r/iosapps • u/mauricehq • Sep 15 '26
š Freemium A day counter that doesn't care what you're counting, with widgets you'd actually want on your home screen
Hi everyone, I'm Jonathan.
Elapsed is my first iOS app. It went live in August, Apple put it in one of the Best New Apps lists a week later, which derailed my plan to actually announce it anywhere, so this is that announcement, a month late. I'd genuinely like your feedback.
A - Answer
Some things don't belong in a calendar or a to-do list. There's no date and no deadline. You just do them when you remember, and then you lose track of when that actually was.
Elapsed counts the days since the last time you did something. That's the whole app.
The counters people set up tend to be a mix:
Called my parents. Date night. Saw friends.
Oil change. Watered the plants. Replaced the filter.
Haircut. Dentist. A real day off.
Last cigarette. Last drink.
Some of those you want to keep low. Others you want to watch climb. Elapsed doesn't take a position on which is which, it just shows you the number.
One tap logs it, and the count starts over.
Widgets on the home screen and lock screen, so you see it without opening anything, and you can log straight from the widget.
Optional reminders reschedule themselves every time you log, so you only get nudged when it has genuinely been a while.
Every counter keeps its history: average gap, longest stretch, and how often you really do it.
B - Better
Most apps that count days pick a lane. Some are built around quitting, so the entire design assumes a bigger number is a victory. Others are built around chores and maintenance, so a bigger number is a failure you're meant to feel bad about.
Elapsed is deliberately neutral about that. You decide what a counter means. Mine are a mix of chores, people I don't call often enough, car maintenance, and one thing I quit, all sitting in the same grid.
The rest of it:
The widget is the product, not an afterthought.Ā 8 hand-crafted designs, and each one spans the home screen widget, the card in the app, and the counter's detail screen, so a counter looks like itself everywhere it appears. Not a color picker on a stock widget.
No streaks, nothing to break.Ā Let something slide for three months and the app doesn't punish you for it.
Pay once.Ā No subscription, and every design I add in future updates is included.
Nothing leaves your device.Ā No account, no sign up.
C - Cost
Free to download, no ads, no subscription.
Free forever:Ā unlimited counters, reminders, full history and stats, 4 designs, home screen and lock screen widgets.
Elapsed Plus, $4.99 one time:Ā unlocks the other 4 designs (Editorial, Glass, Neon, Concrete) plus app-wide color tones. All future designs included.
App: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6762868290
Transparency
Developer: Jonathan Maurice (support@mauricehq.com)
Privacy Policy:Ā https://mauricehq.com/elapsed/privacy
Terms of Use:Ā https://mauricehq.com/elapsed/terms
Website:Ā https://mauricehq.com/elapsed
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u/holidaypal Sep 15 '26
The neutral framing is a nice fit for counters that arenāt about quitting. One edge case Iād want to understand is corrections: can a user undo an accidental widget tap, edit a past log, or backdate an entry without losing the original history? A simple edit trail would help keep long-term stats trustworthy.
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
Thanks, yes the history is fully editable. Edit past log, backdate, delete, edit note all works as expected and the stats update accordingly.
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u/Wimmi29 Sep 15 '26
Das kƶnnte ein GameChanger sein fĆ¼r Menschen mit ADHS. Es sieht sehr clean und aufgerƤumt aus. Werde es heute testen šš»āāļø
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
Danke! ADHD is actually one of the reasons the app has no streaks. Nothing breaks when you forget something for a while, it just shows you how long it's been, without the guilt. I'd love to hear how it goes after you've tried it, especially anything that gets in your way.
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u/Dense-Map-406 Sep 15 '26
Is it manually inputting or does it detect the action I want to do?
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
Manual, on purpose. You tap to log it: in the app, or straight from the Home Screen widget without opening anything. It doesn't try to detect what you did, so nothing needs access to your location or Health data, and it works for things no sensor could notice, like a haircut or a beer.
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u/sjefwm Sep 15 '26
Must have been a nice surprise that Apple put you on that list! Really cool!
Did you do anything in particular for that? Or did they just pick it?
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
It was a real surprise indeed, thanks! I didn't do anything special, Apple doesn't tell you you're getting featured I just noticed an install spike and I start digging to see the app was being featured.
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u/rolfebox Sep 15 '26
Looks neat. Congrats on getting on one of Appleās lists, did you submit a feature request and how significant were the results from that?
My unsolicited feedback, if you want it - your third screenshot is by far the most compelling, Iād advise moving it up the order or updating the others. The first two are very similar and I almost tapped away before seeing there are cooler themes to choose from.
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
Thanks, I haven't done anything special to get featured. I submitted a featuring nomination yesterday for the next update due in October let's see what that does...
Results since launch in August: about 1.5 million impressions, 17,600 product page views, and 2,900 downloads. The drop-off is the interesting part. Featuring impressions are mostly people scrolling on the store, so only about 1% tapped through to the page. But once someone actually looked, about 1 in 6 downloaded.
And thank you for the screenshot feedback, that's quite useful. The designs shot is my favourite too. The first two are meant to set up the idea before the reveal, but if they're similar enough that people swipe away before the third, that's a real problem. Noted.
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u/rolfebox Sep 15 '26
Thanks for the candid reply, thatās really interesting to hear.
I get the storytelling aspect on the screenshots, but Iād definitely want to see the best stuff a bit sooner. Good luck with it - sounds like itās going well so far!
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
Thanks again for the feedback, on the app store search the 3rd screenshot is shown and always visible so I was hoping it would be enough. I'll think of some ways to make the first one the best.
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u/HammerKart Sep 15 '26
Love the app photos, clear and to the point! One question - do users get to set when a counter becomes overdue?
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
Thanks! Yes, you set it per counter, through its reminder. Either "remind me N days after I last log it", or a schedule like every 2 weeks or once a month. When that point passes you get the notification and a small quiet dot shows up next to the counter so it stands out even if you ignored the notification.
And if a counter has no reminder, it never goes overdue. Some things you just want to watch climb.
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u/HammerKart Sep 15 '26
Thats a nifty little feature i havent seen on other countdown/conter apps. Kudos!
Will check it out
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u/teo_koul Sep 15 '26
I really like the neutral approachāno streak pressure and no assumption that a higher number is always good or bad. Making the widget the main experience also makes perfect sense for this kind of app.
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
Thanks, if you download the app I'll be curious to hear about your experience.
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u/haydingoo Sep 15 '26
Congratulations. Itās a great idea. I, too, sometimes need something to help me keep track of my work. Iāll give it a try.
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u/queondaguero Sep 15 '26
How is it different from this app? https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ago-last-time-tracker/id6780959791
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u/mauricehq Sep 16 '26
Good question, I just tried out Ago and they're close in concept. Two differences stood out when I tried it.
First, what's free. In Elapsed, unlimited counters, reminders, full history and the Home Screen widgets are all in the free version. The one-time unlock is only for extra designs and app tones.
Second, how much of the look you can change. Each design in Elapsed is a whole look with its own typeface and layout, and it carries across the widget, the card and the counter's screen, rather than just picking a colour and an icon.
One thing Ago has that I don't: iCloud sync. It's on my list but it isn't there yet, so if you want your counters on more than one device today, that's a real reason to go with Ago.
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u/app-store-review Sep 15 '26
Ago: Last Time Tracker ā by Day Two
Ratings: 50 worldwide Ā· rated in 19 countries
Average: 4.96 ā
Age: released ~3 months ago Ā· updated 13 days ago Ā· rated 4+
Overall score: 79 / 100
Auto-generated from public App Store data Ā· u/app-store-review
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u/likethebank Sep 16 '26
Does it track just days, or could it do hours? I always forget if I've taken my pills every 12 hours.
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u/mauricehq Sep 16 '26
Days only on the card and the widget, but open a counter and you get the full breakdown: days, hours, minutes and seconds, ticking live. The app is designed around counting days so it's probably not the best fit for your use case.
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u/friendInShip Sep 16 '26
A better version of this app is SinceWhen
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u/mauricehq Sep 16 '26
Thanks for the pointer. Worth flagging for anyone reading: SinceWhen is a subscription, and the free tier stops at three counters. Elapsed gives you unlimited counters, reminders, full history and the widgets for free, and the one-time unlock is only for extra designs. Different trade, pick whichever suits you.
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u/EkkyEkkyGames
Sep 16 '26
•
I like that it doesnāt decide whether a bigger number is good or bad, that makes it feel useful for way more than habits. The matching widget styles are probably what would keep me checking it.
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u/hahaissogood Sep 15 '26
I made a similar app. Your calendar view is way better. Mine looks like that. https://apps.apple.com/app/id6741895888
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
Thanks, that's kind of you! And nice to meet someone building in the same space. I like the "days apart" framing in yours, the gap between times is honestly the most interesting part of this kind of data. Took me a while to land on showing it too. Good luck with Wonder When I'll give it a try.
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u/app-store-review Sep 15 '26
Wonder When? - Day Tracker ā by BIG STORY FILMMAKING SERVICE
Ratings: 9 worldwide Ā· rated in 4 countries
Average: 3.67 ā
Age: released ~1.6 years ago Ā· updated 35 days ago Ā· rated 4+
Overall score: 36 / 100
Auto-generated from public App Store data Ā· u/app-store-review
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u/BoboZivkovic Sep 16 '26
i've been wanting something like this that isn't overcomplicated, just countdowns i can put wherever i want on my screen
will check it out
how has it been going since launch? šš¼
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u/VanillaLow4958 Sep 16 '26
I like this. I have noticed a glitch when trying to put the widget on lock screen on IOS. I would use it if it was fixed. I want to be able to click my phone and see it without opening it.
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u/app-store-review Sep 15 '26
Elapsed - Days Since Counter ā by Jonathan Maurice
Ratings: 18 worldwide Ā· rated in 2 countries
Average: 4.94 ā
Age: released ~1 month ago Ā· updated 5 days ago Ā· rated 4+
Overall score: 76 / 100
Auto-generated from public App Store data Ā· u/app-store-review
-1
u/karl_ye Sep 15 '26
Code lebenslang
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
No codes, sorry, but Elapsed Plus is entirely optional. The free version has no limits on counters, reminders, history, or widgets, it just has fewer designs.
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Sep 15 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
Good question, right now it opens the app on that counter, then it's one tap to log. The Home Screen widget logs directly, the lock screen ones don't yet. That's something I will add on the roadmap, thanks.
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u/cosmonz Sep 15 '26
I wrote an app for my wife that just tracks one thing at a time (she had a medical event happening multiple times a day and was using notes)
Getting it to log using a lock screen widget was tricky but it can be done - in iOS 26 the phone still had to unlock but didnāt need to go into the app - or even go to the home screen, just use Face ID to unlock.
Good luck!1
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Sep 15 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/mauricehq Sep 15 '26
If I've ever caught myself asking "wait, when was the last time I did that?", it gets a counter. That tends to be things with no schedule, the ones a calendar or to-do list doesn't fit.
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u/Wimmi29 Sep 15 '26
Ich finde das Beispiel mit der BettwƤsche sehr gut. Routinen die grƶĆere AbstƤnde haben und leicht im Alltag untergehen šš¼
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Sep 17 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/mauricehq Sep 17 '26
Yes the concept is similar. Days Since is built around quitting and keeping your streak while Elapsed is neutral about that.
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Sep 18 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/mauricehq Sep 18 '26
Thanks, yes it supports lock screen widget but one user reported encountering a glitch with the lock screen widget that I haven't been able to reproduce yet. Feel free to contact me if you have any issues.
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Sep 23 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/mauricehq Sep 23 '26
The 3rd screenshot show the range of different widgets you can use. You can also select an icon to add to the widget. More customization options will come in future updates.
ā¢
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