Help

Quick start

Five minutes to a logging habit. Each step links to more.

1. Make a log for one thing you want to keep track of: Baby, Interruptions, Symptoms. Open the drawer (☰) and tap New log. More on logs
2. Write what just happened and send it. It's saved with the exact time. In a hurry? Send with nothing written to stamp the time and add the words later. Forgot to log something? Set when it happened.
3. Add #tags like #feed or #meeting, then tap a tag above the log to see just those, how many and how long since the last. More on tags
4. Make it one tap. On Android, add the home screen widget, or turn on the Now notification; both can also take a spoken line. On a computer, keep jotstamp.com/app open in a tab.
5. Keep it safe. Sign in (free) and your logs are backed up, so a new phone gets them back. Pro adds sync across devices, sharing and AI.

What's a log?

A log is a running list of notes, each saved with the exact time. Keep one per part of your life, say Interruptions at work or Baby at home. Create one from the drawer (☰) with New log. Each log can have its own icon.

How do folders work?

Folders group logs in the drawer and can hold other folders. Use New folder, or a log's ⋮ menu → Move to…. You can also drag rows in the drawer. Deleting a folder keeps what's inside: its logs and folders move up a level.

What are spaces?

A space is a separate set of logs, like Home and Work. Everyone starts with Personal. Tap the space name at the bottom of the drawer to switch spaces or make a new one. A shared space is one other people can read and write too (see Shared spaces).

Archiving, renaming and deleting a log

Use the log's ⋮ menu: Rename, Icon, Move to…, Archive, Properties or Delete. Archived logs move to the Archived panel at the bottom of the drawer. You can still open and search them, and they leave the widget picker, shortcuts and notification. Deleting a log removes all its entries and pictures and can't be undone.

Do I need an account?

No. Jotstamp works fully on your phone without one. An account (free) adds a backup of your logs, the web app, and joining shared spaces. See Accounts and backup.

Writing an entry

Type in the box at the bottom (What just happened?) and tap send. It's saved with the time you sent it. On Android, Enter starts a new line and Enter on an empty last line sends. On the web, Enter sends and Shift+Enter starts a new line. A line you haven't sent is kept, even if you close the app.

A word or two followed by a colon at the start of a line, like next:, shows as a small heading. Each entry shows the gap since the one before, like +42m.

Stamping the time now, words later

With nothing typed, the send button becomes Stamp now: it saves just the time. The entry shows What was this?; tap it whenever you're ready to add the words.

Logging something that happened earlier

Tap the clock (Set date and time) before sending and pick when it happened. Times can't be in the future. Entries with a time you set show a * beside the time. With smart dictation you can also just say “20 minutes ago…”.

Editing, changing the time, deleting

Long-press an entry (on the web, use its menu) for Edit, Change time…, History, Properties and Delete. Saving an edit shows Saved · Undo, and deleting shows Entry deleted · Undo. If you set a time by hand, Change time… offers Use original time.

Seeing and restoring earlier versions

Once an entry has been edited, History lists each change, newest first: removed words struck through, added words highlighted, and time changes as old → new. It keeps the last 20 versions of the text and time. Restore brings back the version from before a change; the current one stays in the history, so nothing is lost.

Adding pictures

Each entry can have one picture: take a photo, choose one, or share it in from another app. On the web you can also paste or drop an image. The original stays on your phone. Pictures are backed up and synced with Pro, and in shared spaces.

Searching

The search icon searches the current log. Search all logs in the drawer searches every log in the space, archived ones included. Every word must match; #tag words match that exact tag. With nothing typed, search shows the log's tags.

Sharing a day or a log as text

The share button sends a day, or the whole log, as plain text with times and #tags, to any app. You can include its pictures. To get everything out at once, see Export.

What happens when I travel?

Each entry remembers the time zone it was written in and is shown in your current one. If the two differ, the entry also shows the time where it was captured.

How do tags work?

Write # and a word anywhere in an entry: #feed, #follow-up, #deep_work. Letters, numbers, underscores and single hyphens work; capitals don't matter. The # needs a space before it, so C# isn't a tag. Typing # suggests tags you already use.

Filtering by a tag

Tap a tag chip under the log's title to see only those entries, with how many there are and when the last one was. Tap it again to show everything. While filtering, the tag is added to your next entry for you.

Changing a tag's color

On Android, open search and long-press the tag. On the web, use Settings → Appearance → Tag colours. Colors follow your account to your other devices.

Counting time with a tag

Some tags can count time: #deep does from the start. To count another, filter by it and tap Count time (on the web: Settings → Logging → Tags that count time). The log then shows something like #deep today 2h 35m · this week 5h · running.

Put the tag only on the entry where the activity starts. Its time runs until the log's next entry of any kind, and the latest one keeps running until you write something else. A single stretch counts at most 12 hours (so a forgotten tag doesn't count all night), and a stretch across midnight is split between the two days.

The home screen widget

Add Log something from your launcher's widget list. It shows the log's icon, name and latest line, or two lines if you make it taller. Tap it to start typing in that log, or tap the mic to say a line, which saves on its own.

When you add it, pick its Log and Color (the app's theme or one of 12 colors, handy for telling several widgets apart), then Save. To change them later, long-press the widget and reconfigure it.

Shortcuts and sharing into Jotstamp

Long-press the Jotstamp icon for a Log in … shortcut to each log; you can pin them to your home screen. From other apps, share text or an image to Log in Jotstamp: it opens ready to send, with the time you shared it.

The Now notification

Settings → Logging → Now notification: Off, While timing or Always. Android asks for permission to show notifications the first time.

• While a timed tag runs it shows a live timer with Interrupted, Done and Speak. Interrupted saves #interrupted and stops the clock; then Back to #tag starts it again.
• Always also keeps it there when nothing's running, with Stamp now, Log (type a line right in the notification) and Speak.

Tapping the notification can open Jotstamp or go straight to speaking a line. The lock screen shows only “Timing #tag”, “Interrupted” or “Ready to log”, never your entries. This setting follows your account to other phones.

Speaking instead of typing

Tap the mic next to the text box and talk; it stops when you pause, or tap again. You can also hold it while you talk and let go. A line you only spoke is sent when you finish; if you also typed or added a picture, check it and send. The widget's mic and the notification's Speak save on their own, timed to when you tapped, with Undo.

It uses your phone's speech recognition, on the phone itself where it can. Jotstamp never keeps the audio. On the web, the mic works in browsers with speech recognition, such as Chrome.

What is Ask?

Ask answers questions about your logs, like When was the last #feed? or What stood out this week?, and points to the entries it used. From a log's search it asks about that log; from Search all logs, about the whole space. Counts and times come straight from your log; the wording is written by AI and can be wrong.

Writing a summary for a doctor, partner or manager

In the share options, pick Or write a summary for: Me, A doctor, A partner or A manager, for a day or the whole log. On the web, use Summary for in Ask.

What does smart dictation do?

With Pro, spoken lines are tidied up: “hashtag feed” becomes #feed, “5 minutes ago” or “at 2” sets the time (only in the past), and one breath with several things in it can become several entries. You'll see Saved at 2:32 · Undo. It uses your log's name, its most used tags and its last few entries to get it right.

Without Pro, offline, or if it takes too long, your words are saved exactly as heard.

Are there limits?

Each month Pro includes 200 Ask questions and 1,000 smart dictations, counted separately. Both reset on the 1st.

What's sent to the AI, and can I turn it off?

Only when you use them: Ask sends the entries of the log or space you ask about; smart dictation sends what you said, the log's name and tags, and its last 5 entries. They go to an AI provider only to answer you, and aren't used to train AI models. Jotstamp keeps just the monthly counts. Turn either off in Settings → AI (Ask with AI, Smart dictation).

Signing in

Settings → Sign in, enter your email, and type the 6-digit code we email you. There's no password. The same email signs you in on the web.

What does the free backup do?

Signed in, the text of your logs is backed up, so a new or reset phone gets them back when you sign in there. Pictures are backed up with Pro.

“Backing up from another device” and “View only”

On the free plan, one device writes your logs: the first one you sign in on. The others can read them. The Android app, phone browsers and computer browsers each count as a device.

To write from another one, use Use this phone (Settings → Account) or Write from this browser instead (on the web). It can move once a week. With Pro, every device writes and syncs.

Moving to a new phone

Install Jotstamp and sign in with the same email: your logs come back, and the new phone takes over the backup. If you're not signed in, use Export on the old phone first.

Signing out

Settings → Sign out removes your logs from that phone; they're kept in your account and come back when you sign in. If something hasn't been backed up yet, Jotstamp warns you first so you can export. On the web, Sign out of all devices signs out every browser and phone within the hour.

Deleting your account

Settings → Delete account, or at jotstamp.com/account. It deletes your account, your spaces (shared ones for everyone in them) with their logs, entries and pictures, and the analytics linked to you. Logs on your phone stay there. Details are in Delete data.

What does Pro add?

Sync across your phones, tablets and the web; pictures in backup and sync; creating shared spaces; Ask; and smart dictation. It's $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year; Google Play shows the price in your currency.

Buying Pro

In the Android app: Settings → Upgrade to Pro, sign in if you haven't, and Subscribe through Google Play. Pro belongs to your account, so it works on every device you sign in on, the web included. Bought it already? Restore purchase picks it up.

Changing plan or cancelling

Settings → Manage subscription, or Google Play → your profile → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions. After you cancel, Pro stays on until the end of the period you paid for.

What happens to my logs if Pro ends?

Nothing is deleted. Your logs stay on your phone and you keep using Jotstamp for free: syncing between devices stops, and shared spaces you own become read-only for the people in them.

Logging together in a shared space

From the space menu, New shared space (needs Pro), then Members & invites… → Create invite link. A link works for up to 10 people for 7 days. Everyone in the space can read and add to every log in it, and their name shows next to what they write (set yours in Settings → Name).

People you invite only need a free account, not Pro. They can join from the link or with Join with code….

Sharing one log without the rest

Make a shared space, then move that log into it with the log's ⋮ menu → Move to…. Your other logs stay private.

Leaving a space or removing someone

Members can Leave space: its logs leave their phone, and everyone else keeps them. The owner can Remove someone: they lose access, and what they wrote stays.

Using Jotstamp in a browser

Open jotstamp.com/app and sign in with your email. You can read and write your logs, stamp and backdate, edit with history, use tags and time counting, search, Ask, share, dictate and export. It refreshes on its own every 30 seconds.

Widgets, the notification, shortcuts and buying Pro are Android only. On the free plan, the web writes only when it's your backup device (see View only).

Keyboard shortcuts

Enter sends, Shift+Enter adds a line, Tab accepts a tag suggestion, Escape cancels an edit or dictation and closes menus. Paste or drop an image to attach it.

Exporting everything

Settings → Export all data saves a .zip with every log as readable text and as JSON, plus your pictures. The web's Export everything does the same for every log you can see. There's no import yet.

Where is my data kept?

On your phone first. With an account, a copy is kept on our servers, encrypted in transit and at rest. There are no ads and nothing is sold. The privacy policy has the details.

Analytics and crash reports

To see which features get used and fix crashes, Jotstamp sends anonymous usage events and crash reports, never what you write. Turn them off in Settings → Data → Share analytics and crash reports; the choice follows your account.

Themes and colors

Settings → Appearance: Theme (System, Light, Dark or Black) and Colors (Wallpaper on Android 12+, Classic, Paper, Ocean, Forest or Rose).