Clockflux works offline: install it and back up your hours
Themes: App feature5 min readBy David Lawrence
You check in at the start of a shift, and ten minutes later you're in a lift, a basement, or a tunnel on the way to a client. Or you're on a plane, and you finally have time to fix last week's hours. Does the app still work?
For Clockflux the answer is yes, and it's by design. This post explains how that works, how to put Clockflux on your home screen, and the one habit that goes with keeping your hours on your own device: a backup.
Why it works with no connection
On the free plan, Clockflux has no account and no server. Every session, day off and setting is saved in your browser's own storage, on the device you're using, and nothing is sent anywhere. Since nothing has to reach a server, a missing signal doesn't matter. You can check in on a train, on a plane or on a building site, and the timer, your history, your calendar and your holiday balance all work as usual. The privacy notice has the full details of what is and isn't stored.
The first time, open Clockflux while you're online, so the browser can keep a copy of the app itself. After that it opens without a connection.
Putting it on your home screen
Clockflux runs in any modern browser. If you install it as well, it opens from your home screen, dock or start menu like any other app, with no browser bar in the way:
- Android (Chrome): accept the install prompt, or open the menu and choose Install app.
- iPhone and iPad (Safari): tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
- Desktop (Chrome or Edge): click the install icon in the address bar.
In Chrome, Edge and other browsers that support it, Clockflux also shows its own "Install Clockflux" card, with an Install button and a Not now if you'd rather wait. Safari on iPhone and iPad doesn't offer that card, so use the Share menu there. A shortcut on the home screen is one tap away, which helps when you're trying to check in on time.
One thing to know on iPhone and iPad: an app added to the Home Screen keeps its own storage, separate from Safari's. If you've been tracking in Safari and then add Clockflux to the Home Screen, the installed app starts empty. Pick one way of opening Clockflux and stay with it, or move your data across with a backup (see below).
Updates won't interrupt you
When we release a new version, an installed app doesn't reload itself. A small banner says "A new version of Clockflux is available" with a Reload to update button, and you press it when it suits you. Updates used to be able to land at awkward moments, so we changed it so that nothing reloads in the middle of a check-in.
If you use Pro
Clockflux Pro adds a server, so that your hours sync between devices. Offline, the app tells you it can't reach the server and pauses cloud sync, and everything else keeps working on the device you're holding. A few things that need the server wait until you're connected again: exports, past years in the calendar and Health, and the holiday planner and carryover.
Your hours stay on the device in the meantime. Keep in mind that anything built from the server's copy, like the weekly summary email, only counts what your devices had synced when it was sent.
What can erase your hours
Data kept in a browser stays there until something removes it, and browsers don't promise it will stay forever. WebKit, the engine behind Safari, says that storage isn't guaranteed to persist and can be evicted (opens in a new tab), for instance when a site hasn't been used for some time. On the free plan, these things can also erase your hours:
- clearing your browser's site data or history for clockflux.app;
- using a private or incognito window, which forgets everything when you close it;
- uninstalling the browser, or losing or resetting the device.
Different browsers and different devices don't share storage either. Hours tracked in Chrome on your phone won't appear in Safari on your laptop.
None of this is a reason to avoid the free plan. It's a reason to keep a copy.
Backing up and restoring
- Download a backup. In Settings → Sync & Backup, press Download under Download backup. You get a file with every check-in, day off and setting on the device. Keep it somewhere safe, like your cloud drive or an email to yourself.
- Do it on a schedule. Once a month works for most people, and always before you clear your browser data, reset your phone or switch to a new one.
- Restore it when you need it. In the same place, choose Restore from backup and pick the file. Clockflux asks you to confirm first, because a restore replaces everything on the device with what's in the file. If the device has hours you want to keep, download a backup of them before you restore.
The same two steps move your history to a new phone or from the browser to the installed app: download on the old one, restore on the new one.
Where Clockflux fits in
If you'd rather not think about backups, Clockflux Pro syncs your data to your account automatically and keeps every device you sign in on up to date. If you'd rather keep everything on your own device, which is a perfectly good way to use Clockflux, a monthly backup covers you. Both are described in the docs on offline use, installing and backups.