Help

Stopwatch Journal Help and FAQ

Getting Started

Open the Home tab, where the watch face and the timing controls live.
Tap Start to begin timing, and Pause to hold the clock.
Tap Lap while the clock runs to record a split.
For a countdown, switch the mode to Count down, then use Set duration to choose hours, minutes, and seconds.
Tap Save to journal to store the run together with all of its laps.
Open History to revisit saved sessions and Analysis for totals.

Timing

Stopwatch Journal has two modes. Count up measures how long something takes and has no end point. Count down runs from a target you set toward zero, which suits intervals, workouts, cooking, and focus sessions.

How do I set a countdown?

Switch the mode to Count down, then tap Set duration and pick hours, minutes, and seconds. While the countdown runs, the ring fills as time elapses, the large readout shows the time remaining, and the full target is shown underneath it. Your last countdown target is remembered for the next launch.

What happens when the countdown reaches zero?

The countdown stops on its own at zero and the readout turns red so a finished run is obvious at a glance. A notification is also delivered at that moment, so you do not have to keep watching the screen. You can still record the run with Save to journal afterwards.

Will I be alerted if the countdown finishes while the app is closed?

Yes, as long as notifications are allowed. The finish moment is handed to your operating system as a scheduled notification the moment the countdown starts, so the alert still arrives when the app is in the background or the device is locked. Whether it carries sound and vibration is up to Settings → Notifications, where Sound and Vibration can be switched independently. If you turn notifications off, a finished countdown is shown only on screen.

Does the stopwatch keep running if I leave the app?

Yes. Timing is anchored to the wall clock rather than to an in-app ticker, so a running stopwatch keeps counting while the app is in the background or closed. Its elapsed time, mode, and recorded laps are restored the next time you open the app.

Why did my time reset when I changed mode?

Switching between count up and count down clears the current time and laps deliberately, so a new run never inherits a stale measurement. Save the run to the journal first if you want to keep it.

Laps

Laps break a single run into meaningful sections. The Lap action is available while the clock is running, and every lap is listed with its number, its split (the time since the previous lap) and its total (the time since the run started).

Can I correct or annotate a lap?

Yes. Open a lap's actions and choose Edit. The edit sheet lets you dial the lap's total time in hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds, and add a free-text note. When you move a lap, the splits around it are recalculated so the surrounding laps stay consistent.

Can I delete a lap?

Yes. Open the lap's actions and choose Delete. The remaining laps keep their recorded totals and are renumbered, with their splits rebuilt from the new neighbours.

Are laps saved automatically?

No. Laps belong to the current run until you tap Save to journal. Reset clears the current time and its laps without journaling them.

The Journal

Saving a run writes it to the History tab: the elapsed time, the mode, the countdown target if there was one, and every lap. Sessions are listed newest first, and each row shows the total time, when it was saved, the mode used, and how many laps it holds.

Can I see the laps of a saved session?

Yes. Use the expand toggle on a session that has laps to reveal them in place. Laps inside a saved session can be edited and deleted exactly like laps on the Home tab.

Can I edit a saved session itself?

Yes. Open a session's actions and choose Edit to open Session edit, where you can correct the recorded time, attach tags, and keep notes on the run.

How do I find one session among many?

Use the search field at the top of History. It filters the list as you type, so a tag or a word from a note is enough to narrow a long journal.

How do I remove sessions?

Open a session's actions and choose Delete to remove that one session. The Clear history action at the bottom of the tab removes every journaled session at once and asks for confirmation first, because it cannot be undone.

Analysis

The Analysis tab summarizes your saved sessions: Total sessions, Total time, Average session, Longest session, and Total laps, along with your Shortest lap and Longest lap. It is derived from the journal only, so a run that was never saved does not appear there.

Can I look at one period instead of everything?

Yes. Choose All, a recent window such as the last 7 or 30 days, the last few months, or a Custom range with your own start and end dates. Where a comparable earlier window exists, the figures are also shown vs previous period, so a change is visible rather than merely implied.

Can I compare my tags?

Yes. The By tag breakdown reports sessions, duration, and laps per tag for the selected period, with everything that carries no tag grouped under Untagged.

Watch Faces and Appearance

Can I change how the timer looks?

Yes. Open the Configuration tab and tap Watch face. You can choose between Ring, Minimal, Dial, Segmented, and Bars. The picker shows a live preview of each style before you commit to it.

Can I change how laps are drawn?

Yes. Lap chart in the Configuration tab decides how each saved session draws its laps: Line (the default) plots the splits so a run of similar laps reads as a slope, Area fills beneath that line for a heavier read, and Off leaves only the lap list.

What can I change in Settings?

Theme: System, Light, Dark, or Pink.
Large text: a larger type scale throughout the app.
Language: the app's display language.
Numeral system: the digits used for the readout, laps, and statistics — Latin, Arabic-Indic, Devanagari, Thai, and many more. This changes how numbers are drawn only; your stored sessions are unaffected.
Notifications: whether notifications are enabled at all, and whether they carry Sound and Vibration. Promotional notifications are a separate switch, so countdown alerts and announcements are never the same choice.
Contact, rating, sharing, and website links.

Settings are reachable from the gear icon in the top bar.

Sync, Backup, and Transfer

Can I keep my journal on more than one device?

Yes. Sync across devices in the Configuration tab keeps your sessions and tags the same everywhere, over storage you already own: your own Google Drive or iCloud. Press Connect once, and the card then shows when it last synced. With Automatic sync on, new changes are published on their own; with it off, nothing is sent or received until you press Sync now.

Does syncing need an account with you?

No. There is no Stopwatch Journal account and no server of ours in the path. The app signs in to your own cloud storage and writes into its own hidden application folder there — it never reaches the rest of your files, and we never see your journal.

What does Restore do?

Restore replaces this device's journal with the copy in the cloud, which is what you want on a new or reset device. It asks for confirmation first, because the local journal is discarded. When automatic sync is on, restoring is not offered, since changes are already published as they happen.

Can I back up or move my journal as a file?

Yes. The Configuration tab offers Export and Import. Export writes a JSON snapshot that contains your journaled sessions, your tags, and the current stopwatch state; import reads such a snapshot back. On iOS the export goes through the system share sheet (Files, AirDrop, Mail, …), and on Android, macOS, and Windows through the normal save dialog.

Where is my data stored?

On the device, in local storage belonging to the app. If you connect sync, a copy also lives in your own Google Drive or iCloud application folder. Exporting a snapshot remains the way to keep an independent backup or hand your journal to something else.

FAQ

What does Stopwatch Journal do?

It is a precise stopwatch and countdown timer that keeps a record of what you timed. Instead of losing a result the moment you reset, you save the run — elapsed time, mode, and every lap — to a journal you can revisit, correct, tag, and analyze later.

Why is the Lap button unavailable?

Laps can only be recorded while the clock is running. Start or resume the run first.

Why is Save to journal unavailable?

There is nothing to save yet. The action becomes available as soon as the run has measured time or recorded laps.

Does the app need an internet connection?

No. Timing, the journal, and the analysis all work offline. A connection is only needed for sync, and for optional extras such as store purchases and advertising.

What does the subscription change?

The subscription is optional and available as a monthly, 3-month, or yearly plan. It removes third-party advertising and unlocks subscription-only options, and it can be restored on your other supported devices from Settings using the same store account.

Troubleshooting Checklist

Nothing appears in History — make sure the run was stored with Save to journal.
Analysis is empty — it only counts saved sessions, so journal at least one run.
Analysis looks short — check the selected period before concluding sessions are missing.
The countdown finished with no alert — allow notifications, then check Sound and Vibration in Settings.
The countdown finishes immediately — check that the target duration is not zero.
Laps disappeared — Reset and switching mode both clear the current run.
A lap total looks wrong — edit the lap and correct its total; splits are recalculated for you.
The elapsed time jumped after reopening the app — timing follows the wall clock, so check the device clock and time-zone changes.
Another device is missing a run — press Sync now on both, or switch on Automatic sync.
Import did nothing — select a JSON snapshot that was exported by Stopwatch Journal.
History was cleared by accident — Clear history cannot be undone; restore from the cloud copy or an exported snapshot.
Digits look unfamiliar — review the numeral system in Settings.