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GetConnected saw the TimeFlip device at CES 2019, so we brought it in and asked if anyone in the Blink office would like to give it a try. As a Digital Designer with many client projects on the go, Myranda was looking for a more convenient way to track her billable time. Here’s what she thought, in her own words.
I think TimeFlip is a great concept, so I was eager to try it out. I’m able to track my work time spent on different tasks and client accounts by a twist of the wrist? Sign me up!
Conceptually, TimeFlip is a 12-sided object that automatically tracks your time via Bluetooth connection to their mobile app. The app allows me to delegate each side to any task and runs a timer to whichever surface I flip it to. By a turn of the object, I can run the timer to any project or job I spend time on in a day!
Sounds great, but did it work? ….Eh, no.
On day 1 of using TimeFlip, I learned that the app likes to disconnect at any given time. If I walk away with my phone and then return, it doesn’t resume a connection to the app.
After flipping the device with trust over the course of 3 or 4 hours, I realized none of it had been tracked after checking in on the app. That was a big bummer, so I learned to check the connection anytime I left my desk, and periodically afterwards. If that’s the only flaw, I figured I could live with it.
I figured that if they had a desktop app, maybe that would solve the disconnection issue. TimeFlip does have a web app, which I found on their website. I tried to sign in but there was no option to sign in via Facebook, which was the method I used to connect to the mobile app in the first place. Alright. So, I logged out of my account on the mobile app, and later wanted to log back in. When I did so, I found that all the data I had collected on Day 1 had been cleared.
The ‘tasks’ I had assigned still existed but were now unassigned to the sides. I managed to reassign them pretty easily, but that did not save the lost data. I continued with my day and made sure the app was connected by checking in with it every hour. It would disconnect at random times even though I was next to it the entire time. Despite my frustration, I was still eager to make it work for me.
I came into the office and opened the app again to connect to the device. The sides were unassigned again and I had to pair all over again. From what I can remember, the data was kept from day 2, so that’s kind of a plus. From here on, I babysat the app to make sure it is connected every time I rotated the device timer. It only stayed connected on about 75% of the ‘flips’… so much for accurate time tracking.
At this point, I may as well just be using a regular time tracking app that requires my attention regularly.
I continue to babysit this misbehaved child of mine. It’s a love/hate relationship, I so very much want it to work – it would save me time and accuracy when tracking my daily hours at work. But honestly, it takes more time out of my day to mess with it.
I resorted back to using my own memory to track my hours while I abandoned this newborn child of mine to the dusty storage room.
As much as I love the idea and the act of controlling my time allocation with a tangible object, TimeFlip needs some serious software work before selling this to people. I do think there’s a lot of potential for this product, and it is something I would use on a daily basis if the dang app worked. Otherwise, it’s pretty useless.
On a lighter note, TimeFlip did psychologically keep me more aware of where I spend my time. It motivated me to move onto another task if I felt I was lingering on something for too long. The act of feeling ‘responsible’ for a physical entity made me more aware of my own productivity. I’m into that.
It would also be great to have the product integrated with other project management apps and systems that we use at work. If my hours were automatically added to existing productivity tools, it would make the whole manual data entry process a whole lot easier. Unless the sync works, integration of data it isn’t collecting properly doesn’t help me either.
I give this product review of TimeFlip a hesitant 2 stars out of 5. Get the software right, and you’ll have me.
Read more TimeFlip product reviews and order your own to try for $77.31 CDN on Amazon.
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