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Live Activity

When a timer is running, Timesheet posts a Live Activity that surfaces the running task in the Dynamic Island (on iPhones that have one — iPhone 14 Pro and any iPhone 15 or later) and on the Lock Screen. You can pause, resume, and stop the timer without unlocking your device or even opening the app.

What you see​

  • Dynamic Island (compact) — Pulsing dot + elapsed time, both flanking the system camera cutout. Tap to expand.
  • Dynamic Island (expanded) — Project name, task description if set, elapsed time, and three action buttons (Pause / Resume / Stop).
  • Lock Screen — Larger card with the same info, styled to match the Lock Screen's grayscale aesthetic.

The Live Activity is system-managed: iOS dismisses it 8 hours after the last update or when the activity is explicitly ended. Stopping the timer ends it immediately.

Action buttons​

Three buttons live on the expanded Dynamic Island and the Lock Screen card:

  • Pause — Stops counting until you resume. Tracked as a break.
  • Resume — Continues from where you paused (visible only when the timer is paused).
  • Stop — Ends the timer, saves the task, dismisses the activity.

These are real touch targets, so they're vulnerable to accidental taps when reaching for your phone — especially the Lock Screen card if you have a habit of grabbing your phone from a desk while it's locked. If that's been a problem, you can turn the buttons off entirely.

Disabling the buttons​

Some users have reported "the timer randomly pauses" — almost always a mistap on the Lock Screen Pause button. To hide them:

  1. Open More → Settings → Live Activity.
  2. Toggle Show action buttons OFF.

The activity stays — you still see the running timer in the Dynamic Island and on the Lock Screen — but the buttons disappear. To pause or stop, open the app.

The toggle is per-device and per-install. Your iPad and Mac use their own preference.

Disabling the Live Activity entirely​

If you don't want any Lock Screen presence:

  1. Open iOS Settings (not Timesheet).
  2. Scroll to Timesheet.
  3. Toggle Live Activities OFF.

That's an iOS-level toggle — Timesheet posts the activity, iOS chooses not to render it. Reactivate any time.

Watch interaction​

When you wear an Apple Watch paired with the iPhone running the Live Activity, the activity is also visible on the Watch face via the Smart Stack (watchOS 10+). The same Pause/Resume/Stop actions are available there.

If you want the Watch to show the activity but the iPhone Lock Screen not to, you'll need to either hide it via Focus modes or keep the phone in your pocket. iOS doesn't offer per-surface filtering for a single Live Activity.

Background updates​

The elapsed time refreshes a few times per minute. iOS handles the update schedule, so the activity stays accurate without keeping Timesheet active in the background — your battery is safe.

Troubleshooting​

  • "The activity doesn't appear when I start a timer." Check iOS Settings → Timesheet → Live Activities is ON. If it is, try ending and restarting your timer; iOS occasionally refuses back-to-back activity requests for the same identifier.
  • "The Pause button on the Lock Screen randomly fires." Toggle Show action buttons OFF in Settings → Live Activity.
  • "The activity stays after I close Timesheet." That's by design — the timer continues until you stop it. Tap Stop on the activity or open Timesheet to end the timer.
  • "My Watch face shows the activity but I never installed Timesheet on Watch." That's the system Smart Stack auto-surfacing iPhone activities. Disable via the Watch face's edit screen → Smart Stack.
  • Widgets — Home Screen widgets that don't require an active timer
  • Apple Watch — full Watch app (separate install)
  • Timer — main timer surface
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