Activities vs Goals

[Medvedev91]

Currently, goals duplicate almost all activities features. I'm working on a huge refactoring.

Key changes:

• Getting rid of activities;
• Created activities are transformed into goals;
• Goals can have a parent goal. It means there can be any level of nesting;
• The summary will display information for each goal as well as for groups.

Update 8 October 2025: Beta Testing

I invite anyone who would like to help me with testing.

1. Create a backup file;
2. Delete the app;
3. Download and install a pre-update version - https://github.com/Medvedev91/timeto.me/releases/download/v2025.09.13.590/fdroid-release.apk
4. Restore from backup file;
5. Download and update to beta version - https://github.com/Medvedev91/timeto.me/raw/7607e52eab0a000f67e0f9187396754170c865dd/misc/builds/591.apk
6. Check the version in settings, it should be v2025.10.08.591-fdroid.

The most important is migration process. The data will be migrated, but you will most likely need to reconfigure your home screen goals (Settings - Goals). Please note the "Parent Goal" option on the goal's form.

Update 11 October 2025: Release Candidate

If you have installed the beta testing version, just update to this version. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Medvedev91/timeto.me/refs/heads/activities_to_goals_migration/misc/builds/592-fdroid.apk

Otherwise, follow the manual for the beta version, then upgrade to the latest one.

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I suggest you test it for a day/week, then come back with the feedback.

Thank you!

[ConEstArthur]

I don't have any problem with this.
However there needs to be one more "way" how goals are achieved - when I take less time to achieve a goal than the target.
It will be useful for activities/goals like "Getting Ready".

Also the name "Goals" being the primary thing here implies I need to run after them to chase them or something like that 😅
So it's a bit less relaxing name than "Activities". (which is just my minor issue.. no problems whatsoever)

[Medvedev91]

What about the optional "Keep Screen On"? Do you disable this for some activities, or it is enabled for all activities?

[ConEstArthur]

What about the optional "Keep Screen On"? Do you disable this for some activities, or it is enabled for all activities?

I don't use this option though.
Correct me if I wrong but for oled displays, this can increase the chances of burn in right?

[Medvedev91]

this can increase the chances of burn in right?

I don't know, but display mostly black, it shouldn't.

[ConEstArthur]

I don't know, but display mostly black, it shouldn't.

Yes but most content is static too so maybe it can?

[Medvedev91]

However there needs to be one more "way" how goals are achieved - when I take less time to achieve a goal than the target.

Interesting point. May be mark the goal as completed if the checklist is completed.

[sizingsnowfall]

Giving my thoughts (after reading the thread):

I think replacing activities with goal is fine, but the name 'activity' is going to be much better than 'goal'. I have one activity "anxiety", its separate from "other" or break because I want to know how much time was spent being too anxious to do anything compared to when I was actively taking a break. Saying it was a goal sounds wrong.

I think removing emojis altogether (allowing it to be added in the activity/goal text itself) is great. The emoji doesn't really serve as anything other than part of the text itself so it should be fine.

I have never used keep screen on. I prefer the notification sound to remember time has passed and it works.

Timer hints are mostly unused by me as well. Except for activity like anxiety, where I set it to 4 hours because usually getting a notification for timer ran out is not helpful for it. I dont see it ever hitting 4 hours so whenever Im ready to do something again I can open the app and choose. Anxiety-like activities I also don't really want on my homescreen preferrably, so maybe an alternative approach where some activities/goals can be put into a different place?

I had this idea where the activity page is replaced with a detailed history view. With a button or slide-able area with "extra activities" like anxiety.

Regarding the detailed history view, I think a small alteration to the current summary page (not pie chart) works. It can be iterated in the future. The small alteration I would really love is being able to click on any of the activities and it being isolated on the bar-chart-thing.

I really like the nested goals idea and modular summaries.

[Medvedev91]

Thank you for the detailed comment. I like the idea to add emojis to text itself, it much more flexible.

Right now I'am working on this here #147.

Soon I will release a beta version, I would be grateful if you could help me with testing.

[sizingsnowfall]

Ill follow the pull request and check it out when its out

[Mlk1225]

1. Naming and Classification

My understanding is that the core of the app lies in what you call "goals" (I prefer to think of them as "tasks" or "items", since "activity" encompasses multiple goals). Activities serve as categories for tasks—you decide on the category when starting a task. Folder, on the other hand, act as temporary groupings.

2. Current Usage

I'd be happy to walk you through my current workflow and usage patterns. Where relevant, I'll use the example of developing a software project to illustrate.

1. Daily Scenarios - Habitual Tasks: Things like reading, coding, sleeping, playing, or eating—these form broad categories of activities that much of life revolves around. For these, I set them up as activities. When I want to engage in one without a detailed plan, I simply tap it on the activity page and start timing—no need to create a specific task.

2. Daily Scenarios - Specific Tasks: When I have an idea or need to execute a concrete task or item, I create a task with a rough description of the idea. More often, I batch-create tasks without assigning specific start times and drop them into a folder, which functions like a lightweight Kanban board. When I'm at loose ends, I glance at the folder and pick one to start.

   Example: Developing a (or a batch of) feature.

   
   I have an idea, e.g., "feature/activity2goal—consider X, remove Y, create Z, blablabla"—create a task with this rough description—place it in the "code" folder—later, start this task and assign the activity as "coding"—then start timing the "coding" activity's goals.
   
   

   P.S.

   • Rough descriptions that are too long can make things hard to read, as mentioned in [UI Develop] long text, time format, better calender #151. Adding an extra text annotation area for tasks would be a great improvement.
   • Why a "rough description" instead of a checklist? Discussed below in the ## Checklist Usage section.

3. Daily Scenarios - Periodic Activities: For recurring activities (e.g., regular training or courses), I create repeating tasks. This is straightforward, aside from the discussed FRs in [UI Develop] long text, time format, better calender #151 and [feature request] a way to make certain tasks show up in calendar #92 (and the backlog item for displaying them in the calendar).

   Periodic activities often pair well with checklists, as they follow fixed patterns, allowing checklists to be reused.

   Example: Periodic code backups, where the checklist includes various related steps.

4. Daily Scenarios - Future Planning: Sometimes I plan far ahead, like for a meeting or onboarding date. For events with specific times, I add them directly to the calendar. This works fine as is.

How I use Note

I also use a separate note-taking app (Obsidian), and I prefer to keep them distinct rather than going all-in-one.

For notes in timetome, the current design feels sufficient. I only record content directly related to tasks, falling into three main categories with corresponding feature requests:

Note Type	Example	Feature Request
Lengthy event notifications or content needed to complete a task	A received notification or email instructions for a task	An extra text annotation area for tasks would be ideal
Collecting events for later	I might skip events due to time, energy, or skill constraints, so I log them in notes; or very long-term plans, like a 2-year work outline with rough ideas but no timeline	Current features are sufficient
Content shared across multiple tasks	API docs location or project info needed for several features	Current features are sufficient

Additionally, rendering hyperlinks in notes would be a nice touch for easy clicking (e.g., web links, email copying). But no need for full Markdown support—that would feel bloated and blur the lines with dedicated note apps.

How I use Checklist

Since checklists are reusable, I rarely create them ad hoc for a single task, as that would require ongoing management after the task ends. I only make them when they're standardized and reusable, like a backup file list or pre-travel packing checklist.

This might stem from my intuitive style—others might prefer checklists to break down tasks step-by-step, tying into personal granularity preferences. Some folks granularize everything (big project → several tasks → checklist per task). I find that overly effortful: once a task is finely broken down, maintaining a checklist becomes unnecessary. When planning, you naturally recall what needs doing and jot a rough description. Creating an extra checklist introduces page-switching disruptions and mental overhead. When starting, you'll intuitively know the steps anyway—the cognitive cost of maintaining a checklist often exceeds the task itself.

Building on the page continuity discussion above, if we add an extra text annotation area for tasks, keeping the task title and description on the same page would be better to avoid unnecessary switches.

Other Suggestions

Remove Emoji Icons from Activities

I think this change is harmless—older versions didn't have them anyway—and it would allow more flexibility to add emojis directly in tasks.

History and Summary Usage

I rarely use the history or summary features. That said, the current pie chart categorizes by activities; if activities are phased out, the pie chart would need a redesign.

Custom Time Hints, Countdowns, and Timers

I like the current custom time hints design. Switching to fixed hints—what special benefits would that bring? Retaining flexibility seems preferable.

A related extension: countdown vs. forward timers. The app currently uses countdowns, but consider adding forward timers—they differ philosophically:

Type	Philosophy	Suitable Tasks	Mindset
Countdown	Race against time	Urgent, repetitive tasks	"How much time do I have left?" or "I must finish within this window"
Forward Timer	Race against self	Creative "tasks"	"How long can I sustain this?"

Summary

• The current version is feature-complete and elegantly designed, needing only minor tweaks (like [UI Develop] long text, time format, better calender #151—forgive my slight selfishness). After this, I couldn't stomach those bloated 100MB+ sluggish scheduling apps.
• For future iterations, please maintain the elegant design and prioritize page continuity to avoid breaking flow. Based on what I've seen, I'm confident about it.

Notes

Version info: Android v2025.09.13.590-fdroid

[sizingsnowfall]

I really like the forward timer idea, having ability to set it per activity or per selection would be really useful.

I do agree the current app is feature-complete as is, some minor tweaks would be great but the core is great. I don't mind if the dev want to change somethings though. But doing the small tweaks people have asked I think might be better to a re-design (in terms of effort and usability).

[Medvedev91]

Okay.

Thank you for explaining your usage patterns. At the moment, I am trying to understand how people ACTUALLY use the app. Glad to know that my patterns almost the same.

It will take time to consider all the points. But there are some points I would like to discuss first.

I simply tap it on the activity page and start timing.

I plan to remove the activity page with no alternative. I mean that all activities will be placed as goals on the home screen. Does this mean it will disrupt your patterns? @Mlk1225

[Mlk1225]

I don't think it will have much impact, at least based on the changes so far. These original activities are basically permanent goals, so the workflow can still stay the same after the adjustments.

Of course, I'd be happy to hear more about your designs. ：)

Currently, goals duplicate almost all activities features. I plan to get rid of activities.目前，目标几乎复制了所有活动功能。我计划摆脱活动。

Key changes:

• Created activities are transformed into goals;
• Goals can have a parent goal. It means there can be any level of nesting.
• The summary will display information for each goal as well as for groups.

edit: I previously mistakenly turned the reply into a comment, and this time I am correcting it.

[Medvedev91]

@Mlk1225

"I must finish within this window"

I think the release https://github.com/Medvedev91/timeto.me/releases/tag/v2026.02.15.607 covers this case. Isn't it?

[Mlk1225]

Absolutely :)

[Medvedev91]

Question for everyone. What about Finished Emoji for goals? Does it make sense? Do you use that?

[ConEstArthur]

I do use them for goals that I set as a limit rather than a goal, because I like a positive emoji (🎉) for attained goals and negative one for limits (👎🏻)

That's such a good idea.
I should incorporate this in my workflow 👀

[Medvedev91]

I do use them for goals that I set as a limit rather than a goal

But in cases with short goal bars, emojis are visible only for seconds.

[suryyyansh]

Yes, but the activity time limit is always visible. perhaps the emoji can be placed behind that text (not sure about how this will affect visibility, but I usually focus on filling out the bar than checking the exact time limit)

[Medvedev91]

But for me, the opposite is true: it's important to see the time that has passed. We need to invent something. : )

[suryyyansh]

Maybe it can be conditional? If we make the emoji a toggle (or rather default to "None"), then in the cases of extremely short progress bars, the activity time can take the place of the emoji in its absence. It can work the same as it does now for the longer goal bars.

[suryyyansh]

Appending from #152.

TLDR of #152:

• Make it possible to combine activities into one in a way that preserves the history graph
• Breakup a single activity's goals into separate activities.

In the context of the topic of this discussion, this would mean allowing nesting dynamic, where this nesting can be altered while preserving history. My use case for this app lies in tracking my productivity, any non-productive activity is categorized under "Nothing", and I routinely check the pie chart to benchmark myself.

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Nomenclature:

• I agree with owl-herd's take, categorizing everything as an "Activity" makes sense because while Goals can be achieved by performing an Activity, the opposite is not true. The current goal system can be renamed to sub-activities.

UI:

• The current UI is well designed, but I personally find it a little tedious to click through multiple screens to get to the pie chart under the Summary screen.
• Perhaps this can be remedied by allowing the user to define a way to swipe left and/or right on the home screen and decide what screens are placed there, sort of like how the homescreen already works in android/iOS, which would make it more intuitive as well.
  I like the "finished emoji" concept. Adds a little personal touch to achieved goals.

Goals/Activities:

• Along with the idea of the "Forward Timer" mentioned in this thread, I'd like "No Timer" tasks as a way to simply mark Activities such as "Water plants" where time spent on the activity is minuscule.
• For compatibility with the history/summary screen, perhaps all Activities without a timer can be simply marked on the history screen for an arbitrary amount of time, and completely ignored for the pie chart as that deals with time spent on activities.
• In the future, the pie chart screen can be extended to include a list of the tasks performed by the _number of times they were performed rather than the time spent on them

Notes/Checklists:

• Currently, it is a bit counter intuitive to go into the settings to add a note. It would make more sense to have this as a left/right swipe screen from the home screen.

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Overall, I like that nomenclature is being standardized for simplicity. The Home screen being swipable to other useful screens would add to usability.

[suryyyansh]

Mostly for the multi-day view. In the default summary screen, the last 30 days are separate lines. The pie chart combines them.

[Medvedev91]

The right part of the summary screen presents the same data as the pie chart. I'am asking because I plan to remove pie chart so I'am interested why people use this.

[suryyyansh]

I just like how the pie chart looked better ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I'd be fine with the summary as well.

[ConEstArthur]

Ivan debloating timeto to the max 😅

[Medvedev91]

Ivan debloating timeto to the max 😅

Yeah, almost every day I receive feedback like "I don't understand how to use the app". So I've decided to solve this.

[Medvedev91]

Another question. Does it make sense to disable the “Today on Home Screen” option?

[sizingsnowfall]

I have it disabled. I prefer when I open the app to check my goals and timer only (first). If I want to look at tasks list I can click the middle button and its great.

This way no matter how big or detailed the tasks lists is it doesn't overwhelm the main screen. And no matter how many goals are set it doesnt limit the task list.

It also stops the urge a little bit to "fill up" the homescreen with some tasks (fill the empty space). Since there is no way to fill it if tasks don't appear on the home screen

[Mlk1225]

I’m used to having the 'Today on Home Screen' option turned on, which lets me know what I need to do as soon as I open the app.

[sizingsnowfall]

Yea I think a toggle works then

[Medvedev91]

Beta vestion is here! I would appreciate your help with testing. Please read the discussion head.

[sizingsnowfall]

I have the beta version installed on a testing device (so not my daily driver).

The issue I see is that all previous activities have to be goals on the home screen. Not ideal for things I mentioned previously like an "anxiety" activity. This also overcrowds the homescreen, so if there's any important tasks then its very difficult to make out anything.

A separate screen or folder somewhere for different goals can fix this. I can suggest if its possible to have different goals setup possible for different folders on the right. So each folder can have its own tasks and goals screen

Currently I dont think there is a way to merge activities either, so those coming from previous versions with a lot of activities are going to now have to deal with a crowded home screen.

The timeline page looks a bit empty in the current layout. The timeline is thin lines with text for the goal/activity. And the hours counter is on the right. Maybe a timeline 'line' that can scale with the display size?

A small nitpik I found was that the goal's button in the settings was hard to make out, maybe it could be made a bit bigger than the rest of the buttons there as that's now a main setting

[Medvedev91]

@owl-herd Thank you for the testing!

Looks like the new way brokes your flow. Let's consider.

all previous activities have to be goals on the home screen.

You can hide goals that you don't need.

I dont think there is a way to merge activities either

What do you mean "merge activities"? You can set the "Parent Goal" with any level of nesting.

crowded home screen.

I use 12 goals. Some of them are parents, so I hide them from the home screen. Others I place 3 goals in a row, so I only have 3 rows on my home screen. How many goals do you use?

[sizingsnowfall]

Ah, I was very confused where the hiding option was for goals. But I found putting them in "other" section hides them. I didn't really get that and at first assumed "other" was the previous 'break' activity turned into goal.

Perhaps Having Other at the bottom and home screen at the top in the 'goals' page might help?

Now that I've hidden them things are much better, I will still experiment with parents and nesting but so far its pretty good.

Regarding the merge activities, I meant being able to merge unused/old activities/goals with others.

[Medvedev91]

Regarding the merge activities, I meant being able to merge unused/old activities/goals with others.

It you need to move all the data from "old" goal to another: set the parent goal for the "old" goal, then delete the "old" goal. Everything should move to the parent goal.

[Medvedev91]

@Mlk1225 Can you please create an issue about timer hints? I have some ideas about it, and want to discuss it.

[Medvedev91]

Release Candidate is here! Please read the discussion head.

[sizingsnowfall]

Have been using the merged Goal-Activities version for a few weeks now as the main driver. Here's my thoughts (Ill keep new features ideas separate from old vs new):

I think it is a major improvement. But somethings are missed in the move.

1. Being able to add new things from the history section
   This was there in the activities version but is gone now. I used this feature quite a bit to add missed entries when I am away from the phone for long periods. Filling in gaps is useful and important to see how I spent my time later. Doing this now requires to go back to the home screen, click the goal I want to add, go back to the history screen, select it, change the time to the 5-10 minute mark, then press 'done', then click again to adjust the minor minutes variable if needed.

2. Homescreen is the only place you can add goals
   This has positives of restricting the amount of stuff you focus on. But the cost is if you want more space, there really isn't any way to have it. You might need more space because you have that many goals. Or you like spacing the goals out based on importance/priority (like me). Or if you want different times for similar goals on different days (eg: socializing longer on weekends than weekdays; writing more on fridays and less on other days).

Previously I would have these different timed goals based on days on the homescreen. And same goals everyday stuff just in activities mostly so home screen could have spaced out stuff. Now everything has to be on the home screen so space is limited.

3. Everything is timed
   Everything on the home screen requires a time. Not everything I do everyday needs a goal time. As others have suggested previously in this discussion, having a count-up timer could be implemented to help here, count-down isn't useful for all things. Count-up timer in addition to being able to not set a 'goal time' per goal.

This is also a UI issue, for me at least. With everything now on home screen, and lack of space. Having a time besides every goal's text easily becomes unreadable at times and overwhelming. This is for me one of the biggest issues I've had with the update, as it takes me far longer to find and select my next goal. There's a lot more information to digest than the previous activity menu, as each goal has a bar filling with color, time, the goal text, and when its done a "+" symbol. Which is not useful information for a lot of passive things as explained before, and just overwhelms. Its far easier for me sometimes to click randomly and change the goal in history.

My fixes suggestions:

• Add back the 'add' button in the history menu
• A button that shows the "hidden goals" that can be selected from
• Hidden goals area made bigger and maybe made scrollable (?)
• Toggleable progress bar + timer on each goal (toggle can convert the goal to only show its text and always be its color full)

New feature suggestions:

• Ability to type/change the text of the goal in the history menu (currently only the goal can be changed)
• Checklist option that always resets the checklist on a new task
• No set time for repeating tasks
• Repeating tasks can be tied directly to the "Day Start" time (say breakfast repeating tasks is always 1 hour from day start time, you only need to change the day start time to have all tasks tied to it change accordingly.)
  Currently Day start time is not very useful, at least for me. Nor are times for any repeating tasks. Since my work shift times can change drastically, I can't ever stick to exact times everyday or even close. I was changing the times every week as things changed previously, now I just have all tasks based on order 1 minute apart, so I remember the order to do them in only. Adding 'tied to day start' to task would be a game changer for me.

[Medvedev91]

Hey, guys! Please keep atthention to this #216

[Medvedev91]

Hi folks! Please help me test a new release here #262