I have a dozen counters that are nearly identical
Once you are tracking seriously, a lot of counters start looking alike: one category, one colour, the same custom fields. Rebuilding that by hand each time is the friction that stops people adding the next one.
The short answer
Duplicate an existing counter rather than starting over. Long-press a counter, or open it and use the menu, and choose Duplicate. That carries the setup across and leaves you to change the name. The feature arrived because someone with a stack of near-identical counters pointed out they were rebuilding each one by hand, which is exactly the kind of friction that quietly stops you tracking.
A small setup
- 1
Set one counter up properly first
Pick the colour, icon, category and any custom fields deliberately. Everything you duplicate afterwards inherits these, so the time is worth spending once.
- 2
Long-press it, or open the menu
Both routes offer Duplicate. The new counter arrives configured and with no logs.
- 3
Rename, then log once
The name is usually the only thing that differs. Logging once starts the counter from now rather than from the original's history.
- 4
Check the category still fits
A duplicated counter inherits its category, which is usually right and occasionally not. Worth a glance before you move on.
The situation
A counter carries a name, a colour, an icon, a category and any custom fields. Recreating that combination for each new counter means repeating five decisions you have already made.
What gets difficult
Adding a counter stops feeling worth it. You either track fewer things than you meant to, or you end up with inconsistent colours and categories that make the list harder to read.
How TimeSince helps
Duplicating copies the setup and leaves the history behind, so a new counter starts configured and empty. The decisions you already made stay made.
The request on the feedback board was specific: a way to duplicate an existing counter, but with all the events cleared. The person making it had several counters in the same category, with the same colour, and was creating each one from scratch.
It shipped. Long-press a counter, or open it and use the menu, and choose Duplicate.
Why this matters more than it sounds
A counter is five decisions: name, colour, icon, category, and any custom fields you have defined. Four of those are usually identical across a related set, and only the name genuinely changes.
Repeating four decisions to make one change is the kind of small friction that does not announce itself. You do not decide to stop tracking things. You just find that adding the next counter never quite happens, and you end up tracking nine of the twelve you meant to. It is the same friction that decides whether a log gets made at all, one step earlier in the process.
Set the first one up properly
Since everything afterwards inherits it, the first counter in a set is worth some care. Pick the colour you want the whole group to share, set the category, and define the custom fields once. A duplicate carries all of it.
What it does not carry is history. The new counter arrives empty, which is what you want, and starts counting when you log it for the first time.
When duplicating is not the answer
If you are building a whole category from nothing, the Explore screen has a large library of counter ideas, and picking from it is faster than naming a dozen things yourself.
And if you have hit the three-counter limit on the free tier, duplicating will not get you past it. Pro removes the cap; a lapsed subscription archives the extras rather than deleting them, so nothing is lost either way.
What TimeSince helps with
- Carries colour, icon, category and fields to a new counter
- Keeps a set of related counters visually consistent
- Removes the repeated setup that makes adding one feel expensive
What TimeSince will not fix
- It will not create many counters at once from a list
- It does not copy the original counter's log history
- There is no template library separate from your own counters
Explore the feature: Counter customization
Frequently asked questions
Does duplicating copy the log history?+
No, and that is the point. The request that led to this asked specifically for a copy with the events cleared, so you get the configuration without inheriting dates that belong to something else.
Can I create several counters at once?+
Not in bulk. Duplicate handles one at a time. If you are setting up a whole category from scratch, the Explore screen has a large list of counter ideas that may be faster than naming each one yourself.
How many counters can I have?+
Three on the free tier, and unlimited with Pro. If a Pro subscription lapses you are asked to choose three to keep active, and the rest are archived rather than deleted.
What this is based on
- Ability to duplicate an existing counter, request and reply — TimeSince feedback board
Remember the last time
Three counters are free. Come back whenever you need them.
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