uTime 8 Now Available

~ Matthew Jagiela

Happy Vision Pro Launch Day Everyone!

To celebrate the launch of the Vision Pro, uTime 8 has officially launched on the App Store. While uTime 8 is not built natively for VisionOS yet, there will be a time that it is and right now the iPad version has been tweaked to allow better input and scaling for VisionOS.

With the latest update, uTime has undergone significant architectural enhancements across the entire app, most notably on the home screen. This overhaul has resulted in fewer bugs and discrepancies between the iPad and iPhone versions, as well as simplified future updates to the interface.

iPad, Mac, and VisionOS users will notice that the home screen countdown indicator has changed from a circle to a square. This modification ensures improved scaling across different display sizes, preventing text cutoff when transitioning between smaller views.

The custom solution has been replaced with a built-in solution that is more intuitive and user-friendly. This change makes selecting the year much easier, and all input on macOS has become more straightforward.

The Siri button has been removed from the home screen. uTime 8 now integrates Siri through App Shortcuts, eliminating the need for a dedicated Siri-only implementation. Upon launching, a new shortcut will be available in the Shortcuts app, allowing users to easily check the time remaining on their closest expiring timer. Users can invoke the shortcut with phrases like “What’s Expiring Soon In uTime” or “How long until my next expiration in uTime?” Siri will provide the answer. Additionally, this shortcut will be accessible in the spotlight search for uTime.

There are a lot of other changes in this version all which can be viewed below! 

8:
- Home Views have been redone using SwiftUI to allow better changes and memory management
- With the redo there are less logic errors, less time waiting to modify timers, and the ability to quickly add and change the design in the future
- iPad now has a square countdown timer instead of a circular one!
- New Modification Screen! The new screen allows easier modification especially for year selection!
- The old "Add To Siri" way has been replaced with App Shortcuts! With no interaction needed you can ask Siri "What's Expiring Soon In uTime" or "How long until my next expiration in uTime?" and Siri will answer. You can also use uTime's closest timer shortcut in the shortcuts app, or when searching for uTime in Spotlight.
- The new App Shortcut has a new UX to quickly show you how much time is left till your closest expiring timer, expires
- New intro screen! The intro screen has been completely redesigned to show all new features on one page other than sliding through pages!
- Changed the alignment of the "What's New" text to be left bound for easier readability
- Snow in the winter is now much less of a performance hog
- Small changes to icons on the home view
- Small changes to the background blur on the home view
- Fixed an issue where selecting a timer would show an error screen on app update (Widget). You may have to reselect your timer from the selection menu

uTime 6 Now Available

~ Matthew Jagiela

A new major iOS version is now available meaning a new major version of uTime is also available!

uTime 6 brings a new design to timer selection and the home-screen. This is the first redesign of major controls for both the home-screen and timer selection screen since uTime launched in 2015.

Along with these design changes the major upgrade is the addition of a new device: The Apple Watch. uTime is now on the Apple Watch with uTime 6 and allows you to see all your timers and how much time is left on your wrist. Apple Watch support just makes sense with uTime and I am so happy that it is finally here and everyone gets to start using it.

Along with these major things there are many small improvements: iOS 15 Support, Haptic Feedback, iPad Trackpad support and even more. The official change-log can be found below along with screenshots of the new screens and Apple Watch app.

uTime iOS | uTime macOS

Screenshots

Change-Log

  • Welcome to the family Apple Watch!
    • uTime has finally come to the Apple Watch!
    • uTime for Apple Watch will sync all the timers you have on your iPhone regardless of syncing with iCloud or if your data is local!
    • Select any timer to see the exact time left on Apple Watch by selecting a timer from the list.
  • Home screen updates: For the first time since launch the main look of the home screen on every device has changed! The tab bar will function the same as previous buttons and give increased control to those using an iPad with a trackpad.
  • Timer Table Updates: The timer selector has a new look! Beautiful cards to see all of the timers you are tracking! The new system has been completely re-written to avoid action button errors, selection errors, and most importantly: deletion errors.
  • Added haptic feedback on supported devices when you change timers.
  • iOS 15 Support: Added time-sensitive notifications so you do not miss timer expiration!
  • iPad users: Trackpad support has been fully added throughout the app!
  • Small devices: The iPhone SE can now see the countdown circle!
  • Combined the table view from iPhone to iPad and Mac. This means far less bugs and quicker changes can happen to all platforms.
  • Tapping / Clicking on a notification when a timer expires will now open the app right to the timer associated with the notification so you can see more information!
  • Made it so the app can check for important updates and display them as a notification. This happens in the background, ignoring the message will not display the current message but will display future messages unless ignored again.
  • Font changes: A new font style throughout the entire app!
  • Fixed a small bug where arrows would not always display on first time setup in Dark Mode.
  • Small changes to the home-screen widget.
  • A new major version means a new icon!

uTime 5.2 Now Available

~ Matthew Jagiela

On the verge of another Apple Event (Woo!) uTime 5.2 is now available on the Mac App Store and iOS App Store.

uTime 5.2 brings a host of new features such as % of time counting (the circle now can remember what state it was at instead of constantly resetting).

uTime 5.2 also brings the iOS 14 widget to macOS on computers that will be running macOS Big Sur.

The official change-log:

What’s New:

  • Added WidgetKit to macOS 11 Big Sur! This will work in the same way the iOS 14 widget will: putting the closest timer in approximate time up to 15 minutes on your sidebar. Within 15 minutes a more precise timer will run!
  • MacOS Big Sur Support: uTime 5 on macOS has been compiled for BigSur!
  • % Of change: previously when changing timers the circular bar would reset its status. No longer! With percentage of time and our new data set we can calculate percentage of time passed from creation. This means the circular timer will not start at 0 but at how much time has actually passed from creation to now! Hooray!
  • Added a button in modify timer that will allow you to set the selected date to the current date and time.
  • Fixed a bug where selecting a timer would turn the action button title to done but not the state.
  • Fixed a bug on Mac and iPad where the wrong timer would get deleted when selecting the last one in the list.
  • Fixed a bug on Mac and iPad where the Timer would be deselected when scrolling a large list of timers but would stay marked deleted.
  • Small improvements to timer list screen on iPhone.

Download uTime on the iOS App Store | Download uTime from Mac App Store

Introducing uTime 5

~ Matthew Jagiela

After over a year of hard work and dedication I am so happy I can finally introduce the next major update to uTime: uTime 5. Starting a year ago the entire backend structure has been redone, iOS 14 specific features, SwiftUI, CloudKit, and more make up just part of this massive update. While I will post the changelog below I want to highlight some of the more major features of this release.

A New Backend

uTime’s original back end was made when I was a freshman starting college and has stuck around ever since (well until now). It was very sloppy but migrating it was not really possible in the way I wanted to do it until iOS 13 allowed for CoreData (saved data) to syncronize into iCloud without a lot of extra work. This means the data you put into uTime automatically gets saved and transfered to iCloud (or if you don’t have iCloud it will stay on device). By moving uTime’s data to a database instead of my own system of functions (what a mess), I can push updates even faster that has to do with timers and most importantly – less bugs. The downside to this is anything before iOS 13 (and macOS Catalina) does not work with this structure so uTime 5 has to be on iOS 13 (and 14 now) to run. Another downside is all previous versions will not sync data after transfering. If you choose not to upgrade to uTime 5 syncing will still work as expected. Version 5 needs other app versions to be on 5 to sync your data.

First Time Setup

Something new that has not been done before is first time setup. First time setup will open when you first open uTime 5 and in the background migrate your old data to the new dataset that uTime will use from now on. While this is happening you can also scroll through and see some new features of the app. After the first setup you will not see these screens again.

A New Modification Screen

uTime 5’s Modiciation Screen

The new modification screen is simply incredible. It allows you to select the date from a calendar instead of scrolling through. The time is right below so you can set it to the exact time of your event.

iOS 14 Widget

uTime 5 iOS 14 Widget

With iOS 14 Apple has started allowing widgets to be on the homescreen of the iPhone. I am so happy to say uTime 5 has a widget for iOS 14 ready to be on the homescreen of your iPhone (or sidebar of your iPad). The iOS 14 widget updates every 5 minutes (or when you open the app, this is Apple’s limit not mine) and will show you the time to the closest timer that has time left. For iOS 13 friends the Today widget still exists and can be used to cycle through.

Feedback Submission

Feedback Tools

One of the big new features within uTime 5 is feedback submission in app. Using your iCloud account within any screen in app, you can now shake your device (or hit command+F on macOS) to bring up a feedback form. From here you can submit a bug or just general feedback in the app. What is important to know: I cannot see any personal data even though you need to be signed into iCloud (because Apple does not allow me to write to CloudKit without authentication). The only information I can see is what you provide to me.

Those are just some of the major features coming with uTime 5. Others include the Info screen being completely redone, theme improvements, and much more. uTime 5 is the biggest release I have ever done as a developer and I am so excited for you all to use it. To see the entire changelog you can open the info section of the app or find it below.

Changelog:

  • A New Data Set: uTime 5 uses an entirely new data set. This new set lives in iCloud just like the last but allows for more features to be developed much much quicker. If you do not use iCloud then the data will live on your device just like before. With this change it is important to note that uTime 4 cannot sync with this set so if you want to have continuity between devices both will need uTime 5 to sync. This also means uTime 3 on desktop will not be able to sync with uTime 5 for macOS or iOS.
  • iOS 14 Widget – You can now have uTime on the home-screen of your device! Just add the widget by activating jiggle mode. The iOS 14 widget will show the aproximate time you have left to your closest expiring timer!
  • Modify Timer Screen – The modify timer screen has been COMPLETELY redone. You will now be able to choose dates with a calendar and then the time with a date picker for a much better experience than just one scroller. (Not available on iPhone SE Gen 1 running iOS 13)
  • Feedback Screen – You can now submit feedback right through the app: Simply shake your iPhone or iPad to submit either a bug report or generic feedback in the app! Mac users can use the menu option to access on home screen! Please make sure you are signed into iCloud to use!
  • Info Screen – Info screen has been completely re-written in SwiftUI. This makes for a more consistent experience throughout all devices along with being able to add and change things quicker for future updates.
  • Theme improvements: The operating system will now fully take care of dark/light theme. This also allows it when you switch themes in control center the app will fully change without the need to restart.
  • First time setup: Upon entry you will be welcomed with a new set of screens while we transfer your data. This will explain new features!
  • – New Icon: A new version means a new icon! This update is a little pinkish!
  • – Added support for iOS 14.
  • – iOS 13 Dependent: uTime 5 is only available for iOS 13 and onwards.
  • – Changed checkmark image for selecting timers on iPhone.
  • – Fixed an issue on iPad where the color would not return to normal after deselecting a timer.
  • – Fixed an issue where the launch screen would present an oversized logo image.
  • – Fixed an issue where the launch screen would present no image at all…
  • Fixed an issue on iPhone SE (Gen 1) where the image on modify timer wouldn’t completely fill the view. 

uTime 4.4.1 (Spring Cleaning Update) Now Available

~ Matthew Jagiela

uTime 4.4.1:

A new round of uTime 4.4.1 is now out. Called the spring cleaning update this includes:

  • Added a cancel button to the iPad/Mac modify Window. This will allow you to discard any changes made to a timer while using iPadOS or macOS.
  • Timer Table For iPhone: The table on iOS 13 will now show a gray color + checkmark to let you know it has been selected. For iOS 12 and earlier it will just be a gray color. This is a fix for checkmarks dissapearing in a long list.
  • Timer Table for iPad/Mac: When in edit mode and selecting a timer, the color will change to gray to let you know that it has been selected. This fixes disapearing checkmarks and text being cutoff by the mark for a cleaner approach.
  • Made it so the app now dynamically knows what version it’s running. This means there is less confusion on what version you actually have installed.
  • Fixed a bug where checkmarks would disappear if a large list is present and the user scrolls.
  • Cleaned up various parts of the app to make file size slightly smaller and also allow for a better running experience
  • Slight interface changes

Download uTime on the iOS App Store | Download uTime from Mac App Store

uTime 4.2 Now Available

~ Matthew Jagiela

uTime 4.2 is now available on the App Store for both macOS and iOS. uTime 4.2 has a lot of background changes and some front end ones too!

Here is the official change log:

What’s New:
4.2:

  • Multi-Platform:
    • When making a new timer on iPad/Mac, you will now be brought right to the modify screen to edit your newly created timer.
    • Fixed Issue with app crashing on launch after a background sync with iCloud
    • Behind the scenes update to handle app information: This will make less network calls and lead to less human error on update information
  • iPhone:
    • On iOS 13 when swiping down and changes have been made an action sheet will now ask you what you want to do with the changes. Saving will save your changes, discard will discard your changes, and Cancel will keep you in the modification screen.
  • iPad:
    • Slide to delete a timer is back! Slide on a timer to delete it from the list!

Along with this uTime 3.1 is available for Mac bringing changes to the backend information and a new delete button as the backspace key does not work on some OS X versions.

uTime 4.2 for iOS | macOS ||| uTime 3.1 for macOS

uTime 4.1 Is Here!

~ Matthew Jagiela

uTime 4.1 is now available… For all platforms!

With the power of macOS Catalina and Catalyst framework uTime comes to the mac with all the same functionality as the iOS version! This also means whenever there is an update to uTime for iOS there will be the same update with the same (and more) features for macOS.

However, making a Catalyst app is a problem because it will only work with macOS Catalina which drops 32 bit support which is used with many legacy applications…

The way I decided to counter this is to leave uTime for macOS (Version 3) on the app store for legacy software users. However, there will not be feature updates for uTime macOS Version 3.

So why the change? A lot of reasons but the main one is continuity: being able to develop features once and then have it work accross all Apple platforms means more feature updates come quicker which is a big win.

More information on the transition can be found here: https://uappsios.com/utime-4-macos-migration-info/

uTime 4 for macOS is now called uTime Universal to match the iOS version and that it is universal throughout platforms. uTime 4 runs better on macOS than uTime 3 does and I highly recommend using it.

uTime 4 is still free and can be downloaded here

For the 4.1 update here is what is new:

  • macOS:
  •     Thanks to macOS Catalina uTime for iOS and macOS can live as one App! That means every feature that comes to iOS will come to macOS at the same time!
  •     All of the new features of uTime 4 iOS is now integrated into macOS. This includes the circular timer!
  •     The UI For iPad has been tweaked with constraints better to use macOS resizing. This is a good thing because it will also work better on a variety of screen sizes for iPad as well!
  •     Theme will change with the system theme automatically. If you have auto enabled when macOS changes theme uTime will too!
  •     uTime for Mac will still have it’s own unique icon!
  •     For those not running macOS Catalina version 3 will still remain on the Mac App Store for better compatibility but will not be updated unless crucial bug fixes are needed.
  • iOS:
  •     Made it so switching the theme system wide will change the theme on uTime (iOS 13)
  •     Fixed bug on iPad when selecting the sort by date option would flick light mode on.
  •     Fixed issue where some timers that are expired might fire notifications on launch.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy a better uTime for Mac!

Introducing uTime 4

~ Matthew Jagiela

Time For Something New

After a summer of developing I am happy to announce uTime 4 is now available to download on the app store. uTime 4 brings numerous improvements including Split View for iPad (FINALLY) and iOS 13 Support!

A new circular ring lets you visualize how much time is left

The home screen for uTime 4 has a new addition: a circular ring. The circular ring will fill up from the most recent load time till your event occurs. It is a fun way to visualize how much time is left until your event. This is just one of the many feature additions and improvements in uTime 4

Here is the official changelog for uTime 4:

4: Big Changes

  • iPhone:
    •  Slide Menu: Now instead of hitting timers and going to a different view the list of timers will just slide in, and by swipping right they will also appear
    •  Search is no longer hidden: instead of having to pull down to get to the search bar it will always be present and ready to use
  • iPad:
    •  Finally you are able to use uTime in Slide Over and Split View multitasking
    • -Using Slide Over and certain instances of Split View will bring in the iPhone interface for a better experience.
  • General:
    •  Added an animation for timers (iPhone 6 and up): The circle! The circle animates based on how much time is left from when you select the timer. It will fill and say solid white when time is done.
    • -Layout Improvements: uTime will work better with all types of screens due to updates on constraints.
    •  iOS 13 Dark Mode: For devices running iOS 13 the slider to toggle has been removed. iOS 13’s dark mode setting is reflected within uTime.
    •  Other iOS 13 Goodies: uTime works with sliding views now! Most notably settings (and for iPhone Modifications!). Grab the top of the view and dismiss them. (13+ Only)
    •  Removed custom WebBrowser with Safari’s default
    • -New version means a new icon!

uTime 4 is on the App Store now as a free update. Happy Downloading!

uTime 3.4 Now Available

~ Matthew Jagiela
uTime 3.4 Brings Back The Today Widget!

With about less than a week to go to WWDC I have made uTime 3.4 available on the app store. 3.4 officially marks the end of the transition of uTime to swift as now every feature has been migrated into Apple’s swift language.

uTime 3.4 brings back the today widget allowing you to see your timers all within the notification today view, or by 3D touching the uTime icon on your home-screen. Every time you open the main app or make a change the widget will update manually or will also update in the background to stay up to date. However with the background updates it is sporadically timed (Apple’s policy not mine) so you may want to open the app if you want it up to date at specific times.

Here is the official change-log:

3.4 Return of The Widget:

  • The today widget is back and redesigned
  • Access the today widget in Notification Center or with supporting iOS devices: 3D touch the uTime icon!
  • Today widget will stay up to date in the background but will manually refresh with you entering the app

You can download uTime 3.4 on the App Store now!

uSurf 6 Now Available

~ Matthew Jagiela

main_icon

An update a year in the making: uSurf 6 is now available. uSurf 5 got to be so hard to maintain and fix that I had to rewrite it from scratch but by doing that there are a lot of improvements. The official change-log:

6.0 The Big One:
– A total rewrite: The app has been completely rewritten to be better optimized!
– WebKit: With WebKit features such as swipe navigation have been implemented
– ProgressBar: See how far the page is loaded with a new progress bar on the top of the webview.
– iPhone X Support: uSurf now supports iPhone X Style Devices
– iPad Pro Support: uSurf now supports iPad Pro (3rd Generation Devices)
– iPad: No more toolbar! Everything is now in the navigation bar!
– iPad: Portrait Split Screen!
– There are new icons all throughout the app!
– Long pressing the add button will allow you to add a bookmark, just pressing it will add a tab…
– Option to clear all history!
– Searching: You can now search through your history, tabs, and bookmarks!
– Better version information: A lot less mess ups when it comes to consistency with information
– Legacy: uSurf still works with legacy devices (going as far back as iOS 9)
– Ad Banners: To try and make a little bit of cash on the side I implemented a single ad banner on the bottom of the settings page. That’s it.

uSurf 6 switches from using UIWebView to WebKit. This brings faster browsing and streamlined navigation. It also allows for a progress bar to determine how much of the page is left to load.

There is also a lot of efficiency upgrades in terms of memory and processing power which is good on devices running legacy versions of iOS.

The final thing… Ads. uSurf has been free for a number of years along with other applications of the uApps Suite. Development of these apps take a lot of time and are not free so I am trying to get a mere couple of cents off of people using them. Therefor, I added an ad banner in the info section of uSurf… That’s all there is going to be for now.

For those of you waiting for this update I appreciate your patience while I got this update ready (took over a year). The redone code structure makes it easier to push updates both feature wise and functionality wise.

Download uSurf 6 – Free