Collecting signals isn’t the same as logging hours
A time entry says: this work, for this client, on this project, for this amount of time. A signal just says something happened: Word was open for forty minutes, a commit was made, you were at an address across town at ten. The decision comes in between.
Software can almost never make that decision alone. A window called ‘Proposal.docx’ might belong to three different clients. A visit to an address could be for a client—or just the bakery. Good automatic time tracking gathers as many signals as possible, groups them into logical blocks, and suggests entries. You turn those suggestions into actual time entries.
Rule of thumb: collecting is automatic, judgment is up to you. Software that books hours to clients without your input makes mistakes you’ll only spot on the invoice.
Which signals can software use?
The useful sources depend on your device. A computer mostly tracks what you worked on; a phone mostly tracks where you were. Work with no digital trace—like a hallway chat—won’t show up anywhere.
- Apps and window titles. Which program was active and what the title bar said, like a document name or email subject.
- Browser. Which websites and web apps you visited, tracked through a browser extension.
- Files. Changes in folders you pick, like a client folder.
- Git commits. For developers: commits in selected repositories, with time and subject.
- Calendar. Meetings from Google Calendar or Outlook, with title and attendees.
- Location. Visits to addresses and car trips, recorded by your phone.
- AI agent sessions. Work you did with an assistant like Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor. More in Logging hours with AI.
Why you still review and confirm
Hours feed invoices, budgets, and sometimes tax or grant claims. A wrong hour carries through. Reviewing your hours every day or week keeps you in control of what your client sees.
Confirmation is also when you write a description your client understands. ‘Excel 1:12’ doesn’t mean much; ‘reworked the 2027 budget’ does. Software can suggest text, but you know what really happened.
- At the end of the day or week, open your suggestions.
- Merge nearby blocks into one task.
- Pick client, project, and activity, or adjust the suggestion.
- Write a short description and save. Anything you skip stays private.
What does your manager see?
This is the key question with automatic tracking. There are basically two models. In one, every signal goes to your employer, who can see which sites you visited and how long you were idle. In the other, the signals stay private and your employer only sees the hours you log yourself.
Half5 uses the second model, enforced by technology—not just policy. The timeline is end-to-end encrypted between your own devices. Your manager, an admin, and even Half5 itself can’t open it: no screen, report, or export shows it to anyone else. Your organization only sees the hours, trips, and leave you log yourself. What you can measure from that is in Measuring productivity without surveillance.
Timer, automatic, or manual entry?
These three approaches aren’t mutually exclusive. Many people use a timer for long, clear-cut tasks and automatic suggestions for the rest. If you still track hours in a spreadsheet, see the comparison in Tracking hours: spreadsheet or app.
| Start-stop timer | Automatic (signals) | Manual entry | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effort while working | Start and stop at every switch | None | None |
| Effort afterwards | Minimal | Review suggestions | A lot: reconstruct from memory |
| Small tasks and interruptions | Often missed | Captured | Mostly lost |
| Accuracy | Good if you remember to stop | Good, as long as you review | Varies |
| Privacy | Only what you enter | Depends on who can see the signals | Only what you enter |
How Half5 does it
Half5 keeps signals in a personal “Timeline.” The desktop app for Mac and Windows records active apps and window titles, browser pages through a Chrome and Edge extension, file changes in selected “Folders,” commits from chosen “Git folders,” and sessions from Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor. The iPhone and Android app adds location visits and car trips; your calendar comes in through Google Calendar or Outlook. You can filter by “Computer work,” “Calendar,” “Locations,” and “AI sessions.”
The timeline is end-to-end encrypted: “Only you can read your timeline. Half5 cannot access your timeline.” At the top you’ll see “Still to register” with “Suggestions”; only when you confirm a suggestion does it become an entry your organization can see. Location visits follow the same rule: “Only you see these visits until you confirm them.” “Automatic Client Recognition” and “AI-generated Description” are included in Premium.
Frequently asked questions
Does automatic time tracking log my hours entirely by itself?
No, not if it’s set up right. The software collects signals and suggests entries; you confirm which time goes to which client or project.
Can my employer see which websites I visit?
With monitoring software, often yes. With Half5, no: visited websites only show up in your timeline, which is end-to-end encrypted and only readable on your own devices. Your employer only sees the entries you confirm.
Does it work if I’m not at a computer?
Partly. A phone can record visits to addresses and car trips, and your calendar fills in meetings. Work with no digital trace you add yourself.
How often should I review suggestions?
Daily takes just a few minutes and you’ll still remember what you did. Weekly works too, but the longer you wait, the harder it is to write good descriptions.
So is a timer pointless?
Not always. A timer is useful for a long task when you know up front who it’s for. Automatic suggestions catch the small jobs and interruptions a timer misses.
