Help with the app
Activity Record is an hour-by-hour log for iPhone, iPad, and Android. Each hour, you note what you were doing and rate how strong one feeling was, a feeling you choose to follow. You can also rate pleasure and mastery. Ratings run from 0 to 100, or 0 to 10 if you switch the scale in Settings. After eight rated hours, Patterns describes which activities, times of day, and days of the week went with higher or lower ratings. It only describes your own record.
These answers are about the app you install from the App Store or Google Play. It works the same way on both, and where a platform differs, it says so.
If you are using the activity record worksheet in your browser at myactivityrecord.com/try, see website support instead. The two are separate. They don’t share data, and they work differently.
Getting started
Does the app start me on a feeling by default?
No. When you first open the app it asks you to choose or write the feeling you want to follow, and it won’t move past that step until you do. There is no preset feeling, because which one is worth following is yours to decide.
Can I change the feeling I follow?
Yes. In Settings, under What you rate each hour, tap Change the feeling. Ratings you already saved keep the feeling they were rated under, so you can switch anytime without losing history.
What are pleasure and mastery?
Two more things you can rate an hour on, alongside the feeling you follow. Pleasure is how much you enjoyed the hour. Mastery is how much you felt you accomplished, given how hard it was. They often disagree. A hard afternoon of work can be low on pleasure and high on mastery, and an easy evening the reverse.
How do I turn pleasure or mastery on or off?
In Settings, under What you rate each hour, each of the three has its own switch. Keep at least one on. When a switch is on, the editor asks for that rating, and Patterns gives it its own map and its own sentences.
If I turn one off, do I lose those ratings?
No. Turning one off only changes what you’re asked for from now on. Everything already saved stays exactly as it was, and turning the switch back on shows it again. Turning one on doesn’t go back and add it to hours you logged before.
Do I have to rate all three every hour?
No. To save an hour, write what you were doing and give it at least one rating, any of the ones you have turned on. For an hour you slept through, tapping I was asleep is enough. You can come back later and fill in the rest.
Can I rate from 0 to 10 instead of 0 to 100?
Yes. In Settings, under Rating scale, choose 0 to 10. It changes how ratings are shown and entered, and nothing you’ve already rated changes. A 47 on the 100 scale shows as 5 on the 10 scale and stays 47 underneath, so exports and backups are the same either way.
Day to day
What’s the quickest way to log an hour?
Tap Log this hour at the top of the main screen. If you were doing the same thing as the hour before, one tap fills in that activity. If you were sleeping, tap I was asleep. When you’re catching up, Save and go to the next open hour takes you straight to the next hour you haven’t filled in.
How do reminders work?
In Settings, under Reminders, you can set up to twelve daily reminders. They’re scheduled on your device and say only that it’s time to log, never what you wrote. Tapping one can open the hour you’re in right away. On Android, you can also allow exact timing, so each reminder arrives in the hour you chose.
Is there a widget or a shortcut?
Yes. On iPhone and iPad, the widget can go on your Home Screen or Lock Screen and shows which hours today you’ve logged. On iOS 18 and later, you can also add Log this hour to Control Center, the Lock Screen, or the Action button. Siri does the same if you ask it to log this hour. On Android, there’s a home screen widget, a Log this hour tile for Quick Settings, and a shortcut when you long-press the app icon. Each one opens the current hour, and none of them shows a feeling, a rating, or anything you wrote.
Can I lock the app?
Yes. Turn on the lock in Settings. On iPhone and iPad it uses Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode. On Android it uses your screen lock, whether that’s a fingerprint, face, PIN, or pattern.
Is there a dark mode?
Yes. In Settings, under Appearance, choose Automatic to follow your device, or Light or Dark.
What languages are supported?
English and Spanish. You can switch in Settings, under Language, and the change applies to the app, its widget, and reminders. On Android 13 and later, you can also choose the app’s language in your phone’s settings.
Patterns
When does Patterns start?
After eight rated hours. Until then, the main screen shows how many you have so far. Once it opens, See your patterns on the main screen takes you there.
What does Patterns show?
A map of your ratings, with one square for each hour, so you can see the times and days that ran higher or lower. You can show the last 7, 14, or 30 days, all your data, or a range you choose. Below the map, a few plain sentences describe the times of day, days of the week, and activities that went with higher and lower ratings. Under Your days, you can open any day you logged and read it back hour by hour.
What do the sentences mean?
They’re simple summaries of what you entered, worked out on your device. They can be wrong or incomplete, and they aren’t a diagnosis. What you make of them is up to you.
Your data
Where is my data stored?
On your device. Sync is optional and off until you turn it on in Settings. On iPhone and iPad it uses your own private iCloud, and on Android it uses a hidden folder in your own Google Drive that only this app can see. On Android, Back up to your Google account is a separate switch. When it’s on, your record is also backed up to your own Google account and comes back when you reinstall the app or set up a new phone. Whichever you use, the record stays yours, and no one else can see it. See the app privacy policy.
How do I share or export my record?
For one day, use Share this day as a PDF or Copy this day as text, at the bottom of the main screen or on any day’s page. Export PDF, at the top left of the main screen, makes a PDF of a day or a date range, with a cover, maps, a week at a glance, and a page for each day. In Settings, under Your data, you can also export a spreadsheet, which is a CSV file, or save a backup file you can restore later.
Can I move my record between an iPhone and an Android phone?
Yes, by hand. The two don’t sync with each other. iCloud and Google Drive are separate places, and neither can see the other. But the backup file is the same format on both. In Settings, under Your data, save a backup on the old phone, move the file across however you like, and use Restore from a backup on the new one.
How do I delete everything?
In Settings, tap Delete everything. It removes your logged hours, reminders, and settings from the device, and it can’t be undone. On iPhone and iPad, it also removes the copy in iCloud. If you use the app on another iPhone or iPad with the same Apple Account, delete everything there too, or its copy will sync back. On Android, if sync is on, it also clears the copy in Google Drive, and other Android phones that sync with the same Google account clear their hours the next time they sync. If you turned sync off earlier, you can delete that copy from Google Drive on the web. Go to Settings, then Manage apps, find the app, open Options, and choose Delete hidden app data.
Does the app share data with the website worksheet?
No. They’re completely separate. The worksheet at myactivityrecord.com/try lives only in the browser you’re using, and the app lives on your device. Nothing moves between them automatically. You can move a record by hand. Download the backup file from the worksheet, then use Restore from a backup in the app.
If you are struggling
Does anyone see what I write?
No. Nothing you write is seen by anyone else, including us, so no one can notice if you’re struggling or respond to what you write. Help now keeps crisis lines one tap away. Open it from Settings, or from the link on the main screen and in the editor that asks if you need to talk to someone right now. If you may be in crisis, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line now. In the United States, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. For Spanish, call 988 and press 2, or text AYUDA to 988. In Mexico, call Línea de la Vida at 800 911 2000. In the UK and Ireland, call Samaritans at 116 123. Elsewhere, findahelpline.com lists free lines by country. On your own or with a therapist covers when to get support.
Contact
Email hello@myactivityrecord.com and we’re happy to help.