Track time with the timer
When you finish, the task you are working on has a running timer. Its total shows next to its estimate. It takes about two minutes. A timer is a clock on one task: you start it when you begin and stop it when you are done.
Here is how Ana uses it. She is a freelancer with three clients. At nine she starts the timer on "Fix the checkout bug" in the bakery app workspace. At half past ten she starts it on "Menu page layout". The first timer stops on its own, and the checkout bug now has 90 minutes on it.
What you need
- devBoard on iPhone, Android or Mac, signed in.
- A task or a subtask, which is a small step inside a task. Epics, the big pieces that hold tasks, have no timer.
- Your role is member, admin or owner. A guest can see time but cannot track it.
Steps
1. Open the task
Click or tap the card on the board. The task opens with its fields, its time and its comments.
2. Set an estimate
Find Estimate in the fields and enter the hours and minutes you expect. The estimate is how long you think the task will take. You can skip this step, but the total is easier to read with it.
3. Start the timer
Scroll to the Time section and press Start timer. The button turns into Stop with a clock that counts up, like 0:04:12.
4. Get to work
Close the task, close the app or pick up your phone. The timer runs on our server, so it keeps going. Open the task on any device and the clock is still there.
5. Switch to the next task
Open the next task and press Start timer there. The first timer stops, and its time is saved on the first task. Before you press it, the panel tells you: "A timer is running on another item."
6. Stop the timer
Press Stop when you are done for now. The time is added to the task. A line like "Ana logged 45 minutes" shows in the task's history, next to the comments.
Check that it works
Open the task again. Under Time there is one row for each stretch of work. Each row shows who, the date and how long.
If the task has an estimate, a bar shows the total against it, like 1h 30m / 2h. The bar changes colour when you go over. With no estimate, the total sits next to the Time heading instead.
What to try next
- Forgot to press Start? Log the time after the fact.
- Start each day in My Work and press Start on the first task you open.
- Start the timer from your editor. Say "start APP-42" and your assistant starts it for you. See connect devBoard to Claude Code.
- Read how time tracking in devBoard works as a whole.
- Browse the other guides.
If it does not work
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No Start timer button | You are a guest, or you opened an epic | Ask an admin to make you a member, or open a task under the epic |
| "A timer is running on another item." | Your timer is on a different task in this workspace | Press Start timer to move it here, or open the other task and stop it |
| Hours you did not work | The timer ran all night | Stop it, then fix the entry with your assistant |
| Two timers ran at the same time | They were in two workspaces | Stop the timer before you switch workspace |
| A short timer shows 1 minute | Time is counted in whole minutes | Nothing to fix. A timer under a minute counts as one |
Questions people ask
Does the timer keep running if I close the app?
Yes. The timer runs on our server, not on your device. Close the app, open it on your phone, and the clock is still going.
Can I run two timers at once?
Not in one workspace. Start a second one and the first stops. A timer in another workspace is separate, so it keeps going until you stop it there.
Can I put a timer on an epic?
No. An epic is a group of tasks, so time goes on the tasks under it. Start the timer on a task or a subtask.
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