each with its own timer
  • Manually start and stop project/task timers as I switch projects
  • Idle timer to stop recording activity if I leave the computer for a period of time
  • Access the app from the menubar (ability to hide dock icon would be a bonus too)
  • Create subtasks from the main project/task

So, apologies in advance for the following, but in my head the interface might look something like the following, but again I'm totally open to suggestions:

Project          Time
---------------------
Project X        0:32   <Start/Stop Button>
Project Y        4:00   <Start/Stop Button>
Project Z        1:25    
    Subtask 1    1:00   <Start/Stop Button>
    Subtask 2    0:25   <Start/Stop Button>

For example, Harvest looks perfect for what I need, apart from the fact that there's a $12 per month cost. I'm not against paying for an application, but I'd like to avoid ongoing charges if possible.

Best Answer

In the end, I found Timecop that does almost everything I wanted: simple project tracking with a variety of configurable reports spanning days, weeks, or months.

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Honourable mentions go to Tictoc which does a very similar job to Timecop, and Timing (which also has a free, Lite version). Timing is different in that its a "traditional" application tracker, however, you can create custom projects and drag applications into them, right down to the document level. So you can attribute different documents in a single app to different projects, which is great if you're working on two different projects in Xcode, for example.

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